Looking to work on assignments or projects when the campus is closed and you can’t access C2 corridor? Don’t have a PC at home? Don’t worry, we’ve got just the solution for you…!
The main library has had a Developers’ Room for years, but as students increasingly decided to invest in their own PCs for home use anyway, it had fallen into disuse and the PCs within it, gradual obsolescence. The room was seemingly set to be turned over for other uses this year as we no longer appeared to need it.
However, during the current cost-of-living crisis, many of our students have told us that to have a computing lab on campus that they can use when they can’t access the C2 labs, would again be something they’d definitely welcome!
Our students have told us this to our faces and during our regular Student/Staff Liasion Meetings. Well, they spoke and we listened!
This request has come mid-year and normally we’d have to see if funding could be made available, but hey, this is Christmas and a time for miracles and goodwill!
So, we’ve managed to outfit the room again with 15 Windows PCs with either Intel i7 or i5 processors, 16GB RAM, and 1TB SSD drives so they boot quickly and should provide a comparable experience to many of the machines in C2 corridor for most of our students.
I’m pleased to say that after several weeks of some of us lecturers gleefully (but exhaustively) finding, fetching, moving and upgrading, and plugging in of kit, the room is now ready and from the 15th December 2023 our students in the Computing department (and only our students!) can use these upgraded PCs around the clock whenever they like.
And Santa didn’t have to get involved at all! 😁
No booking is required, just turn up and use on a “first come, first served” basis!
The Developers’ room is normally open 24 hours a day, just like the library. However, over the Christmas period, reduced hours exist as follows:
Friday 15th: Open until 9pm
Saturday 16th – Sunday 24th: 9am to 9pm
Christmas Day & Boxing Day (25th and 26th): Closed
Wednesday 27th – Sunday 31st: 9am to 9pm
New Year’s Day (1st): Closed
Tuesday 2nd – Wednesday 3rd: 9am – 9pm
Thursdays 4th: Open 24 hours a day thereafter from 8:45am
And to our students: If you’ve not visited the room before, we think you’ll love it! It’s a secluded, safe*, calm, quiet place to work, think, and make progress on your studies!
If you’re not sure how to access the library when the rest of the campus is closed or you don’t know where the Developers’ Room is in the library anyway, this video below will help you!
Remember: The room is for our students only, so please use it or we will lose it again!
See you all in 2024 and Seasons Greetings to you all!
*As with most open-access areas of the campus, 24-hour recorded CCTV is in operation for your safety and security and to protect equipment in the Developers’ Room. The university will take action against persons found to be damaging or stealing property in the Developers’ Room.