Students should not expect any disruptions in services as crews begin a $187,000 network infrastructure upgrade in Zimmerman, Fine Arts, Centennial and Parish facilities during the next few weeks, according to library officials.
Work is expected to begin early next month on the first phase of the Information Commons project — a redesign of the library that focuses on increased computer accessibility. Phase one will involve replacing network wiring in all four libraries, allowing for a faster connection to the UNM network backbone.
“We’re going to work very hard with the subcontractor to avoid disruption of services and distraction of library users,” said Nancy Dennis, Zimmerman director of collections and service. “We’re going to try to do as much after or before open hours, or at less busy times.”
She said the contractors would build a “parallel system” and test it before switching the library computers and servers from the old network to the new.
“Most of these projects are designed to minimize disruption of service,” Dennis said. “We will switch over without disruptions, hopefully.”
According to a UNM General Library press release, the upgrade was necessary regardless of the outcome of phase two of the Information Commons project — a planning stage dependent on student and faculty input.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“The electronic infrastructure in the library must be upgraded, whether or not we ultimately develop the Information Commons,” General Library Dean Robert Migneault said in a news release. “The Student Fee Review Board mandated that the money they designated for the library must go toward the commons. So, we are using the $180,000 they appropriated toward this phase. This is not discretionary money that we can direct into acquisitions or anything else.”
Remote users of library services, such as Lexis Nexis, Ebscohost and the facility’s online catalog, will also benefit from increased bandwidth and server capabilities provided by the upgrade, Dennis said.
“We’ll be able to provide better connectivity to the outside world, users inside the library, campus offices, wherever,” she said.
Dennis said she expects work in Zimmerman Library to be completed by Jan. 1.
Besides the faster network connection, contractors will install an unspecified number of “iPorts” — wall-mounted laptop connections such as those built into Dane Smith Hall. All iPort users need special software and a UNM account to hook up to the network.
Planning for phase two begins in mid-fall, she said. Changes to the physical layout of the library might require future network additions.
The Facilities Planning Department will sponsor Information Commons forums for students and faculty in the fall to determine the needs of the library and to help create an appropriate balance between the library’s collection of two million books and its increasingly necessary computer equipment, Dennis said.
