OPAC-only stations

We've had OPAC-only stations for years using IE (though Firefox would work easily  enough too) at NO 
COST other than our time.

We have a single "Catalog Only" PC on each of our floors except the main floor where the Catalog 
Cluster is beside the Reference Desk. These four PCs are all located in the same general area on each
floor.

These PCs truly get to the Catalog and pages on the Library system server *ONLY*. They do not get to 
any pages that link to them or to any databases -- not even to  the College's home page. They are really 
restricted.

We simply set it up in Internet Options to only allow connections to our III server.  We place signs (though
they may NOT get read) on the PCs telling our patrons these are "Catalog Only" stations.

Here's how to do it in IE:

Go into Tools - Internet Options - Connections - Lan Settings - Proxy Server - Advanced (Make sure you 
have use Proxy Server checked so you see advanced button not greyed out.)

Under  HTTP  "Proxy Address to Use" we type something like  "Access Denied" (it  honestly doesn't 
matter what you type as long as it's not an ip address, "localhost" or a domain name) and leave the port
blank. We fill in the exceptions box with JUST the address for the library server.

Netscape used to actually display the message along the status bar. We use IE exclusively now and it 
pops up an error message box saying "Internet Explorer could not open the search page" with an OK on it; 
when you click the "OK", you get the standard 404 page, which we have made no attempt to re-write. 

We lock down IE's Internet options with a simple reg hack:

-----------------------IE5Restr.reg--------------------
REGEDIT4 

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions]
NoBrowserOptions"=dword:00000001

-------------------------------------------------------

You can also restrict other aspects of IE (NoBrowserClose, NoBrowserContextMenu, 
NoBrowserSaveAs, NoFavorites, NoFileNew, NoFileOpen, NoFindFiles, NoTheaterMode, 
NoSelectDownloadDir). The "1" in the entry above means it's enabled - use a "0" to disable it and 
allow Browser Options.

It takes all of a couple of minutes.

It is also possible to do this through use of Content Advisor in IE or Kiosk mode in Firefox. One of our IT folks set up some stations using the former, though I have no details.  Copies of our reg files for  enabling and disabling various options are below.

-----------------------IE5Restr.reg--------------------

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions]
"NoBrowserClose"=dword:00000000
"NoBrowserContextMenu"=dword:00000001
"NoBrowserOptions"=dword:00000001
"NoBrowserSaveAs"=dword:00000000
"NoFavorites"=dword:00000000
"NoFileNew"=dword:00000001
"NoFileOpen"=dword:00000000
"NoFindFiles"=dword:00000001
"NoSelectDownloadDir"=dword:00000000
"NoTheaterMode"=dword:00000001

This file ENABLES the restrictions, the one below DISABLES them:

-----------------------IE5NoRestr.reg--------------------

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Restrictions]
"NoBrowserClose"=dword:00000000
"NoBrowserContextMenu"=dword:00000000
"NoBrowserOptions"=dword:00000000
"NoBrowserSaveAs"=dword:00000000
"NoFavorites"=dword:00000000
"NoFileNew"=dword:00000000
"NoFileOpen"=dword:00000000
"NoFindFiles"=dword:00000000
"NoSelectDownloadDir"=dword:00000000
"NoTheaterMode"=dword:00000000

Any questions, please feel free to contact me:

Giles W. Riesner, Jr. | Lead Library Technician, Library Technology/Library System Administrator  
The Community College of Baltimore County   | 800 South Rolling Road | Catonsville, MD 21228 USA
Note new telephone numbers: 
Phone:  1-443-840-2736 | Fax: 1-410-455-9141 | Email:  griesner@ccbcmd.edu

OpacOnly-details.rtf
Updated 12/22/2010