We are about to replace our public computers. They are 5 years old and VERY ready to be replaced. Our new computers will have USB ports in the front so that our users who are armed and dangerous with the pen drives can easily acess the port. Currently these users must hunt around the back of the computer for the USB port. Usually they do this when they have just finished a 30 page paper and haven't saved a single word of it. They yank the hard drive around to get access to the back and then they shreik in utter terror as the power cord falls out because they yanked the computer too hard.

The other big thing these computers will have are CD Burners. There is a big question bouncing around our library as to whether this is a good idea or not. The big concern is whether people will be downloading and copying software. Recently we have had quite a few people who now save things to their CD-RWs, such as PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, large spreadsheets, etc. These are legitimate uses.

We are still debating this issue, and will likely come up with some policy regarding this issue. I will share it when we do. In the mean time, I would like to know what your library is doing with CD Burners.