Checkin 4.0: Additional Features

By Dr. Elizabeth Hinkle-Turner, Student Computing Services Manager

The UNT General Access Computer Labs have now been using the Checkin 4.0 application throughout the summer and into the fall. Since its deployment a variety of extra features have been added to the core application for flexibility and convenience. One of the most useful for the UNT student community has been the addition of a website for viewing usage and available resources in each of the labs. This can allow students to make the best choice of a computing facility to use in terms of length of wait and machines available. To get to this "window on the labs", students can go to http://checkinstats.acs.unt.edu or find this page by clicking Current Lab Occupancy on the main General Access Computer Labs web page. Students choose the lab they want to check from a pull down menu.

This feature is also useful for other university community members who wish to see lab activity. I personally have it going on one of my office machines all the time so I can monitor the comings and goings of my lab throughout the day.

There is a "hair-color" coding system on this page as well to help students to understand how traffic is controlled in the lab. Current lab guidelines state that after two hours, a student may be required to log off of a machine if long lines and waiting lists mean that others need a turn. This prevents abuse of lab resources (students spending hours surfing the net while someone else waits to type a paper) during busy times. Green hair means that the current occupant has just gotten to a machine; the hair turns yellow after one hour; and bright pink when the two-hour limit has been reached. This color-coding system was primarily put into place to help the lab employees easily see when it may be time to bump hoggish patrons off of a machine. However, it is also useful for a lab manager such as myself; if I see lots of pink hair and a long waiting list for my lab machines, I know that it is then time to go gently remind my employees that they should clear out some of the customers so others have a chance to do their work! Additionally, red X's over a machine icon means that the machine is down for repairs.

Another additional feature of particular importance to lab administrators is the extensive statistic features now available via an easy-to-use web interface. From a table of contents page, a lab administrator can choose from a variety of searches.

After putting in the proper search criteria the logfiles appear. They can then be saved as a text file by the lab administrator. The text file format is a flexible one that can be used to generate a variety of statistical reports including spreadsheets and graphs.

This feature is also useful when tracking a particular student, a problem machine, or for the gathering of waiting list statistics for the determination of the feasibility of lab expansion.

Happily, Checkin 4.0 is now at the stage where we are finishing up this "wish list" of features. I will describe more next month including our almost-completed cool statistics graphing feature! This will be our first outside module "plugin" for the core application. For more information about Checkin 4.0, you can email me at ehinkle@unt.edu.