The Spares Pool and Windows Vista & 7

Excerpt from the SCLS “PC Spare Pools Policy":

"The SCLS Technology Team maintains a small pool of spare PCs, utilized when a library workstation is in the process of repair. This pool provides a basic level of service to patrons and staff but is not intended to fully replicate all services, such as personal bookmarks or e-mail."

We’re finally moving away from XP—Woohoo! Unfortunately, the PCs in our spares pool aren’t all licensed to make that move with us.

Where do the spares come from? Sometimes, when libraries retire PCs they donate them to the spares pool. Sometimes when SCLS retires PCs, we do the same. This means that the spares pool is made up of older PCs, but ones that are still helpful to have in a pinch when hardware dies unexpectedly.

As libraries move to Windows 7 on their staff PCs and Windows Vista or 7 on their patron PCs, the spares pool may not keep pace. This means that if you have a Windows 7 PC that dies, you may receive a Vista or XP PC as a loaner. It may not look exactly like your out-of-commission PC, but it will provide a basic functionality until your sick PC is repaired or replaced.