Scotch Plains Public Library : Computer Guidelines

Computer Guidelines for Scotch Plains Public Library

If you are a…

Member of the Scotch Plains Public Library or Fanwood Memorial Library: On the first screen, enter your 14-digit library barcode number. On the second screen, enter your four-digit PIN.
MURAL library cardholder and have registered with SPPL: On the first screen, enter your 14-digit library barcode number. On the second screen, enter your four-digit PIN.
MURAL library cardholder and have not yet registered with us: You must check in at the Circulation Desk to be entered into our system. You may then use your library barcode and PIN to log on.
Visitor from outside the MURAL region: Please sign up for an Internet Card at the Circulation Desk.

If you cannot remember your PIN, please ask at the Circulation Desk to have it reset.

If you are a student in the 7th grade or above, please use the computers in the main Adult Room.
If you are a child not yet in the 7th grade, please use a computer in the Children’s Room.
Children under the age of ten may use the computers in the Children’s Room only if accompanied for the entire period by a responsible adult over the age of thirteen. Adults supervising children under the age of ten should also use Children’s Room computers for their own work.

Every cardholder may log on for four 30-minute computer sessions each day. From 3pm to 6 pm, only two logins are allowed. After logging on, if you use less than 30 minutes, this still counts as an entire 30-minute session. Our system cannot keep track of minutes used, it can only keep track of sessions used. Therefore, please make the best use of your allotted time. If you log on four times for 10 minutes each time, you have used your time for the day. We are unable to extend your time or give you additional sessions if you have used your four daily logins.

After you have been logged on for 25 minutes, the computer will inform you that you have five minutes remaining, and will ask you if you wish to extend your time for an additional 30 minutes. Extending your time also means you are choosing to use your second login for the day. You must acknowledge the pop up box in order to extend your time. After you have been on the computer for one hour, you may extend your session further if no other patrons are waiting.

Afternoons are a busy time for computer use, every day of the week. Therefore, users are limited to two logins between the hours of 3pm and 6pm each day.
The two login limit may be applied at other times of the day, usually on busy weekend afternoons, at the librarian’s discretion.
If you use two logins before 3pm, you will then be blocked from the logging in between 3pm and 6pm. You may log on again after 6pm.
If it is within 15 minutes of the library’s closing time, the computer system will not permit you to log on.
To prevent unauthorized use of your library card and unauthorized printing charges, please be sure to log out before leaving the computer area.

Printing is available in black and white only.
You may print 5 pages each day at no cost.
Each additional page is 20 cents.
Please pay for your printouts at the Circulation Desk.
Please make use of the “Print Preview” screen before sending a print job to the printer. You are responsible for all of the pages printed while you are logged on. It is your responsibility to know what you are printing out. If you are unsure of how to use the Print Preview screen, please ask the librarian.
Some web sites offer a “Printable View” version of their pages that should be utilized whenever it is available. Please ask if you are unsure of how to use this feature.
If you are printing a PDF file, please send it to the printer one page at a time. Large PDF files may cause the printer to stop working. Please ask the librarians for assistance.

Our Internet terminals are unable to read CDs.
If you wish to listen to audio on our computers, you must bring headphones, as the speakers have been disabled. You may purchase earbud headphones at the Circulation Desk for $1.
We recommend using a USB memory drive to save your work. Several terminals have USB ports for this purpose.
Please note that no software can be downloaded onto our computers.
Our computers cannot read Microsoft Works (.wps) files.
Our system runs on an open-source platform. The browser is Mozilla Firefox, and the document-creation program is OpenOffice. OpenOffice can read and create files with common Microsoft Office extensions (.doc, .xls, .ppt) but the menu options are slightly different. Please ask the librarian for help if you are unfamiliar with our software.
Because of our open-source platform, our system is locked down and secure. Please be aware that some web sites will not load on our browser, and some documents (especially .jpg files) are not printable. Please note that this is for the security of the entire network and these features cannot be disabled.