Wireless Applications:

Linking Users and Information Resources

Prepared By Tom Green

This report provides background on my research into wireless applications and introduces two recommendations for immediate implementation:

v a pilot project for wireless connectivity to the Internet within Beeghly Library;

v a wireless mobile classroom for library instruction.

Background on the research process

My study of wireless technology was made possible during a study leave granted during the summer of 2002. Funding came from the Ohio Wesleyan University Libraries and a grant from the Thomas E. Wenzlau (TEW) Fund. I read several books and periodical articles (Appendix A) and made extensive use of World Wide Web resources (some useful URLs are identified in this report). I attended two conferences:

v “No Strings Attached” National Conference and Showcase on the Application of Wireless Technology and Personal Digital Assistants in Higher Education held at Case Western Reserve on May 1-2, 2002 (Appendix B).

v “Gadgets, Gizmos & Gigabytes: Great Stuff?” the Consortium of Liberal Arts (CLAC) Annual Conference at Hope College on June 20-22, 2002 (Appendix C).

I met with Tony Smith, Director of Information Systems at Ohio Wesleyan, on May 30, 2002. I met with Ohio Wesleyan Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) students Charith Perera, Danish Shafi, Shaunak Kashyap, and Christopher Grote on April 11, 2002. I made the following site visits:

v Oberlin College on July 18, 2002 and met with John Bucher, Director of Information Technology; Linda Iroff, Assistant to the Director; Art Ripley, Network Administrator; and Allison Gould, Head of Circulation, Oberlin College Library (Appendix D).

v University of Akron on July 19, 2002 and met with Phyllis O’Connor, Assistant Director of Libraries; Susan DiRenzo, University Libraries Systems Coordinator; and Mark Porter, Network Engineer (Appendix E).

v DePauw University on July 25, 2002 and met with Rick Provine, Associate Director of Libraries, and Mike Moore, Director of Computer Operations (Appendix F).

v Indiana State University in Terre Haute on July 26, 2002 and met with Chris Hayes, Systems Programmer (Appendix G).

An excellent introduction to wireless for the liberal arts college is available on the NITLE, the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education, web site (http://www.nitle.org/wireless/). Case studies from Washington and Lee, Macalester, and Franklin and Marshall are detailed. Marshall Breeding (2002) has written a succinct overview article on wireless technology for librarians (http://libraryjournal.reviewsnews.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA232339). Bill Drew, Systems Librarian at SUNY-Morrisville, moderates the LibWireless discussion group and maintains a web site about wireless libraries (http://people.morrisville.edu/~drewwe/wireless/), although many of the links are not current (July 22, 2002).

Other sources of information include, thinkmobile (http://www.thinkmobile.com), a portal dedicated to the world of mobile and wireless computing, and Wireless Week (http://www.wirelessweek.com/), an in-depth weekly newspaper covering business, technology and regulatory news in cellular, personal communications services, paging, specialized mobile radio, private mobile radio, wireless Internet, wireless data, satellite, wireless local loop and microwave.

Wireless connectivity within Beeghly Library

Installing wireless Internet capability in Beeghly Library will extend where students can do research beyond the location of wired computers. It will give students the flexibility to work near the area where subject books or periodicals are located, to move to a location he/she finds more comfortable, to collaborate in a small group, and to bring a research question directly to a reference librarian.

I propose a pilot project of two Access Points (APs) placed on existing network cabling on the first floor of Beeghly Library using the Cisco Aironet 1200 Series (http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/pd/witc/ao1200ap/). This type of AP provides simultaneous support of both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radio frequencies. Case Western Reserve University is planning to use this Cisco equipment in its upgrade of its wireless communications network infrastructure.

