Public Labs - Overview
HMDC is committed to providing the Harvard and MIT communities with open work areas for researchers and students who are conducting statistical inquiries. We maintain several state-of-the-art computer laboratories at the Center for Government and International Studies (CGIS) complex, next to the Harvard Graduate School of Design. A full array of statistical, GIS, office productivity, and multimedia applications are available on workstations.
All Harvard and MIT community members with a valid ID can register for a CGIS account, granting full access to lab resources. General assistance for lab users is available from the Lab Help Desk during extended business hours, with specific statistical, data, and GIS office hours available at set times, as well as a Computer Training Lab in CGIS Knafel building.
Please contact us if you would like to inquire about specific software or resource usage, or questions about our public labs.
Access
Print
PDF
EmailOur public labs are located in CGIS Knafel building at 1737 Cambridge Street in Cambridge Massachusetts. The Concourse Computer Lab, IQSS Computer Lab, and CGIS Visitor Kiosks are always open. The Government Computer Lab is accessible only by Government graduate students. The Computer Training Lab is open only during prescheduled events.
Our public labs are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. CGIS Knafel building access is required to enter any of our public labs.
CGIS Knafel building front doors are open during the academic year:
- Monday through Thursday, 7 AM to 9 PM
- Friday, 7 AM to 7 PM
- Saturday and Sunday, Noon to 5 PM
During school holidays (including spring break) and summer months, CGIS Knafel building front doors are open as follows:
- Monday through Friday, 7 AM to 7 PM
- Saturday and Sunday, Closed
We cannot grant access to the CGIS Knafel building.
For any access questions about our labs, please contact us.
Concourse Computer Lab
The Concourse Computer Lab is located in room K024, CGIS Knafel Building (1737 Cambridge Street). To get to K024, take the stairs or elevator down one level and go to the left through the open door.
The Concourse Computer Lab has twenty-five Windows and six Mac OSX machines available for users. There are two high-speed, black-and-white laser printers and one color laser printer located in the lab. A color scanner also is located in the lab. Our Lab Help Desk is located here as well.
The Concourse Computer Lab is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
IQSS Computer Lab
The IQSS Computer Lab is located in room K301, CGIS Knafel Building (1737 Cambridge Street). To get to K301, take the elevator to the third floor and go to the corner room nearest the circular staircase.
The IQSS Computer Lab has nine Windows and two Mac OSX machines available for users. There are high-speed, black-and-white laser printers and a color laser printer located in the lab. A color scanner also is located in the lab.
The IQSS Computer Lab is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
CGIS Visitor Kiosks
The CGIS Visitor Kiosks are located in the vestibule outside room K031, CGIS Knafel Building (1737 Cambridge Street). To get to the kiosks, take the stairs or elevator down one level and go to the left through the open door.
The CGIS Visitor Kiosks provide three iMac computers, running Mac OSX. The kiosks are configured specially to not require an account for login. However, application access is limited to Mozilla Firefox only. Printing is not available from these machines.
The CGIS Visitor Kiosks are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Computer Training Lab
Our Computer Training Lab is for instructor-lead events that require students to access a computer and follow the instructor. The lab is located in room K018, on the concourse level of the CGIS Knafel guilding, and is open during alloted reservation times only. While any FAS event can request a lab reservation, the room primarily is for CGIS-affiliated departments and centers and preference is given to CGIS related events.
The room has twelve student machines and one instructor machine. There is a ceiling-mounted projector that is connected to the instructor machine by default, but a hookup to another computer, such as a laptop, is also available. The room has both white boards and chalk boards, as well as an additional table for handouts. Capacity is 12 students, but folding chairs are available to double the number of students at each computer.
The computers are 24-inch Apple iMacs, configured with both Windows and Mac OS X partitions. Login authentication for the computers is the same as our public labs. If your event is a one-time event, we can work with you to create a temporary guest login for your event.
For additional information about our Computer Training Lab, please contact us.
Government Computer Lab
The Government Computer Lab is located in room K003, CGIS Knafel Building (1737 Cambridge Street). K003 is only accessible by Government Graduate students.
The Government Computer Lab has two Windows machines, and an iMac computer configured for non-Harvard or MIT ID use. There is a high-speed, black-and-white laser printer located in the lab.
Use of the Government Computer Lab requires card access.
Hours
The Lab Help Desk is staffed during the following hours:
- Monday through Thursday, 8 AM to 9 PM
- Friday, 8 AM to 6 PM
- Saturday and Sunday, Noon to 5 PM
During Harvard holidays, the Lab Help Desk is staffed generally during normal hours. The only specific dates on which the Lab Help Desk is closed are Thanksgiving and the Harvard Holiday Break in December.
For support after hours, please contact us at support@help.hmdc.harvard.edu with as much information about your issue as possible.
Assistance
The Lab Help Desk assistants will help you with various lab issues, such as account creation, passwords, print credit, loaner checkout, and general computer assistance. Lab Help Desk assistances are not IT professionals, but will make a best effort towards solving any lab software or hardware issue brought to their attention.
The Lab Help Desk can be reached during normal business hours at (617) 496-9365.
For email support, please contact us at support@help.hmdc.harvard.edu with as much information about your issue as possible.
For statistical support, please see Statistical Support.
For GIS support, please see the CGA web site at http://www.cga.harvard.edu/.
Reserve Items
Our public labs have several resources available for lab users.
Books
The Lab Help Desk has a small library of statistical methods and software manuals available for check out. These books are meant to be used in CGIS only, and should be returned at the end of each day.
Headphones
The Lab Help Desk has Sennheiser HD280Pro headphones for check out. You must leave an ID with the Help Desk while borrowing headphones.
Computer Peripherals
There are external drives, cameras, and other computer peripherals available for checkout at the Lab Help Desk for lab usage only. You must leave an ID with the Help Desk while borrowing a peripheral.
For any questions about our public labs, please email or call us (617-496-9365).
Print Credit & Costs
Printing in the public computer labs is available for valid CGIS account holders. Printing costs are:
- 5 cents per black and white page
- 25 cents per color page
All printing is prepaid through the Lab Help Desk by use of Crimson Cash, personal check, or departmental billing code.