A session is the period of time a patron or guest is allowed to use a particular workstation. A session begins when a user logs on to a station and normally terminates when the time allocated for that session has expired. Session time is automatically allocated by the server based on numerous parameters set by the library. These include time of day, type of user, workstation category, and others. Librarians always have full manual control over individual session times, with the ability to extend or terminate them as they may deem appropriate.
Libraries can designate certain workstations for different categories of use. They might have stations reserved only for adult patrons and others justs for kids. They might have stations designed for use by people with various physical disadvantages, and they might designate some stations as gaming stations. Patrons, when registering select the category they want. The Session Manager determines how much time they will have and also what applications will appear on the menu when they log on.
Kids would typically have access to different applications than adults. The system includes many games and educational programs targeted directly at young children. On the other hand, programs for desktop publishing, that are also included while useful for some adults would only clutter up the menu on a childrens' station. A library that differentiates between users who are patrons and those who are guests may not only wnat different session times, but also different applications. Guests might only see a web browser application on the menu when they log on. All of these options are managed by the Administration System.
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