CLAC colleges are using the 802.11b wireless standard (frequently referred to as “Wi-Fi” which stands for wireless fidelity; the Wireless Ethernet Compliance Alliance (http://www.wi-fi.com/) certifies interoperability). The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (http://standards.ieee.org/wireless/), or simply IEEE, sets computing and communications standards. 802.11 is the standard for wireless Local Area Networks (LANs) and a whole series of letters represent different working areas. The most common standards in the news today are a, b, and g. 802.11b (“11b”) uses the 2.4GHz radio frequency, part of the unlicensed Industrial Scientific Medicine (ISM) bands, and offers a throughput of 5.5 or 11 Mbps. 802.11a (“11a”) uses the 5 GHz radio frequency and up to 54 Mbps. 802.11g (“11g”) uses the 2.4 GHz radio frequency, but promises greater bandwidth (54 Mbps) than “11b” and backward compatibility with “11b” cards, although the maximum bandwidth would remain at 11 Mbps. Adoption of “11g” isn’t expected until March 2003.

By installing the Cisco Aironet 1200 Series, we can support those who already have an “11b” card while positioning ourselves to upgrade to “11a” or “11g” as these technologies evolve. Tony Smith prefers that we use Cisco hardware for reliability and compatibility with other Cisco products in use on the OWU campus. After reviewing the major companies that offer APs, I agree with Tony that we will be well served with a Cisco product. The CLAC colleges and the colleges I visited that use Cisco hardware are using earlier products (Cisco Aironet 340s and 350s), a product line that may soon be taken off the market.

The Cisco Aironet 350 Series (http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/pcat/ao350.htm), in use at Kalamazoo College, the University of Akron (see http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/pd/witc/ao350ap/ for a customer testimonial), and Indiana State University in Terre Haute, received PC Magazine’s Editors’ Choice in the Enterprise class (Janowski & Chang, 2002). This AP, however, works only with “11b.”

The University of Akron had a site survey conducted by NeTeam (http://www.neteam.com/), a company they highly recommend. The University of Akron has 600 APs on campus, including 29 on four floors of the library. The library circulates 150 IBM ThinkPad laptop computers. For network security, they use the ACS authentication package for wireless with their RADIUS server.

The Cunningham Memorial Library on the campus of Indiana State University in Terre Haute has 12 APs on four floors. They have found the vertical transmission to be stronger than horizontal. From the Reference Desk, they circulate 36 Cisco Aironet PC cards, 8 IBM ThinkPad notebook computers, two wireless adapters for Handspring Visor, and two wireless Expansion Packs for Compaq iPAQ PocketPCs. They use the WEP encryption that came with the equipment for security.

Other AP products are available. Albion College is using ORiNOCO (http://www.orinocowireless.com/). The College of Wooster is using Apple AirPorts (http://www.apple.com/airport/). Macalester College is using 3COM (http://www.3com.com/index2.html). DePauw University, Earlham College, and Oberlin College use Enterasys (http://www.enterasys.com/home.html). Based on my conversations at the CLAC Annual Conference with staff members from these colleges, each school is pleased with the vendor they chose.

DePauw, which has one AP in the coffee nook of the library and another on the lower level near offices and a production lab, is not adding any more APs at this time. During my site visit, I learned that they are not as pleased as was expressed at CLAC and that they are considering changing their hardware platform. Earlham has one AP with two antennas providing complete coverage to the three floors of the library. During my site visit at Oberlin, I learned that they have 13 APs in the library. Their hardware allows for 100 simultaneous campus users. They have no security in place. The Oberlin Library has seven circulating iBooks.

Wireless security is a major concern. Some places (Oberlin) are not using any security system at all. Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a method of encrypting data over a wireless 802.11b network that comes with most wireless hardware. DePauw and Indiana State University in Terre Haute are using WEP software and haven’t had any problems to date. Unfortunately, this protocol has been shown to have flaws from serious hacking (Molta, 2002). According to the network systems staff at the University of Akron, the RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) authentication system supported by CISCO is seen as the only “adequate” security system currently available for wireless. We have the infrastructure to implement the RADIUS authentication system, although it may require more technical support. I recommend that we establish our wireless APs as a separate network. I would like to see wireless added as soon as possible using the WEP encryption that comes with the equipment. Further testing with our RADIUS authentication system could be explored throughout the pilot. We may also want to explore using a Bluesocket (http://www.bluesocket.com/) or ReefEdge (http://www.reefedge.com/) appliance to authenticate wireless users before they gain access to network resources. Both support a variety of authentication methods, including RADIUS.

