TC, that is the abbreviation for thin or terminal client, has been in use for more than a decade but I've got familiar with the technology about five years ago. From that time I've used three generations of the technology for different purposes. I believe that despite its drawbacks it has many promises for small and rural libraries in reducing the costs of maintenance, energy consumption, upgrade, viruses infection etc. Have you ever used it? What is your idea about it? What are the drawbacks?
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I think the efficacy of a thin client environment is dependent on the role and software specifications you wish to place on it. The more requirements that the thin client needs to fulfill the less viable it becomes. I admit my experience is a little dated with thin clients. I have not worked with thin clients since 2011. Since then Virtual Machines (VM) and thin clients have matured by leaps and bounds (Some scenarios even have autodesk/autocad working in a thin client environment).
An example where a thin client shines is a boxed limited scenario e.g. an OPAC (open public access catalog) station, password reset station, or a place to check web e-mail. On the other hand, if you want a multi-media workstation with apps requiring local resources the end user may run into issues and the client has only a small amount of local hard drive space and memory available, ideally everything is supposed to be handled on the server but there are always outliers.
The other challenge one runs into with thin clients is there is a bit of a learning curve for any newer technician or volunteer that you may expect to be able to handle some minor administrative tasks. You will need to develop a greater amount of documentation for a thin client than a more traditional PC. On a more positive note if you expect your space allocation to grow then the thin clients will scale well.
If this an applied scenario instead of an academic query then I wish you the best of luck on your project.
you are right about the usage and misuse of TCs although the new generations of TCs can handle the load of process needed by CADs too but they are a bit more expensive. I've run two workshops in the educational center that I work in and it has been a success with the exception of some software specially open sources. I agree with you about the stations serving OPACs and email checking but I used them for self learning too.
The TC are useful for library users, allowing them to locate relevant information, and refine their queries based on the results, just as users develop research skills. In another sense, TC consultations help to optimize the time and work with the library staff. this way users can download files in full text, multimedia files, etc, being an obligatory step for the digital school library. In the libraries of the University Lisandro Alvarado Venezuela UCLA, TC's are useful for the recovery of information to the university community. http://bibvirtual.ucla.edu.ve
Thin client is server dependent. The danger is that if the network server fails all remote terminals become unusable until the network is fixed..Also, users can only access resources on stored the server.
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