Last week's topic mentioned portable applications -- programs you can install on a USB drive and use on any computer. They're handy when your work requires you to move from computer to computer (like from an office, to a ref desk, to a circ desk, to home, and back again... sound familiar?). There are a lot of different options, but some that might be useful in a library environment include:
- Firefox: Browser (lots of library computers already have Firefox installed, but your bookmarks can travel with you if you're running the portable version)
- Sage (Firefox extension): RSS reader
- Opera: Another browser alternative beloved by techies
- OpenOffice: Open-source office software
- Pidgin: Instant-messaging software that works with most chat services
- GIMP: Image editor
Not in the mood to mix-n-match? Try the PortableApps.com Suite, which starts you off with a selection of the most commonly-used programs.
Where to find portable apps: PortableApps.com is the most popular, but PortableFreeware.com and Wikipedia also have monster lists.
What to watch out for: USB drives are easy to lose, so be careful about keeping track of yours -- don't forget it when you get up to leave the computer! For the same reason, remember to back up your USB drive regularly, especially if you have any important data stored on it.
Will this work on patron PCs? Should we recommend it to patrons? It seems like portable apps could be useful for patrons who are power-users of the library PCs -- however, lots of libraries have security measures in place to prevent patrons from running programs from a USB drive (for good reason). I haven't been able to test this on LINK and non-LINK patron PCs yet, but I'll be loading up some portable apps to test-drive on a patron PC soon.
If you try it: Give us a field report! What did you try, and how did it go?
Actually had a patron doing this when we used DeepFreeze to lock patron computers. I told him it was against our policy and he said he didn't trust our security - so around we went. Anyway, with our new setup, using MS Shared Computer Toolkit, the patron account is locked and is not authorized to run application files. I chose to do this because along with the handy applications you listed, go keyloggers, spybots, and other hacks that let one patron send all the data from a patron station that doesn't get rebooted all day to an email or web page. Too much of a security issue.
Also, in testing I have tried portable firefox and thunderbird (email# and they both worked just fine before the security change. You can add to your list that you can actually install XP on a thumbdrive and boot from it unless the PC is configured to not boot from USB drives #by default, most newer PC's are set to boot from them). This also defeats any security you put on the machine and lets the user access anything on the PC and run it, since they are both running XP. Tried this as well and it works pretty slick - unless you turn the option off in the bios and password protect the bios.
Long comment, sorry.
Rob MarshPL
Posted by: Rob | October 30, 2008 at 11:48 AM
Thanks for sharing this -- you've got some wily patrons! LINK computers are similarly locked-down, as I found out this week, as are the SCLS-supported non-LINK computers.
Kind of disappointing, but also a relief, considering all the potential risks.
Posted by: scls | October 30, 2008 at 03:50 PM