By starting with two APs, we will immediately provide students in the Bashford Lounge and Beeghly Reference area with wireless capability. If our experience is the same as Indiana State University and other colleges, we will also have wireless access on the floors above and below the APs. We can expand this small wireless network to other parts of the library and campus based on what we discover through this initial implementation. I can foresee adding APs in the Bayley Room and Great Teachers Room. Such a configuration would provide wireless access in the major areas where students congregate. If we chose to make the entire library wireless, we could strategically place additional APs to cover the stack areas. In my opinion, Ohio Wesleyan Information Systems staff members have the technical ability to install the wireless APs and their antennas. The person with this assignment will need to be allotted time to experiment with the placement and configuration of the equipment.

Mobile wireless lab

I recommend we experiment with wireless laptop computers and at least one AP for teaching in Beeghly. Librarians need a computer lab to support their teaching. We could build our own system by putting together the various components (cart, AP(s), laptops, printer) or, more simply, use a Gateway (http://www.gateway.com/work/edu/promotions/mobile_options.shtml) package that would come with guarantees of compatibility and cost about $25,000-30,000.

As reported at CLAC Annual Conferences, Gettysburg College has been using wireless laptops on mobile carts for several years. At the Milwaukee Area Technical College, the librarians “love the wireless cart since it provides … an instant computer lab” (Mathias & Heser, 2002).

Whether we are teaching in a wired or wireless computer lab, it would be helpful to use software with a set of tools for sharing information, interactively and efficiently. Ashland University is using AB Tutor Control (http://www.abconsulting.com/TutorControl.htm), although they are not entirely satisfied with it. It allows for launching programs on all or selected workstations, control a selected student workstation, show the instructors’ workstation screen on all student workstations. Robotel (http://www.robotel.com/english/educational_world.html) is another source of similar software available in a greater array of product formats, albeit more expensive.

Other wireless applications

One of the more exciting developments I learned about during this project is that some places (Seattle (http://www.seattlewireless.net), Portland (http://www.personaltelco.net), San Francisco (http://www.bawug.org), New York City (http://www.nycwireless.net) and selected other cities are building wireless community networks (Flickenger, 2002). This is an effort to provide unrestricted, free access to information.

Fee-based services allowing wireless Internet access are also being developed. Boingo Wireless (http://www.boingo.com/), Joltage (http://www.joltage.com/jsp/home/home.jsp), and Wayport (http://www.wayport.com/) for example, offer “hot spots,” a popular term for wireless connectivity, in hotels, airports, restaurants and other common areas.

Another interesting wireless development is Bluetooth (http://www.bluetooth.org/) wireless technology, “named after Harald Blåtand, a tenth century Danish Viking king who united and controlled Denmark and Norway” (Bray & Sturman, 2001, 2). The Bluetooth specification outlines how to set up short-range wireless links that allows up to eight devices to connect together. Through this ubiquitous standardized communications subsystem, cell phones, head sets, computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), printers, digital cameras, and other devices can communicate seamlessly without cables (Miller & Bisdikian, 2001, xiii). This wireless technology offers the possibility of unifying the telecommunications and computing industries.

Another way Bluetooth wireless technology could be used is to create a quiet zone in the library. Using a product called “Q-Zone” (http://www.bluelinx.com/qzonewhat.html), a Bluetooth enabled mobile phone’s volume will change, depending upon the manufacturer’s specifications, to vibrate or ring at a lower volume.

According to Bridges, “Libraries … have neglected the importance of … the cellular phone” (2002). Bridges, like Director of Information Systems Tony Smith, believes that combining the cell phone with a handheld computer represents what is likely to be the future information communication medium. There is a fierce battle being waged by the telecommunications industry in the transition from 2G (second generation) to 3G (third generation) technology. Cellular Networking Perspectives (http://www.cnp-wireless.com/links.html), published monthly since July 1992, provides subscribers with concise, accurate and readable information about cellular and Personal Communications Service (PCS) technology and standards.

