Meeting New Challenges with New Technology: The Seattle Public Library Experience
| Pages | 22-27 |
| Published date | 01 December 2004 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07419050410577578 |
| Date | 01 December 2004 |
| Author | Marilyn Sheck |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Meeting New Challenges with New Technology:
The Seattle Public Library Experience
Marilyn Sheck
22 LIBRARY HITECH NEWS Number 10 2004, pp. 22-27, #Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/07419050410577578
Libraries' use of technology has
been growing exponentially over the
past ten years. Sometimes that growth is
driven by services, sometimes by
demand, and sometimes by other
forces. In Seattle, the passing of a
$196.4 million bond measure to
renovate, expand, or replace our
existing Central Library and 23
branches, and to add three new
libraries, was the main catalyst for
incorporation of new technologies into
our operations.
Challenge 1: to wire or not to wire
The new Seattle Central Library is
an architectural masterpiece by the
Office of Metropolitan Architecture
(OMA) (Figure 1). It is made up of five
``boxes,'' each dedicated to a discrete
function±parking, staff, meeting space,
books, and headquarters. Each box is
topped with a public space. The boxes
seem to be floating above each other.
The building is wrapped in a complex
steel and glass skin. There are few
interior walls. The typical wiring
scheme using main distribution frames
(MDFs) and intermediate distribution
frame (IDFs) was not possible in such a
building. Yet wireless is not yet robust,
fast, or secure enough to be trusted as
our only means of providing computer
access.
Solution: fiber to the desktop
As we weighed the positives and
negatives of fiber to the desktop, our
findings included the following
advantages:
.Building for the next generations
of technology. Fiber already per-
forms as well as or better than the
current and next generations of
copper cabling. It can handle
extremely large bandwidth. It
already handles fiber distributed
data interface (FDDI), asynchro-
nous transfer mode (ATM), enter-
prise systems connection, or
enterprise systems connectivity
(ESCON), and fibre channel
modes. It can carry multiple sig-
nals on the same wire. It is
indifferent to protocols and ser-
vices passing through ± it can carry
video, voice and/or data. New
standards give it backward and
forward compatibility, auto nego-
tiation technique for the highest
common speed and mode of opera-
tion, connector independence, en-
ables storage area network (SAN)
over the same transport media, and
is a foundation for an easy upgrade
path to 1,000Mbps.
.Non-conductive. Fiber is immune
to electrical interference, which
allows a signal to be transmitted
without the addition of noise. It is
virtually unaffected by radio inter-
ference, radio frequency interfer-
ence or voltage surges (important
with library using radio frequency
identification (RFID) and wi-fi).
There is no electromagnet inter-
ference, making it exempt from
Federal Communications Commis-
sion (FCC) regulations.
.Relatively cost-effective. Although
active electronics are more expen-
sive, fewer telecommunications
rooms are needed, saving money
on construction and leaving more
room for public and/or staff spaces.
Fewer active components are
needed. The cost of multimode
fiber is comparable to Cat 5e and
less than Cat 6 copper bulk ca-
bling.
.High bandwidth over much longer
distances. It is 300 meters for fiber
vs 90 meters for copper according
to standards.
.Enables centralized network ad-
ministration. Branches will need
only one telecommunications room
(even two story buildings). The
new Central Library has only four
intermediate distribution frame
(IDFs) in the 11-story building.
Many locations are home run
cables to the computer room. There
are fewer components to trouble-
shoot, thereby simplifying network
management. There are fewer
components to fail.
.Smaller, lighter and more durable
than copper. Cables are smaller in
diameter, taking up less space and
looking more aesthetically appeal-
ing. It also saves money by not
always having to run it through
conduit. Where conduit is used, a
smaller diameter conduit is needed.
It is lighter and more flexible than
copper. It is easier to install and
doesn't require special support
structures in chases. Fiber can be
pulled at eight times the pulling
tension of Cat 5. Typical cables
used include strength members and
stiffeners that make it hard to kink
and damage.
.Better security. Fiber is almost
impossible to tap since the signal
is in the form of light.
The one disadvantage we ran into
was the significantly higher cost of
patch cables (Figure 2).
Challenge 2: how to communicate
With the opening of the new Central
Library, Seattle Public Library
embarked on a new Reference Model.
We have a floor in the library named the
Mixing Chamber, which is the gateway
to the library's large non-fiction and
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