sholio | Random tip for travelers (in the U.S., can't speak for other countries)

This may be so obvious that everyone knows it and I am the last person in the world to figure it out, but if you're looking for comfy places to check your email or have some quiet downtime while traveling ... libraries and universities!

I've been taking more advantage of them for that purpose, especially libraries. This may not be quite so true in larger urban areas and/or really small towns, but every library I've tried has had free wireless, as well as quiet places where you can plug in your laptop and do your thing without being bothered. (I am typing this at the Loussac right now.) Universities, too ... just about all of them have quiet study areas, and a lot of universities (i.e., as with libraries, all the ones where I've tried it) seem to allow anybody to connect to their wireless network without needing a university-affiliated login.

And sometimes when you're traveling you need a place to just sit, without having to pay for a drink or a meal or admission to a museum. Parks are also quite nice for this (some of my most pleasant memories of traveling are of stopping to rest and read for awhile in a park) but there is something to be said for someplace indoors, with chairs and Internet access.

Obviously the problem is that you have to find them, and if you don't have a car or map, that might be kind of difficult. But if you happen to stumble across one, or if you're already a little bit familiar with the town, they're handy. :)

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Library appreciation post! :D

I am fascinated by your experience with universities, because all the universities I've had experience with in this regard so far have had password-locked internet. All three have been Canadian - I wonder if it's a Canada vs US thing, or if my experience has just been coincidence.

At any rate, this is great travel advice! I will definitely be keeping it in mind, in case it's ever relevant.

US universities are a mixed bag. At my university, if you can get on a computer, you can surf the Internet, including web access to e-mail. However, you can't get on wifi without a password. You can't use one of the computers in a lab or study area. You can look for a computer that provides access to the library catalog and use that (as I have done in a university other than mine, in fact), but they're often on a high stand so that you have to stand up, to discourage people hogging them. It is only polite to yield such a computer when someone else needs it. (That's why, at a university other than mine, I find one as well hidden as possible.) I think more and more universities are limiting computer access in their libraries because those computers often give access to databases to which the libraries subscribe--and the licenses limit use to students, faculty, staff, and people with special library privileges. (I am very nervous about these subscriptions and how they replace durable books with databases that can be lost or withdrawn, but that's a rant for another time.)

Small libraries don't always have wifi. One of my librarian friends in a small town had someone come up to the desk and give her an earful about how libraries had to have wifi, but they have no budget for the equipment. In larger cities, however, libraries often do have wifi. Some will let non-residents use computers; others require a library card. (In the Tampa public library system, anyone can get on wifi, but library computers must be "checked out" with a library card, which requires proof of residency.)

Libraries are a great place to try, but I wouldn't get my hopes up in a small town or with a college or university. Small, private colleges are probably right out: the librarians may know everyone and demand to know why you're there!

*nods*

This has been my experience too.

At the college where I'm currently teaching, anyone could come into the library and use the internet or use the online databases or read any of the materials on the premises. But at the college an hour away, access to the online databases is psswd protected and dependent on enrollment at the college. Which I find extremely irritating. My little college's online database subscription is bottom tier, so we don't get jstor or other things. As I'm working on my dissertation, I wanted to find a nearby institution that would have better database access for research; all I need to do is *find* the stuff. My library can ILL it. But even though I'm a professor and just want to access their databases (on their premises!), they sincerely acted like I wanted to barbecue babies and feed them to the Dothraki horde. LOL Our librarian arranged some seeeeekrit way for me to go in and use their services with the implication that the librarian could get in trouble, and wow. *shakes head*

In defense of libraries, their subscription rates are generally based on the number of people who have access to a database. A small increase in numbers could push them into a higher tier, pricing a set of databases right out of their budget. Some of the publishers are also writing very tight contracts about who can and can't access the databases, and the libraries can lose access if they violate the contracts. A friend of mine had to drive two hours to another institution to use databases there, but there was a catch: because he wasn't one of their people, he was limited to one hour of access a day.

I find these situations absurd. If the libraries owned the print or microfilm versions of many of these resources, anyone they let through the doors could look. I don't blame the libraries, however. I blame the publishers and especially their lawyers. Libraries are in a very tight spot, and many librarians are unhappy about it. They have no power with which to bargain, however.

Oh wow. I had no idea that those contracts are so tight. And, of course, I completely agree with you that the librarians themselves are unhappy about this situation. I've never known a librarian who was gung ho about limiting access to the library for anyone. LOL

I do think there are some other issues mixed up in this as well, though. For one, parents often drop off their young children unattended at libraries for babysitting if they have to work (this is usually more public libraries than uni ones). My husband's parents did this to him when he was a kid. He'd get dropped off the bus at his empty house and walk to the library and stay there for like two or three hours until his parents got off work. Josh was a good studious kid (and this was late eighties, early nineties, so internet wasn't an issue), so he wasn't destructive or anything. He just read. But a lot of the other kids in that boat were rowdy, disruptive and/or destructive. I think this continues to be a problem, and one in which I'm very sympathetic to both sides of the equation. I have a lot of sympathy for parents who cannot afford childcare, but I also understand that the library can't be liable for unattended kids who might destroy library property. I think some libraries are limiting access in the hopes that if the kids can't get on the internet or use library materials without fulfilling certain conditions, they'll find somewhere else to go after school. This is how the situation in the library nearby was explained to me, that they'd had a lot of destruction in the library from community kids who were not attending the college.

Which is such a shame because I think of what a refuge the library is for so many people. I know it was for my husband.

Not just a US trick! We managed free Internet time at several libraries through Scandinavia, central Europe and England, and that was back in '99 - I would expect that if anything, it's more common now! Our biggest problem was the weird keyboard layouts and trying to find the @ key. :P

When I was unemployed, I went to the library every week to read the periodicals. I discovered that, at least in Manhattan, the library is where a lot of homeless people go to be out of the cold and near a bathroom. And have internet.

McChuckas (McDonalds) has free wifi in Australia

we have people come into the library where I work all the time to use our computers and wifi. If you're from out of the county/area, all we ask is to see your photo ID and you can get a guest pass for accessing our computers (password protected). If you have your own laptop- you're set as long as the wifi is working correctly.

The county recently cut our budget- therefore cutting 4 of our staff and cutting our hours drastically. The reasoning behind the cuts- the county board members think libraries are out-dated and no one uses them. Obviously none of them have been IN a library lately. Our library is on a smaller scale for the area (we're part of the ATL sprawl)but we are crazy busy all the time.

Especially since the economy has nosedived. We've got everyone from homeless looking for warmth or air conditioning (depending on season) to adults going back to school because they need to find a job in a new career. Our summer kids' programs are so full we have to turn people away. We even (now) have a limited amount of downloadable audio books (for your mp3 player) and Ebooks (for everything except the kindle).

If you have the opportunity- let your local gov'ts. know- Libraries are not expendable. People rely on them- even if it's for a quiet place to just escape their children:)

sorry for slipping into rant mode!!

Yay for the library and librarians! :)

You are so right about how busy libraries are. I live in a tiny town, population less than 4000, and the library is always slam packed. Always. They're vital.

Random tip for travelers (in the U.S., can't speak for other countries)

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