Students and faculty requiring Internet access for their studying and research can now venture beyond the first three floors of the Sciences Library. All 14 floors of the concrete library have been equipped with wireless Internet.
The SciLi proved particularly challenging for wireless Internet implementation, said Mark Shelton, leader of Media Services. The high book shelves and thick concrete walls absorb the signal. In order for the signal to be available at the edges of each floor, where patrons work in cubicles or chairs, more networking equipment, such as routers and cabling, was needed.
"Because of the way the building is made, putting in that infrastructure is difficult because you have to cut through the concrete floors," Shelton said.
Due to these difficulties, it cost $52,700 and took nine weeks to complete all 14 floors of the SciLi, Director of Network Technology Tim Wells wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. The nine weeks were spread over a period of three months, and most of the work was done over winter break, with some of it spilling into February, according to Wells.
The project is part of Computing and Information Services' ongoing plan to expand the University's wireless network, said co-leader of Integrated Technology Services Jean Rainwater. Rainwater said after the dormitories, the SciLi was CIS's top priority. Library services had received numerous requests for wireless Internet from both medical students who study on the 11th floor, which is designated for their use, and undergraduates. The John Hay Library, the next building that CIS prioritized after the SciLi, is almost entirely equipped as well, Rainwater said.
The SciLi is home to a variety of offices, all of which were equipped with temporary Internet access before the project was completed, said Medical School Librarian Tovah Reis, whose office is located on the seventh floor of the building.
Since internet access is not new for the offices, the installation of wireless is a more significant change for students, who have already started using it. Shristi Pandey '11 and Rosalie Elkinton '11, who were studying on the 11th floor, said the wireless was working well. Both Pandey and Elkinton were pleased with the installation of Internet on the higher floors since the Friedman Study Center is more of what Pandey called a "social atmosphere."
She said the upper floors offer fewer distractions. Alvin Adisusanto '09, who was found studying on the seventh floor, agreed. "It's so hard to find a computer (in the Friedman Study Center), especially during exam period," he said. Adisusanto said the Internet was at times a distraction from work, but overall he would prefer to have the wireless despite the temptation to surf the Web.
