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ALIA West
July 2002The Academic and Research Libraries Group (ARL-WA)
On Wednesday 8th May, the ARL group held a panel discussion titled Our guest speakers were Trevis Lawton and Matthew Turany Trevis Lawton recently presented a paper at the VALA conference on Wireless networks in public libraries. He is currently a Web Services Analyst at the City of Joondalup. Trevis is an Internet pioneer in WA, creating and managing an internet access consultancy company as early as 1993 and his services have been used at the WA Maritime Museum and New Norcia Benedictine Monastery. He recently started an e-business consultancy firm called "Illogical Solutions" and has been responsible for the creation of the online interlibrary loans system called "OILLS" that is being used by 120 public libraries in WA. Matthew Turany is chief technical officer of Integrity Data Systems, a business partner of Winthrop IT technologies. Integrity Data Systems are responsible for the wireless networks in many local Perth schools, also at Monash University, Princess Margaret Hospital and Parliament House in Victoria. An outline of the papers presented by Trevis and Matthew appears below. Trevis Lawton 12-18 months ago the City of Joondalup was one of the only public libraries in the world to adopt a wireless website. The wireless website created a dynamic hook-up between the library system and a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) site. Technologies such as the wireless website mean that libraries are now able to reach out beyond their walls, and provide highly personalised services that were never before feasible. At the City of Joondalup the "personalisation" of the library service has been approached in the following ways:
At the City of Joondalup, the wireless services have been aimed at the mobile phone network, (this is not to be confused with WILAN (Wireless Local Area Networking). No special equipment or software is necessary if the organisation is running a LAN based website.. Eight web pages were created, and the cost was $5000 dollars for staffing. As the information for these services is drawn from databases, there is very little ongoing work. The only real downsides to this service are the slow data transfer rates, and the cost of accessing the sites. In terms of costs, most clients are using GSM telephones, and access to the service is governed at a similar rate to mobile phone calls. Therefore information needs to be quick to get at and easy to interpret. The jury is still out about wireless services. This technology is still in its embryonic phase. 80-90% of people are currently not using the facility, and a lot of this has to do with the current cost of the service. However, this is predicted to change as mobiles with GPRS technology increase in popularity. The costs for GPRS services will be packet based, with the only cost will being for connection. Essentially GPRS means you end up with a two line mobile phone, because you are able to receive and make voice calls while connected to the network. It will certainly be interesting to watch the developments at the City of Joondalup when GPRS technology reaches the masses. Matthew Turany: Integrity Data Systems Matthew discussed WILAN (Wireless Local Area Network) and some of the issues surrounding this new technology. Integrity Data Systems deals with Microwave technology for licensed microwave links (linking buildings together several km's apart), and WILAN technology. WILAN consists of three basic units, a station (Network PC or laptop), a wireless card fitted to the computer, and base stations (access points) also known as portals. The portal is the bridge between a wired and wireless data signal, and functions in a similar way to a network hub or switch (networking). Through the use of software and hardware the wireless card converts data to a wireless signal. There are various standards and consortiums that have been established that deal with WILAN technologies. Matthew outlined the various wireless standards and protocols. The main advantage of WILAN is the mobility and flexibility it creates. All a client needs is a wireless card and the network configurations. However, there are some security issues. Matthew suggested "Bluesocket", which acts like a firewall for a wireless network. Various access privileges can be assigned using bluesocket. There are some important points to consider when choosing WILAN. Some of these points are
The contact details for Integrity Data Systems are:
Paige Luff
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