The standards for wireless cellular telephones face a global challenge. There are three 2G wireless standards: GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access), and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). “GSM dominates in Europe; GSM and CDMA are widely used in Asia; while all three standards, CDMA, TDMA and GSM, are used in North America” (Coyle, 2001, 95). Each of these standards is “tied to corporate and national political entities with vested interests in infrastructure and equipment” (Coyle, 2001, 101). Because of slow transfer speeds, similar to a 14.4 kbps modem, 2G technology is not well suited to data transfer. The Federal Communications Commission (http://www.fcc.gov/3G/) has a web site devoted to Third Generation Wireless.

Innovative Interfaces, the vendor for both CONSORT and OhioLINK, introduced AirPAC, a catalog interface designed for wireless devices, at the 2001 ALA Annual Conference in San Francisco (http://www.iii.com/html/news/n_press6-16.shtml#article). With AirPAC, the handheld device becomes a searching tool with which users can issue OPAC searches from the classroom or the library stacks. Patrons with Internet-enabled cell phones or PDAs can search the OPAC, browse titles, and peruse bib records or item lists. AirPAC supports both Web clipping applications such as the OmniSky browser and wireless Web browsers such as EudoraWeb running on devices which use the Palm Operating System. The CONSORT Colleges may want to explore adding AirPAC.

Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is the standard for delivering information from the Internet to Smart Phones or PDAs. The Open Mobile Alliance Ltd. (http://www.wapforum.org/), established by the consolidation of the WAP Forum and the Open Mobile Architecture Initiative, fosters worldwide growth in the mobile services market.

Wireless is a “hot” topic. Almost daily there are articles, many with fantastic declarations and futuristic dreams.

v Etherlinx, for example, is a company that claims it can transmit Internet data using the 802.11b standard up to twenty miles at high speeds (Markoff, 2002).

v Leading computer and telecommunications companies such as Intel, IBM, AT&T, Verizon, and Cingular envision Project Rainbow, a nationwide service supplying “hot spots” in airports and other public places.

v Ultra wideband (UWB), used for decades by the military to communicate wirelessly without being detected by opposing forces, offers the possibility of being a low-cost, low-power, high-speed alternative to current wireless technologies. Proponents claim UWB could transmit data at speeds of 500 Mbps at a fraction of the cost of a network based on 802.11b. (Brody, 2002).

Conclusion

My study of wireless has been a wonderful opportunity for me to delve deeply in a subject. My recommendations for implementing a wireless network in Beeghly and using wireless technology for a teaching lab offer practical benefits to the students and faculty of Ohio Wesleyan. By adopting these recommendations, Ohio Wesleyan can take immediate advantage of the possibilities of wireless technology.

Sources

Bergeron, B. (2001). The wireless web: How to develop and execute a winning wireless strategy. NY: McGraw-Hill.

Bryan Bergeron teaches at Harvard Medical School and MIT and is president of Archetype Technologies, a technology consulting firm. This primer on the business and technology of the wireless Web is an eye-opener on e-commerce developments taking place in Europe and Japan that are likely to impact Americans.

Bray, J, & Sturman, C. F. (2001). Bluetooth: Connect without cables. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall PTR.

Jennifer Bray, a consultant at Cambridge Silicon Radio, and Charles F. Sturman, manager of TTPCom’s Bluetooth hardware development program, explain the Bluetooth standard (1.0) as defined by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). A professional’s guide to using this low cost, low power, short-range radio technology.

Breeding, M. (2002). A hard look at wireless networks. Netconnect, 14-17.

Marshall Breeding, Library Technology Officer at Vanderbilt University, has written a succinct overview article on wireless technology for librarians.

Bridges, K. (2002). The wireless future of library computing: Implications of Docomo cell phones. Retrieved on July 12, 2002 from LISNews.com.

Karl Bridges presents a case for the convergence of cellphones and handhelds as information retrieval and storage devices.

Brody, D. (2002, June 18). Who’s afraid of ultra wideband? RedHerring.

Dan Brody reports on ultra wideband (UWB), used for decades by the military to communicate wirelessly without being detected by opposing forces that offers the possibility of being a low-cost, low-power, high-speed alternative to current wireless technologies.

Coyle, F. P. (2001). Wireless web: A manager’s guide. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Addison-Wesley.

