By ED SANCHE
With the Wilkinson Center renovations in full force, the ELWC Word Center has closed its doors for good and moved to the Word Processing Center in the Harold B. Lee Library.
“The new renovations for the ELWC do not call for a ‘new’ Word Center, rather the services will be transferred to the HBLL Word Processing Center,” said Bob Cary, former manager of the ELWC Word Center.
Since the close of the ELWC Word Center on Jan. 18, 25 computers have been brought over to the HBLL from the Word Center. They will soon be installed in an effort to accommodate the new service demands of students.
More computers will be added in time and as room permits.
“Expansion will take place to the south of the current Word Processing Center. At that time more computers will be added and services expanded,” said Scott Eldredge, manager of the HBLL Copy and Word Processing Center.
“Our primary goal is to expand the electronic services the library provides so that students will have more access to them,” said Randy Olsen, assistant library director.
This goal is becoming a reality with the recent installation of ten laptop computer study stations.
“We anticipate that by the turn of the century virtually all students will have a laptop computer,” Olsen said.
To accommodate this need, study stations will have access to various electronic services, including the Internet. These stations will allow students to plug in their laptop computers directly into the station where they are seated, rather than going to one centralized location for service.
Five of these stations are located on the fourth floor of the HBLL and five others are located on the third floor in the Current Periodicals/Course Reserve Room.
CougarNet users will also benefit from the Word Processing Center. They will be allowed to use the center free of charge as long as there are available computers to accommodate paying patrons. Although no Internet access is available yet, there will be in the future.
There are hopes to do away with the $1 hourly charge in the future.
“It is not to this point yet but, that is the direction we are headed and the goal we hope to attain,” Eldredge said.
