U.A. Library Guidelines for Equipment Replacement and Upgrades

 

Baseline

DLIST is allocated a limited budget from the Budget Advisory Group to support upgrades, replacements and repairs for the Library's hardware and software.  This includes both Library staff and public equipment and the Library's many servers.  It covers equipment approved for purchase from one-time funding allocations and special projects.  This fund must be allocated cautiously in support of staff and public software, our Library servers, over 1000 staff and public computers, and hundreds of peripheral devices.  All purchase of computers or other equipment must be evaluated by DLIST before purchase (regardless if it is from upgrades or NOT).  This ensures the equipment will run in the Library environment.

I. Repair and replacement of non-functioning equipment, including:

A. Reallocation

DLIST will reallocate existing equipment as much as possible, installing new machines where their features/functionality is most needed.  For example, we will not replace a broken machine with a totally new machine capable of handling larger workloads/applications, unless the staff member working on the broken equipment needs that functionality.  Rather, we will place the new machine where its capacity will be best used and reallocate an existing functioning machine to replace the broken equipment.

NOTE: It is the Library's practice that when someone stops working at the Library, her/his equipment reverts to the reallocation pool.  An exception to this would be if the Library is actively recruiting to fill that position.

B. Repair

Before attempting to repair a machine, DLIST members will consider:

  1. If the machine is still under warranty
  2. If the cost for repairs will only be a few hundred dollars
  3. If the cost for repairs will be more than 25-30% of the purchase price of a new machine
  4. Whether the machine is likely to have additional hardware failures
  5. If the machine has lost much of its functionality and is a candidate for our surplus list
  6. If the machine can still be used as a public access machine

C. Reporting Non-function Equipment

DLIST members are responsible for assessing non-functioning equipment and making an appropriate decision on replacement, reallocation, or repair.

  1. Report non-functioning equipment to DLIST Helpline, helpline@u.library.arizona.edu or 621-8483.  DLIST offers telephone support 7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
  2. On weekends, DLIST provides emergency support for critical systems that affect many users.
  3. All requests for emergency weekend support for major systems problems (not individual machines or users) should be reported to the MAT supervisor working at the Main Library Loan desk.
  4. Using criteria established by DLIST and in cooperation with MAT, the MAT supervisor will determine which DLIST member to call.
  5. Please consult the After Hours System Trouble Calls document for detailed information.

II. Upgrade

Upgrading equipment happens when hardware/software no longer enables a staff member to perform key work activities in an efficient manner.  DLIST also considers the number of people sharing a particular piece of equipment.

A. Submitting Requests

Library staff may request an evaluation for Hardware upgrades or Software Upgrades by submitting the appropriate upgrade request form.   Once this form is completed and sent, DLIST receives the information and begins the process of evaluating the upgrade request.  DLIST will contact the person sending the request within 3 work days to evaluate the equipment.  If you do not hear from DLIST within 3 work days, you may call HELPLINE, 621-8483, for information.  Please note that actual upgrades may take weeks to months, depending on the requirements.

NOTE: It is the Library's practice that when someone stops working at the Library, her/his equipment reverts to the reallocation pool.  An exception to this would be if the Library is actively recruiting to fill that position.

B. Upgrade requests must describe what change in circumstance is prompting the request for upgrade.

    For example:
  1. A staff member using the computer experiences slow response times when using a particular software application.
  2. A librarian giving type 3 reference services needs to run CPU intensive applications, such as GIS.
  3. New job duties require running a new version of software which requires a faster processor, larger hard disk, or more memory.

C. The decision on what type of upgrade is implemented, or whether it is feasible to upgrade the equipment will be made by DLIST and based on:

  1. If upgrading the equipment will still leave us with a marginal computer (e.g., adding 128 MB RAM to an older Pentium PC still leaves us with a machine that is not powerful enough to run many of our applications).
  2. If upgrading the equipment will be labor intensive and the benefits of the upgrade are questionable (e.g., upgrading "processing power" can involve many devices).

D. DLIST members regularly evaluate and assess what should be the best make and model of computers for the Library to purchase.  This is a moving target and subject to many industry variables.  Please contact DLIST for a personal evaluation.