Frank P. Coyle, director of the Executive Software Engineering Program at Southern Methodist University, has written a concise and accessible introduction to the potential of the wireless web for delivering new applications and services. Each chapter contains references to printed material and web sites for more information.

Davies, J. (2002, June 9). Wireless missionary. San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved on August 6, 2002 from LexisNexis Academic Universe.

Staff writer Jennifer Davies outlines the fight for cell customers around the world. She highlights Qualcomm’s push of CDMA.

Dugan, R. E. (2001). Managing laptops and the wireless network at the Mildred F. Sawyer Library. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 27, 295-298.

Robert E. Dugan, Director of Libraries, discusses the issues involved in introducing and managing laptop computers and a wireless network in the Sawyer Library at Suffolk University in Boston.

Ewalt, D. M. (2002, June 24). Making connections, wirelessly and securely. Informationweek.com.

David M. Ewalt reports on a Cisco appliance ($15,995) to monitor wirless LAN access points in use at Stanford.

Flickenger, R. (2002). Building wireless community networks. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly.

Rob Flickenger, the systems administrator for the O’Reilly Network, advocates building the infrastructure to support a wireless network to connect people within communities. His nuts-and-bolts guide describes using 802.11b, selecting appropriate equipment, and finding antenna sites. He explains how to use a Pringles can to build an inexpensive yagi antenna.

Garg, V. J. (2002). Wireless network evolution: 2G to 3G. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall PTR.

Vijay K. Garg, who teaches in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, reviews the fundamental principles of code division multiple access (CDMA) underlying existing second-generation (2G) cellular and personal communications services (PCS) systems. He provides details for the evolution of time division multiple access (TDMA)-based Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and IS-136 networks in migration to 3G. He covers technical issues associated with wireless networking, including planning, management and optimization of 3G systems. This is a technical book written for telecommunication engineers or graduate students in electrical engineering, telecommunication engineering, or computer engineering.

Geier, J. (2001). Wireless LANs (2^nd ed). Indianapolis, IN: Sams.

Jim Geier, an independent consultant who has served on various IEEE committees, provides a practical overview of wireless network technologies, with emphasis on the IEE 802.11 wireless LAN standard and implementation steps and recommendations. His web site is at http://www.wireless-nets.com

Ginszburg, B. (2001). Goin’ mobile: Using a wireless network in the library. Computers in Libraries, 21, 40-44. Retrieved on July 11, 2001 from EBSCOhost.

Barbara Ginzburg, automation/technical services librarian, discusses her experiences in bringing a wireless network to the University of Kansas Law Library in Lawrence.

Glover, J. L. (2001). Look ma, no wires! Or, the 10 steps of wireless networking. Computers in Libraries, 21, 28-31. Retrieved on July 11, 2002 from EBSCOhost.

James L. “Larry” Glover, systems manager and Webmaster at the William F. Laman Public Library in North Little Rock, Arkansas, presents steps for libraries to use to install wireless networking.

Harte, L., Kitka, R., & Levine, R. (2002). 3G wireless demystified. NY: McGraw-Hill.

“The key improvements in 3G that are different than 2G cellular technologies include better packet data control, high speed data transmission (up to 2 Mbps), multiple radio channel bandwidths (narrow 2G and wide 3G), and multiple channel data rates (higher-speed data transmission when radio channel quality is good)” (p. 85). The main issues for both users and operators will be capacity and security” (Foreward, xx).

Heltzel, P. (2002). The complete idiot’s guide to wireless computing and networking. Indianapolis, IN: Alpha Books.

Technology journalist Paul Heltzel has written an easy to understand introduction to wireless computing for home and small business.

Janowski, D. D., & Chang, S. (2002, May 21). The lay of the wireless LAN. PC Magazine, 104-117.

PC Magazine Labs tested 20 sets of wireless LAN products: 17 running under the 802.11b standard and three under 802.11a. This issue of PC Magazine includes several other informative articles on wireless.

Keene, I. (2002, March 21). The ABCs of 802.11 standards. Enterprise. Retrieved March 28, 2002 from ZDNet at http://www.zdnet.com/enterprise.

