HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-07-13 Lake Park, NPB libraries hot spots for wireless access (Palm Beach Post)WEDNESDAY, JULY 13, 2005
1.110.
North
ake Park and Juno
Neighborhood Post
A weekly section of The Palm Beach Post neighborhood-post.com
Lake Park, NPB
libraries 'hot spots'
for wireless access
Two sites are only libraries
in north county to have
public Wi-Fi access.
By BILL DIPAOLO
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
LAKE PARK— Kentucky visitors
Lynn and Mark Christian found a
hot spot at the Lake Park Public
Library.
"It's awesome a small library
like this has Wi-Fi," said Lynn, who
needed the wireless computer sys-
tem to attach her resume to e-mails
to prospective Palm Beach County
employers.
"Our hotel doesn't have a hot
spot. Neither did the libraries we
called. We called Kinko's but they
wanted 20 cents a minute."
Wi-Fi is computer -speak for any
local wireless network that is an
access point for laptop computers to
the Internet. A Wi-Fi (wireless -
fidelity) location — known as a hot
spot — is a building or site where a
9-year-old black
belt aims
for 10th-degree
honor
PAGE 32
person with a laptop equipped for
wireless reception can contact the
network's transmitter and connect
to the Web and send and download
information.
Lake Park and North Palm
Beach are the only north county li-
braries with public Wi-Fi access.
While Palm Beach County's 14 li-
brary branches have Wi-Fi access, it
is limited to use by staff and for in-
struction.
"We expect to have Wi-Fi in
about a year," said County Library
Director Jerry Brownlee. "A larger
library system takes longer to im-
plement than a smaller one. And
there are security issues we have to
iron out to prevent computer virus-
es from entering the county sys-
tem."
To combat computer viruses,
local libraries have built barriers to
prevent contamination, said Jane
Terwillegar, director of the Lake
Park Library. But she said the dan-
Teen sinks
interests into
boats, nursing
PAGE 6
See WI-FI, 15 ►
itiiliil'
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CYDNEY SCOTr/Staff Photographer
Joenette Grant of West Palm Beach surfs the Web at the Lake Park Public Library. The library is one of two north
county libraries that offer wireless internet access for people wanting to surf the Web using their laptops.
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Wi-Fi users can download
information to their laptops
► WI -Ft from 1
ger of contamination can
never be eliminated.
Coffee shops, train sta-
tions, convention centers,
and hotels are hot spots
that are usually found at
intersections for travelers.
The one thing they all have
in common is a short range
for access.
"Have you ever noticed
that people with laptops sit
on the floor near the VIP
lounges at airports? The
Wi-Fi antennae access
works a short distance
outside the doors. Wi-Fi is
a big step forward. It's like
going from a phone with a
cord to a cellphone," Ter-
willegar said.
Public libraries already
have public access com-
puters. But users need a li-
brary card and access time
is limited to 30 minutes.
Users have Internet and e-
mail access, and can print
out documents. But they
can't download informa-
tion. And they are stuck in
Lake Park Library
529 Park Ave.
Phone: (561) 881-3330
Hours: 9 a.m.-8:30 p.m.,
Mon. - Thurs
• 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Fri.
9 a.m.-2 p.m., Sat.
North Palm Beach
Library
303 South Anchorage Dr.
Phone: (561) 841-3383
Hours: 10 a.m.-9 p.m.,
Mon. and Wed.
10 a.m.-5 p.m.,
Tues.-Thurs and Fri.
10 a.m.-2 p.m. - Sat.
their chairs.
The Wi-Fi system has
no time limit and users can
download information from
the library or Internet into
their own laptops. No li-
brary card is required, and
it's free. Wi-Fi allows access
to all programs available on
their laptops. While regular
computer users can't leave
their spot, Wi-Fi users are
mobile, as long as they stay
within the antennae signal.
"Right now, people
don't know that we have it.
Once the tourists return, I
think we will have lots of
use by out-of-towners. And
locals will use it when they
find out," said North Palm
Beach Librarian Kathie
Olds. Both North Palm
Beach and Lake Park have
had Wi-Fi for several
months.
A smaller reference
system will be one long-
range result of Wi-Fi.
Space -gobbling shelves of
encyclopedias are ending,
Terwillegar said. But no
matter how far technology
advances, Terwillegar said
there always will be librar-
ies.
"People like to browse.
They like the library as a
place. They like to just be
here, and have a librarian to
consult with," said Ter-
willegar, whispering so not
to disturb patrons. "People
just like to have a book in 1
their hands."
0 bill_dipaolo@pbpost.com