With a Strategic Initiative Fund Grant, we will create a Mobile Mac Lab to foster Information Fluency skills across campus and to provide additional much needed computer resources for our community. The purchase of 25 Macbook Pro computers will allow us to create a movable computer lab that can be employed in educational activities both in the library and at any number of locations on campus. The laptops will be housed and charged in a special secure cart, which will be kept in a locked closet with electrical outlets. These computers will be accessible to students, faculty and staff for conferences, special events, group study, presentations, and classes. With the Mobile Mac Lab our campus will have the dynamic, cutting edge resources essential to keep our students abreast of developing library resources and technological advances.

The laptops would offer anyone in the Dominican community the opportunity to use state of the art technology. Unlike desktop computers which are set up permanently, the laptops can be stored when not in use. This allows for a much more flexible use of space. Currently in the library it is not unusual to have every desktop computer occupied but to have unutilized table space, while patrons wait in line or hover near the computers awaiting the departure of a computer user. Occasionally we have the opposite problem, that every desk and table is filled but one or two desktop computers are open. At these times, the choice is to leave the library to find seating or to sit in front of a computer without using it. The Mobile Mac Lab will go a long way to alleviating both problems without leaving any significant permanent footprint. In fact, the only permanent footprint would be the cart, which would normally be in a locked closet.

The Mobile Mac Lab expands access to technology for everyone and offers more options for usage environments than a desktop computer lab would. It will be an asset for members of our community who do not have access to laptop computers either because they do not own a laptop or do not have one on hand. For example, if a student needed to collaborate on a project with other students while using a computer, working in a lab would disturb everyone else in the lab. With a laptop, the student could go to the group study area in the library to collaborate. Or, a student could work with books in the library stacks, reading and typing notes on the laptop. Working directly among hundreds of books on the subject of a Master’s Thesis or Senior Thesis is a qualitatively different experience than bringing a few books at a time to a desktop computer.

The Mobile Mac Lab is a step toward Dominican becoming a greener campus. Laptops use far less power than desktop computers. Additionally, having access to laptops through the Mobile Mac Lab on campus will expand students’ commute options. They can choose to walk, ride a bike, or take public transit to campus without lugging a three to seven pound computer with them.

Finally, the librarians have encountered problems with finding an open computer lab in which to teach. With these laptops, librarians would not need a lab. We could teach information fluency skills in any classroom. Also, the Mobile Mac Lab would expand opportunities to provide mini lectures. It is inefficient for a class to come to a lab for a ten-minute presentation. With these laptops, librarians can distribute laptops and give mini lectures without the disruption to the learning environment caused by changing the class location from the regular classroom to the computer lab.