The reference department offers online bibliographic database searching and user instruction in the use of the printed and electronic information resources. There are approximately 60 computers available for student use between two major labs on campus. In addition, almost every academic department has its own computer lab accessible by any student of that department, and several dormitories house 24 hour labs. Every computer lab is assisted by a lab monitor during the entire time it is open. The DeWitt Wallace Library computer lab is equipped with 14 Macintosh computers and 14 PC-Windows computers, as well as 2 laser printers.
Laser printing is free for Macalester students.
This lab is open during library hours, which are 8 a.m. to 12 midnight on weekdays, and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends. The Humanities computer lab, also equipped with 28 PC-Windows and Macintosh computers and 2 laser printers, is open during the same hours. Macalester's computers are part of a network in which each Macalester student holds a personal account, so that from almost any computer available for student use on campus a student may retrieve documents a student previously worked on a different computer, or communicate with a computer situated elsewhere on campus. Because of the size of the Macalester community compared to the number of computers at students' disposal, students should always be able to find an open computer whenever they need one. Macalester dorm rooms, classrooms and laboratories are equipped with high-speed internet connections, enabling them to use World Wide Web resources all over the world at speeds much higher than phone line connections.