A good overview article on what to expect from 802.11 wireless LAN standards and when.

Markoff, J. (2002, July 16). Talks weigh big project on wireless Internet link. The New York Times on the Web.

John Markoff reports on Project Rainbow, an nationwide service to reach the Internet from airports and other public places being undertaken by Intel, IBM, AT&T, Verizon, and Cingular.

Markoff, J. (2002, June 10). 2 tinkers say they’ve found a cheap way to broadband. The New York Times on the Web.

John Markoff publicizes the possibilities of Etherlinx, a company that claims to be able to take the 802.11b standard and transmit Internet data up to 20 miles. This technology could make broadband available widely and cheaply.

Mathias, M. S., & Heser, S. (2002). Mobilize your instruction program with wireless technology. Computers in Libraries, 22, 24-29. Retrieved on July 11, 2002 from EBSCOhost.

Molly Susan Mathias, reference librarian and instructional specialist, and Steven Heser, north campus librarian and Web developer, highlight the use of laptop computers for instruction sessions for the Milwaukee Area Technology College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Miller, B. A., & Biskian, C. (2001). Bluetooth revealed: The insider’s guide to an open specification for global wireless communications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall PTR.

Both authors, Brent A. Miller and Chatschik Bisdikian, work for IBM and have been involved in establishing the Bluetooth specifications. They explain the thinking behind the development of many chapters in the Bluetooth specification.

Mitchell, R. L. (2002). Wireless at full throttle. Computerworld, 36, 63.

Robert L. Mitchell recommends 802.11b for most enterprise applications, even though first-generation 802.11a is faster.

Molta, D. (2002). Wireless LANs reach the last hurdle. Network Computing, 13, 38-43. Retrieved on July 11, 2002 from EBSCOhost.

Dave Molta reports on efforts to overcome security issues in wireless technology.

Pogue, D. (2002, May 16). Connecting gadgets, without wires. The New York Times on the Web.

The New York Times technology editor commends Bluetooth.

Stallings, W. (2002). Wireless communications and networking. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

William Stallings, Ph.D. in Computer Science from M.I.T., covers wireless communications and networks, and the associated technologies. There is an interesting web site for this book at http://WilliamStallings.com/Wireless1e.html

Wildstrom, S. H. (2002, June 24). Wi-Fi: Revolution turns into confusion. Business Week, 3788, 23. Retrieved on July 11, 2002 from EBSCOhost.

Stephen H. Wildstrom contends that interface problems are going to arise at 802.11b proliferates. He is also concerned about the incompatibility of “a” and “g” and “b.”

Yen, D. C., & Chou, D. C. (2001). Wireless communication: The next wave of Internet technology. Technology in Society, 23, 217-226.

David C. Yen, Department of Decision Sciences and MIS, Miami University (OH), and David C. Chou, Department of Finance and Computer Information Systems, Eastern Michigan University, introduce the practical applications of wireless technology in business and society.

No Strings Attached

Case Western Reserve
5/1/02

In the opening presentation, “The University of South Dakota: PDA’s and Enhancement of Education,” Don Dahlin, Acting President of the University of South Dakota, described their initiative this academic year where they distributed 1,000 Palm pdas to first year students & 400 Palms to faculty. More information about the program can be found at http://www.usd.edu/pda

“The Wireless Institute: Technology, Research, and Assessment – A New Agenda” was the topic for the opening panel. Casey Green, Director/Founder of the Campus Computing Project, presented some of his research findings. He has found institutional priorities to be: (1) integrating IT into instruction, (2) user support. The strategic issues for CIOs are: (1) clarifying IT, (2) IT training for IT personnel. (3) retaining IT personnel, (4) Web resources in instruction, (5) course mgmt systems (CMS). Some 70% of campuses now have a CMS.

Arlene Krebs, CA State U – Monterey Bay, described their grant for wireless technology and development of a research institute.

Gilbert Gonzales, CTO at CSU – Monterey Bay, also shared info about their center for wireless technology.

Viji Mirali, Vice President, CIO, Western MI, described their grant for demonstration projects. They are along with Monterey Bay are developing a national clearinghouse.

