If you consult the internet more than you do your textbooks for class, you’re in good company. Since our wireless internet service is patchy at best, Stony Brook provides updated resources and a smoothly run service for on-campus computer and printer use: SINC Sites.

SINC sites are computer labs located in most main buildings on campus. You can access any online resource from a computer workstation in a SINC site, and print out anything you need at the Pharos release stations generally located near the entrance of the room. To access a computer at a SINC site, you will need a NetID (the same login information you may have already used for Blackboard), so set one up on SOLAR if you have not yet done so. Your NetID is credited for 40 printed pages a day, the charge of which is included in tuition, and if unused it collects until the end of each week. You are expected to work silently and independently at a SINC site, without food or drink.

SINC sites each have individual looks, hours, and set-ups. Each has its particular accessibility, turnover rate, and regular crowd levels. Generally speaking, the number of computers available in most sites is matched by people who want to use them. Resultantly, SINC sites can become congested and noisy. Staff will tell you that early morning is a safe time to come in and expect a computer, and that the early afternoon hours are the most crowded.

The SINC sites in the Library, the Student Union, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Engineering have convenient hours.

• The Main Library SINC site gives the impression of a beehive with people entering, printing, and leaving. Because it’s populated primarily by people dropping in between classes, it has a high turnover rate. This site features the most dependable and enthusiastic staff.
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• The Central Reading Room site is almost unfailingly filled to capacity, since people seem to stay at these stations for some time. There’s often a very short line or a computer available in the North Reading Room, your best bet for a computer on the main floor of the library building. Students are also more likely to be at a workstation for academic purposes in the North and Central Reading Rooms, which means less of a wait. The site in the Language and Learning Center in the library is steadily gaining popularity, but remains an unknown gem to a large number of students.
• The SINC site in the basement of the Student Union is most likely to be used recreationally. It’s often crowded but rarely completely full. The SINC sites in Engineering (Room 106) and SBS (N-620) are still accessibly located but have less of a crowd. If you’re embarking on a long project or need to get a large amount of work done, choose a workstation far from the entrance in one of these quieter SINC sites. Lesser-known, and further from the SAC or library, but still open at useful hours are the Life Science and Computing Center sites.

The sites in Humanities, Chemistry, Computer Science, Fine Arts, and Harriman Hall have very limited availability but are usually less crowded than the major ones.

Check Stony Brook’s Teaching, Learning, and Technology website (http://tlt.stonybrook.edu) for news, such as updates on the ‘print from anywhere’ feature, new sites, open hours, room numbers, weather or occasion related closures, special schedules, and more. Each SINC site’s individual website is available at https://tlt.stonybrook.edu/Facilites/ComputerLabs/SINCSites/Pages/default.aspx.

Ultimately, finding a computer workstation on campus is an imperfect science. Decide which site to use based on the time of day and your location.

What’s important is to make yourself efficient: plan out your use of computer ahead of time, combine several jobs in one session, email yourself computer links so you don’t have to find a website in order to print from it, and always, always be flexible.