Wireless in libraries...It's becoming more and more popular everyday; and a number of AALS libraries have it. You may or may not be aware of all the management capabilities available today even with the most basic wireless routers. Depending on the router, you quite possibly can set up a number of security features. Some examples can be whether to allow a wireless device to even broadcast that it's even available, encryption, set up dynamic or static IP addresses, setting up multiple wireless channels, and many other features. The feature I want to concentrate on in this blog is wireless availability restrictions after hours. A library may be providing a service to the community and patrons by offering wireless, and that's great. But when your library closes for the day, does your wireless close as well? You may want to ask yourself about all the possibilities occurring in your library parking lot at 3 o clock in the morning. If you go by a wireless hotspot (a place offering wireless to the public either for free or for a charge) and there is a vehicle in the parking lot and the person inside is not leaving the vehicle, chances are that person is using an open wireless connection - which may not be a bad thing. But users can be oblivious to everything else that is going on around them, which could lead to them becoming potential victims of theft or other crimes. We would also like to believe that all people are nice, but in the real world, this is not always true. Those that "wardrive" (those that are looking for wireless access spots in a moving vehicle), can be great persons with no intent or malice towards your facility, but that doesn't mean someone couldn't look up and start to think about something they want out of your library. Be smart, when your library closes, so should your wireless service. Chances are nothing will happen, but that problem will be a moot issue if you stop wireless at the end of business. If you are not sure how to manage the wireless administrative tools, contact your technical liason (which could be me, or another "techie") or read the manual for your particular wireless router. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to contact me.
That's my comment, let's hear from you. Drop me an email or fill out a comment.
Rodney
