As early as spring 2014, Middleton Library’s study room reservation process will become streamlined and move online much like the Office of Evaluation and Assessment’s testing signup.
Student Government presented the idea to Middleton Library at the beginning of the semester, but the plan to implement the new system became definite only recently, said SG Vice President Taylor Parks.
“Moving the study reservation process online won’t have any effect on the student workers at the circulation desks, they have other responsibilities,” Parks said. “This will eliminate the middleman.”
But students will still be able to reserve a study room in-person through the circulation desks if necessary.
Middleton Library collaborated with Information Technology Services to develop a system. ITS launched a demo for testing purposes which will be used to model the actual version.
As of now, the only thing holding up launching the system is for Middleton Library to decide which data package will be used. Each package has a certain number of entries and each entry handles a certain number of reservations that can be made in a certain time frame.
The costs of packages are measured by number of entries in each package, which can range from 20 entries to more than 100 entries. Package costs range from $899 to $1499 per year. Student Government would cover 20
percent of the costs.
Pending Middleton Library’s package choice, there are a number of accounts SG can utilize to fund this initiative. For smaller packages, SG may dip into its programming account. If Middleton Library chooses a larger package, SG will fund the initiative through the executive initiative account or the president and vice president contingency funds, Parks said.
There is no word on whether the online reservation tool will be launched through Middleton Library’s website or a new domain will be created similar to the domain for scheduling tests.
When Middleton Library selects a software and ITS gets the service running, it will be implemented immediately, Parks said.