I attended a breakout session on “Making the Right Choices for Your Campus WLAN” presented by Lianne Caeterno, Wireless Product Line Manager for Netgear. She talked about the IEEE standards 802.11 b, a, g and the decreasing costs for access points. For example, an 11b sells for about $149 Wi-Fi 32 users, an 11a $379 Wi-Fi5 64 users. Some access points have dual bands. The g standard is expected to be ratified March 2003. It will allow a higher density, less RF interference. Some of the standards (802.1x, TKIP, SSN, i) will better handle security issues.

Nate Fagen, Program Chair at Des Moines Area Community College, presented “Building the Campus of Tomorrow -- Today.” This school, which opened this academic year uses Compaq & Cisco equipment for its infrastructure. He talked about the classroom/campus climate, staff and faculty response to using technology in their teaching, and how they use Pocket Course Content.

I sat next to a network engineer from Netgear (Smiley) who told me about his enthusiasm for Bluetooth. He had recently been to Frankfurt, Germany and had seen how far advanced this technology is there. He thinks it could have some interesting applications in a library setting.

The keynote dinner speaker was Mike Lorion, Vice President of Palm Computer. He talked about various educational initiatives Palm is involved with.

5/2/02
John C. Fowler, Sun Microsystems, presented “Infrastructure for Development and Deployment of Wireless Applications in a Ever Changing World.” He and a sidekick described various Java applications. He recommended visiting some of their web sites: http://sun.com/jini; http://www.jini.org/, http://www.jcp.org

“Next Generation of Wireless Technology for the Next Generation” was presented by folks from Sprint. Sprint is working closely with Case Western. Bob Rice is the Sprint rep for Case Western. Mark Uhart, is Sprint’s Higher Education Market Mgr. He talked about Wireless Portals at such places as Pepperdine, Drexel, and Rollins. Princeton has reviews. Tony Lent, Area V-P of Sprint PCS, talked about 3G.

Ken Klitzke presented “Compaq’s Wireless Networking Vision.” He talked about bandwidth and security (.11i), 3G, speed and distance. He recommended a pilot, then adapt, implement, and revisit. Compaq has a rep at OSU.

Carol Schmitt, VP Business Development and Educational Affairs for Bluesockett, talked about “Security and Management of Wireless LANs on the Campus.” She was recently working with Harvard (an attendee was from there) where she discovered that they have seven different security systems in place. She is working with them to coordinate security efforts. She covered a variety of acronyms: VPN gateway Virtual Pathway Network, PAN – Bluetooth, LAN, WAN. Authentication is the key. Security/privacy issues. Also check out LaSell College, Newton, MA.

Casey Green, moderated three separate panels that were part of a Ready2Net WebCast. The providers, speaking on the topic, “Campus Wireless Deployments: Techincal Challenges” included Jeff Gumpf, Case Western -- 5 yr 25 million with 1000 wireless access points; Charles Bartel, Carnegie Mellon, wireless is complementary; Doug Jackson, U of TX - Dallas -- student driven; Dewitt Latimer, U TN.

The topic for the industry reps was “Making Sense of Wireless Technology – The View From Industry.” Participants included Mike Lorion, Palm Computing; Mike Humke, Compaq; Terence White, IP Blue; John C. Fowler, Sun; Joan Leonard, SCT; Frank Peterpaul, Oracle. I liked it when they displayed their pdas on the central coffee table.

The final topic was “Campus Leadership and Wireless.” Each participant was asked if campus investments makes a difference. Panelists included Lev Gonick, Case Western; Gil Gonzales, CSU Monterey Bay; Viji Murali, Western MI; Tom Gaylord, Un of Akron; Susan Brazer, LionShare Media. They recommend experimentation, innovation.

Presentations will be available on the Web about ten days after the end of the Conference.

Gadgets, Gizmos & Gigabytes: Great Stuff?

CLAC 2002

Hope College

June 20-22, 2002

In the opening session, Carl Heideman, Hope College, indicated that the questions asked about technology at Hope are: Is it convenient? reliable? useful? These are good questions for us.

