Moving Toward More Effective Public Internet Access

Book excerpt: This publication reports on research conducted to follow up on a 1997 survey of public libraries and the Internet, co-sponsored by the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and the American Library Association. The 1998 survey is based on a sample of 2,500 of the nation's 15,718 public library outlets. The survey found that 73.3% of public library outlets now offer public access to the Internet. However, only 68.6% offer graphical public Internet access to the World Wide Web (WWW) and only 45.3% offer graphical public access to the WWW at speeds of 56 kbps or greater. The first section contains background information: the Telecommunications Act of 1996; public policy debate; information technology, Internet and the digital economy; and public libraries as a public point of Internet presence. The second section presents the results of the 1998 survey: availability of public Internet access; public Internet access for areas with varying levels of poverty; public Internet access for urban, suburban, and rural areas; graphical public Internet access; bandwidth as a component of public Internet access; defining effective public Internet access; key measures connectivity and public Internet access, 1996-1998; number of graphical workstations as a component of effective access; use of filtering software and availability of an acceptable use policy for public Internet access. The third section discusses findings, policy issues, and commission responses: supporting ongoing surveys on public libraries and the Internet; initiating a dialog on effective public Internet access; and identifying policy questions and promoting additional research. The last section is a bibliography of 8 statistical studies funded by the commission. Five appendices contain: summary results; the survey instrument; the survey methodology; the survey results; and the contractor's analysis of the survey results. Includes 56 tables of figures.(DLS)