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Your pleasure and comfort

Make yourself comfortable. If you have to move everything on your desk out of reach because your desktop PC and 21" monitor take up so much space, you won't be happy in the long run. If your eyes tire and give you headaches from looking at your monitor, or your upper back objects to your mouse, you soon won't want to spend much time at your computer.

Here's how Cornell's experts think you should set up your computer area. This doesn't show the piles of unmarked exams.

What you see and touch

Your computer's input devices (keyboard and mouse or equivalent) and monitor play important roles in how you work at your computer. They are the means of communication between you and your machine. And more than anything else (except your chair) they affect how you'll feel about working on your computer. The shape and size of the computer's case (or the configuration of your laptop) determines how you'll set up your workspace, the area where you should be able to work happily for hours at a time.

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You and Usability

Find out about ergonomics: know the basics of keeping yourself safe and comfortable at your computer. The TLC offers an ergonomics workshop, and the library has brief, printed ergonomic summaries.

Try things out—especially things that you will stare at or touch regularly. If you order from the web, try not to be the first on your block. (Remember, the TLC lab, in Batmale 313 on the Ocean campus, has recent model Dell computers, monitors and keyboards, as well as Mac G3s and G4s.) If you are buying a portable, try carrying around something of the same weight. Many women are particularly sensitive to monitor flicker, so see if you can detect any. People are particularly quirky about their keyboards. Is the feel too stiff or too mushy; is the click too loud?

For further information

Cornell University's Ergonomics Web site at http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/ offers many tips, including suggestions for parents and kids and computers. The pages on keyboard placement and typing position are eye-opening. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety ergonomics pages at http://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ergonomics/ contain guidelines and suggestions for everything from optimizing lighting to placement of computer components. www.ergoweb.com keeps up on research in ergonomics and has a news section for breaking stories. Yahoo's ergonomics shopping pages at http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Shopping_and_Services/Ergonomics/ give you the opportunity to buy every conceivable ergonomic device. (No recommendations: and these listings are not ranked or tested).

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