Last year libraries with fewer than 100 computers on a LAN were advised to use inexpensive hubs, rather than more expensive switches. But this recommendation did not address security issues. In some libraries some patron access catalogs and Internet stations are in areas hidden from view. A library with switches and a security feature could protect the network from a laptop being plugged into the LAN. A switch detects a change in the address and shuts down the port if it detects an unknown device.
Switches do offer greater security than hubs, but most libraries don't have patrons disconnecting library PCs to connect a laptop. If that might be a problem, libraries could use a combination of hubs and switches, with the former installed only where the PCs are visible to library staff where laptops are common, libraries could consider installing jacks in many tables and carrels specifically for laptops.
One public library in a high-tech community installed 50 jacks in a building that has only 150 permanently installed devices. As many as 12 are in use at any one time. No one tried to disconnect any of the library's equipment.
