Recommended Chromebox for library catalog terminal?

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Ben Chapman

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Jul 31, 2018, 2:20:27 PM7/31/18
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Friends,

Do you have a recommended Chromebox to use as a library OPAC? Our ancient Macbook mini's are failing and this seems like a perfect use case. Any recommendations welcomed.

Many thanks,

Ben Chapman

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Ben Chapman
Atlanta, GA USA
b...@chapman-leff.net

Carol Santillo

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Jul 31, 2018, 2:43:12 PM7/31/18
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Hi Ben,

We have 16 Asus Chromeboxes in use as OPAC's in our 2 buildings. All except for one were purchased in 2014 and are still going strong. They are perfect for OPACs. The model we have (M004U) is no longer available. Amazon has a comparable model (G095U) listed at $159.99.

Carol

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Carol Santillo
Information Technology Coordinator
Massapequa Public Library

Ben Chapman

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Jul 31, 2018, 3:01:08 PM7/31/18
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Carol,

Thank you!

Ben

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Ben Chapman
Atlanta, GA USA
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Reinhard Engels

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Aug 29, 2018, 7:44:50 AM8/29/18
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Hi Ben,

This isn't a "chromebox," it's a chromebase (all-in-one) but I love it:

Acer Chromebase 24


It's not the cheapest thing in the world (circa $500), but it looks (and performs) like a device that cost several times that (full HD touchscreen is really nice). Quote a colleague ignorant of the underlying economics: "How can we afford such nice things?"

We've also (just) started using some chromebases as general purpose public access computing "web stations." 

Of course, what I love most about it is the ease of administration and deployment.

Reinhard


On Tuesday, July 31, 2018 at 3:01:08 PM UTC-4, Ben Chapman wrote:
Carol,

Thank you!

Ben

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Ben Chapman
Atlanta, GA USA
b...@chapman-leff.net

On Tue, Jul 31, 2018 at 2:43 PM, Carol Santillo <csan...@massapequalibrary.org> wrote:
Hi Ben,

We have 16 Asus Chromeboxes in use as OPAC's in our 2 buildings. All except for one were purchased in 2014 and are still going strong. They are perfect for OPACs. The model we have (M004U) is no longer available. Amazon has a comparable model (G095U) listed at $159.99.

Carol
On Tue, Jul 31, 2018 at 2:19 PM, Ben Chapman <b...@chapman-leff.net> wrote:
Friends,

Do you have a recommended Chromebox to use as a library OPAC? Our ancient Macbook mini's are failing and this seems like a perfect use case. Any recommendations welcomed.

Many thanks,

Ben Chapman

--
Ben Chapman
Atlanta, GA USA
b...@chapman-leff.net

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Carol Santillo
Information Technology Coordinator
Massapequa Public Library

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Ben Chapman

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Aug 29, 2018, 7:49:47 AM8/29/18
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Wow! What interesting devices! We wound up going with the Asus chromeboxes for our OPACs, but I could definitely see these for signage and similar. Thank you!


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Angie Vincenti

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Aug 29, 2018, 11:07:15 AM8/29/18
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We also have a couple of these in one of our branches…they are Catalogs. We have 3 tabs that open…the Catalog Search, our website and our self registration for a Library card. They work great…just need to put all the url’s you want to allow and disable the things you want. They work great so far!

Matt Amory

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Aug 29, 2018, 11:24:18 AM8/29/18
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Hi Reinhard,
What apps do you have deployed for the public on your Chromebases?

Patrick-Austin (MN) Public Library

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Aug 29, 2018, 12:47:00 PM8/29/18
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This year, we been testing a Chromebit connected to a touchscreen on a stand.  It opens set tabs via Google Admin.  So far so good for this type of application.

Reinhard Engels

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Aug 30, 2018, 8:45:42 AM8/30/18
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Nothing as of yet. 

Hi Matt,

The catalogs just open chrome on the catalog page, the web stations on a libguides page we created with some instructions (and for tracking usage).

I love the idea of adding android apps, but they don't seem to work in public session kiosk mode, and that's kind of necessary for us. We're experimenting with some of our checkout chromebooks at allowing patrons the option of logging in with a google account, so they can use android apps (roblox is the big one), or selecting public session kiosk mode, but it's not an ideal solution either for a number of reasons (requires a google account to take advantage of, confusing for unsophisticated patrons vs. just auto logging in public session kiosk mode).

I wish the admin console would support usage tracking. I wish I could get a "real" session count and duration. Right now I can only get approximate numbers using external tools (libcal, google analytics) counting hits to that special home page in opens up on, and the last 15 days of "active time" I can get with a lot of clicking for each individual device in the admin console.

The "active time" is actually great, but I wish I could get it for 1) longer than 15 days 2) more than one device at a time. I *think* maybe at least the latter is possible via the API and/or add-on tools, but I haven't figured it out yet. 

My dream is that one day the admin console will show both active time and session count for an entire OU of devices for any period of time. I'm kind of surprised, given how developed analytics are in other google products that this isn't the case already.

Reinhard

Marshal Smith, MidYork

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Aug 30, 2018, 9:25:45 AM8/30/18
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We've been repurposing old Chromeboxs as OPACs by setting them up in kiosk mode pointed at our public catalog page.
Although these 'old' Chromeboxs are 'end of life' and won't receive updates they are 'secure enough' for OPAC only duty.

For new purchases of Chromeboxs we are buying the newly released HP G2's for Promevo. Only $250 a piece with management license.
Being a new model they benefit from the full 6.5 year Google automatic update expiration (AUE)
Just a word of caution: there are several models of Chromeboxs/Chromebooks that are at or very near end of life that are still available for sale so check the AUE.

Also, the HP G2 is the first Chromebox to support Android apps that I am aware of so apps like Roblox become possible for public Chrome devices.

I'll echo Reinhard's thoughts on tracking usage, I would love to have a session count per OU for both public session and user login in the dashboard.
If anyone has any advice or method of tracking user login sessions on managed Chrome devices, please share.


Marshal


Marshal Smith
Server and Network Administrator
Mid-York Library System
msm...@midyork.org | www.midyork.org


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