The Bobst Library Computer Center, at which I am employed, provides a variety of services, among which are large book scanners on every other floor of the library. Those scanners hold the first place in the ranking of things patrons complain the most about. These large machines are operated by a neighboring touchscreen, and those touchscreens are a menace. They are 20″, the screen itself is nearly unresponsive. Patrons have to put a lot of effort to push at the buttons, which is not accessible to people with limited mobility. And when we, the BLCC staff, go to the floor to look at the scanner, we have a hard time – the machines are heavy, the screens even heavier, and we have to punch in an excessive number of admin passwords and codes, which again is impeded by the size and the lack of sensitivity of the screen.
Finally, most patrons don’t even need to scan books anymore, as the number of people who use physical books in their research is getting smaller. The most that needs scanning these days are a couple loose pages of a signed document, which the smaller scanners on the first floor labs are perfectly suited for. It would make much sense to switch out at least half of the book scanners with smaller single pages scanners, and yet it seems unlikely to happen in the nearest future.