SUBJECT: Student access to the library For the attention of the library committee : There has been a request at the SSCOM for out-of-hours access to the library by students . The initial request is believed to be from Diploma students , but there is a feeling that this is likely to be the thin end of the wedge . In order to guide the library committee in deciding the policy , I have been asked by the &NAME to write a note about the technical and administrative issues involved . Access control to the &NAME and major areas within it is controlled by electronic locks operated by cards . There are &NUM types of cards and associated reader : - The ' &NAME ' cards read by proximity readers - The University card , read by &NAME ' swipe ' readers At present , students on taught courses other than the &NAME are NOT issued with &NAME cards ; they only have University cards . Just &NUM doors are fitted with &NAME readers alongside the &NAME readers : student entrance , &NUM door to &NAME , and &NUM door to the west terrace . Therefore as things stand we cannot straightforwardly offer card access to the library for &NAME and Diploma students . Possible solutions if we wish to do so are : &NUM Extend the ' unlocked ' hours . All of the electronic doors can be put on a time schedule , which can be quite complex . It is quite straightforward to extend the hours that the doors are unlocked , giving access to anybody who can get into the building . This could in principle be combined with paying somebody to supervise the library . &NUM Equip the &NUM doors on the route to the library with &NAME readers . This will have a capital cost ( it needs more than just the reader ) and it may be difficult to conceal the new wiring in the existing walls neatly . It will also take time to organise . &NUM &NAME all students with &NAME cards , which would allow us fine-grained control over the access each could have . Although superficially attractive , it is precisely what we wanted to avoid when we took the decision to install &NAME support alongside &NAME . There would be some cost in supplying the physical cards , but this is small in comparison with the administrative burden of issuing cards , handling lost cards etc. The Continuum system is such that the card handling procedures have not been as easy to automate as we had hoped , and a significant amount of Computer Officer time is required to deal with them . &NUM As &NUM , but restrict the card issue to individuals who make a good case for it - a ' sticky door ' policy . This is predicated on the assumption that relatively few students are likely to wish to use the library out of hours in practice . The danger is that many would apply ' just in case ' , or in the mistaken belief that the card would give access to the rest of the building . We could consider discouraging this by charging a deposit , but it might be hard to justify this being more than the replacement value of the card - under £ &NUM - a relatively trivial sum .