A web's-eye view of the Hamilton Library steps. A new webcam shows almost-live shots and streaming video.

Hamilton Library has become a great place for people-watching, whether from a nearby bench or a computer in Spain.

The university recently installed a camera overlooking the entrance to the library, which now posts almost-live pictures to the World Wide Web. Yet, more people on the mainland may have noticed it than students at UH-Manoa.

"I didn't even know it was there," said Mark Gripp, a senior majoring in biology.

Gripp was caught on camera Monday afternoon as he waited for his girlfriend near the library.

He said he had come across other webcams while wandering the internet, including a camera set up at an observatory atop Mauna Kea. He said he looked forward to checking out the Hamilton site.

Gripp said he could see how some people might be bothered by it, however.

"It could make people uncomfortable if it were up close, but I think it's all right," Gripp said. "It's not like a real spy cam or anything."

The site has already provided entertainment for some people who discovered it soon after it was plugged in on Oct. 13.

"My friends and I were playing with it," said Neal Oribio, a Hamilton Library employee. "I'd e-mail them and tell them when I'd be on."

He said his friends, which he said are "scattered all around the wide world," have been checking the web page from time to time. So far, however, none has seen him.

Earlier last week he even tried putting up a sign for his friends to read, but said the resolution was to low to be legible.

Oribio said the library circulated a memo informing staff of the camera's presence.

"No one better steal anything now," he said, laughing.

Ward Takamiya, a computer specialist with Information Technology Services, said the webcam pictures were incorporated into the university's new website, which was redesigned earlier this month.

The camera -- situated in a window on the second floor of Keller Hall -- is operating on an old Macintosh server using software readily available for free on the internet, Takamiya said.

Because it has only been up for a couple of weeks, he said it is too early to tell what students think.

"I'm sure we'll hear more in the upcoming weeks," Takamiya said.

Still, students need not worry that Big Brother is watching, he added.

"The webcam is not there for any security or surveillance reasons," Takamiya said. "It is there simply because it's a more interesting place to point the camera from the ITS offices than a view of the parking lot on the other side of the building."

"It's just a location where the scenery changes frequently enough to maybe be of interest to some of the general public," he said.

In fact, Takamiya said the camera could just as easily point somewhere else.

"The Hamilton location is by no means permanent," he said. "If we can find a more interesting location we may use that instead."

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