General User Guidelines & Policies
The following are some guidelines and policies that will help you get acquainted with the rules of the lab as well as help you work efficiently here.
Sign-In
When you first enter the lab, please sign in. The sign-in notebook is located on the GA station right as you enter the lab. You'll need to provide your name, date, and class that you will use the computer for. The lab staff may ask you for proof of registration.
Printing
There are two black & white laser printers and one color inkjet located in the front of the IML near the GA station. Printing costs 10 cents per page for b&w prints and $0.75 for color prints. You may use your SDSU RedID card or purchase a guest print card in the student computer lab in the love library. The guest print card costs $1 and funds can be added at Monty's Market (located in East Commons) or in the SDSU Library using the DART machines.
If you would like to read more information on printing please click here to refer to SDSU's Student Computing Center's printing guidelines
We use all printing money that we receive to purchase new toner, color cartridges, and paper.
Labstaff
The Labstaff is available to assist you with the software and hardware in the lab. However, because we have a limited amount of time to assist each lab user, we ask that you exhaust other resources such as your class syllabi, class notes, software manuals, classmates, online resources, and instructors prior to asking Labstaff for help.
When on duty, members of the Labstaff wear a blue vest and post their name and picture on the front bulletin board. If you need assistance, please ask one of the Labstaff wearing the blue vest. Occasionally, you'll find a Labstaff working on their school work in the lab. Please be courteous and do not disturb them if they are not wearing the blue vest.
The Labstaff provides support and guidance. Typical Labstaff duties include:
- Orienting students to the lab
- Solving printing problems
- Resolving software incompatibility problems
- Providing manuals and job aids
- Checking out equipment
Unfortunately, resource constraints prohibit the Labstaff from:
- Scripting or program authoring (e.g. flash, php, javascript, etc.) applications or HTML files
- Completing any portion of an assigned student project
- Allowing removal of manuals or other resources from the lab
- Making reservations over the phone
- Providing technical support over the phone for your personal computer
Reservations
Towards the middle and end of the semester, the lab becomes very crowded. We highly recommend that you reserve a computer. Students and faculty of the College of Education may reserve computer workstations up to two weeks in advance. Lab users who reserve computers in advance will recieve priority seating for their time slot. If you happen to be working on a computer that has been reserved, Labstaff may ask you to relocate. Due to limited resources, reservations are also ideal for those who wish to use one of the Video Stations. The reservation policy follows:
- Students may reserve two, one-hour time blocks each day.
- If someone is using the computer that you reserved, please notify them a few minutes in advance so that they can save their work.
- Any person who is more than 15 minutes late for their reservation will forfeit the reservation and must attempt to reserve another computer.