John Bucher, Oberlin College, talked about the importance of Emotional Intelligence in “It’s the Little Things That Count”. He highly recommends Daniel Goleman’s latest book Primal Leadership. “Little things make the big things go better, easier.”

I joined the discussion on “wireless” at the “Birds of a Feather Lunch.” Representatives from Albion, Carleton, Denison, Oberlin, Wabash, and Wellesley were at the table. Throughout the conference I asked representatives about their experience with wireless.

Albion uses Orinoco equipment throughout campus including the library. No security is in place and no known problems. Also, portable labs are using Toshibas which have been found to be very durable.

Carleton is limited to point-to-point bridging to buildings lacking wiring. The library is being remodeled but has difficult construction for wireless.

Denison initially installed wireless in Chemistry and Computer Science labs; adding more access points. There is resistance from librarians about installing in the library.

DePauw placed an access point on the second floor for academic computing and discovered it works on an upper and lower floor. The library coffee house and quad area are wireless. Computing gives computing student interns a laptop for wireless at work and campus use. The program is called ITAP (Information Technicians Assistance Program). They selected Enterasys equipment because it was cheaper and used “engineering by walking around” which has worked well. They are using a staged rollout model (expect to spend $250,000-300,000 for full campus).

Dickinson has 40 I-books, half library checkout and half on a traveling cart.

Earlham is using wireless for small house residences off campus; the library (which also houses computing) is completely wireless.

Franklin & Marshall, a Mac campus, is completely wireless and uses VPN as their security “solution”.

Gettysburg access every where, no problems.

Hope is putting wireless in the library this summer and houses off-campus.

Kenyon library is 100% accessible for Macs, but not advertised.

Oberlin library is 100% accessible and other spots on campus; the library has 15 laptops for checkout. Students can set up their own wireless connections (residences) with CIT support.

Pomona and the Claremont Colleges established common wireless for all five campuses and the surrounding area (for faculty housing). Users register to gain access but then roam anywhere.

Union is wireless.

Wabash has portable labs; the library will get wireless this summer.

Wooster has I-books on a cart.

Elliot Soloway, University of Michigan, enthusiastically advocated pdas for K-12 students in his presentation on “Kids These Days.”

In “The WISP (Web Integration Simulation Project) Collaboration – An Update,” I learned the Mellon-funded project with Occidental, Reed, Swarthmore, and Vassar. Martin Ringle, Reed, moderated. Potter Palmer, Occidental, Eric Behrens, Swarthmore, and Marianne Colgrove, Reed, shared their experiences. Institutions of our type have diverse problems that make collaboration difficult.

Jeff Overholtzer, Director of Technology Education at Washington & Lee, presented a grant-supported project to create a searchable Web-based database of images and other media in “Viewing Ireland: A Web-based Multimedia Project for Irish Studies.” See http://indexer.wlu.edu.

David Cossey, Union, presented “Glimpsing the Future,” a look at technology developments and applying them especially to the library and library concerns.

“Wireless Networking: What’s It For?” was a panel discussion moderated by Mark Berman, Williams. Chuck Kirkpatrick, DePauw, shared how they are giving students wireless access (through their ITAP program) so the students can discover creative uses for it. Bret Ingerman, Skidmore, described how they are designing a classroom so that the laptops can’t be taken from the room without setting off a security system alarm. Cindy Murman, Oberlin, talked about their wireless classroom and around campus, including the library and outside areas.

Paea LePendu, Programmer Analyst at Whitman, presented “Paper Waste and Social Norming.” They have five public printers, including two in the library. This past semester they tracked daily printing. They plan a campaign to make students more aware of how much paper is being used hoping that social norming can help curb waste. The library at Whitman made pdf files for reserves non-printable [which seems like a terrible decision]. Most of the CLAC colleges are providing free paper; some are looking at charging.

I attended the CLAC (Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges) business meeting and will provide Tony Smith with the agenda and documents distributed at the meeting.

I very much appreciate the opportunity to attend this year’s CLAC conference. Several of the programs and the networking opportunities were valuable for my study leave focus on wireless applications at Ohio Wesleyan.

Tom Green

6/26/02