Have you ever introduced students to quality subscription databases and Web sites only to watch them make a beeline for their favorite search engine to select the often dubious—and sometimes downright inappropriate—hits topping their results list? Well, you’re not alone.

That’s precisely why I just renewed my annual site license for Public Web Browser (PWB) 2.10. This easy-to-use utility lets me customize the browser that students use when doing online research in the library. Called “kiosk-mode” browsing, it eliminates surfing options just long enough to allow me to expose students to some powerful information tools. I’ve found that after a few minutes of mildly enforced exposure many students return to these superior resources when they resume researching on their home computers. Our stats for home database usage are among the highest in the state, and I believe that PWB is a big part of that success.

PWB provides a configuration file that lets me customize the browser elements I want to make available. Choosing to omit the address and search bars, I instead offer select navigational and print buttons—just enough to give students a choice of resources that’ve been preselected for their research assignment.

“Although the product is used to customize Web kiosks in hotel chains, manufacturing facilities, and even police squad cars, I’d say that between 80 and 90 percent of our customers are libraries,” says Scott Vermeersch, PWB’s lead developer.

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: clearly, there’s an intellectual freedom issue here to be wrestled with. Do you better serve your students by providing completely open Web access or by restricting their use to vetted sites? It’s a tough call that depends on your teaching situation. But having done it both ways in my middle school library, it was a no-brainer that kiosk-mode delivery was the right choice educationally. If you think kiosk-mode access might help you teach more effectively, consider using Public Web Browser to create a custom browser tailored to your students’ online access needs.