Thank you for that rousing welcome and introduction. I guess you can see that I am delighted to be "HOME" in Illinois. I am also pleased to be among such distinguished speakers, including Washington colleagues Lynn Bradley and Laura Breeden, along with my Illinois comrades Bridget Lamont and Bob Wedgeworth. The last time I was in Champaign was to join Dr. Wedgeworth and others for a sympoium celebrating the opening of the Grainger Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The U.S. National Commission on Libraries
and Information Science is on the eve of its 25th anniversary.
The Commission was created by Public Law 91-345, signed July
20, 1970, as a fifteen-member, independent agency of the federal
government. We are charged to advise the President and the Congress
on national and international library and information policies
and plans.
You have heard Lynn Bradley and others
describe how fast and furiously these library and information
policies and plans are being discussed and debated now in Washington!
We are very busy, seeking the best decisions for the longest
term for federal support for libraries and information services.
We have focused on two particular bills to date: H.R. 1617,
which would consolidate adult education, literacy and library
programs, and S. 856, which would incorporate library programs
with what is now the Institute for Museum Services.
Obviously, the Commission's concern with
the federal role in supporting libraries and information
services extends back to our very establishment. We have likewise
been concerned for longer than you might think with the role of
libraries in networks -- in what is now called the "National
Information Infrastructure," or the NII.
The Commission has overseen two White House
Conferences on Library and Information Services -- in 1979 and
1991. (I would like to note that I was a member of the Advisory
Committee for the first White House Conference.) Notice how current
the recommendation on networking from the 1979 Conference
sounds: [and I quote]
. . .Be it further resolved that control
of such networks remain at the State or regional level.
. . Be it further resolved that mechanisms
be developed to ensure access by all individuals to such networks
and programs, and
. . Be it further resolved that Federal
and State funds be made available to continue to support and interconnect
existing networks, as well as to develop new networks. . ."
[end of quote]
From the 1991 White House
Conference on Library and Information Services we have this top-priority
recommendation: [I quote]
The National Commission on Libraries and
Information Science has carried out numerous and varied projects
in support of both these recommendations. However, in the interest
of time, let me concentrate on two studies done under the Commission's
sponsorship -- one in 1993-94 and one this year -- to assess where
public libraries stand regarding the Internet.
Before I review these studies for you,
let me emphasize that we are concerned with and deal with all
types of libraries and information services. Public libraries
were just our beginning point for these Internet/NII-related studies.
During 1993-94 we sponsored a research
project to survey the use of the Internet by public libraries.
Charles McClure and John Bertot of Syracuse University and Douglas
Zweizig of the University of Wisconsin at Madison carried out
the research. Although the findings of this project are now a
year-and-a-half old, they are still quoted widely because they
produced the first national data describing the degree to which
public libraries were connected to the Internet.
Let me quickly recap the major findings
of this important study:
This report, by the way, has been one of
the Commission's best-sellers. We've distributed close to 5,000
copies free of charge all over the world. We've almost exhausted
our supply, but the Government Printing Office sells copies and
the report is -- as you should expect -- available on the Internet!.One
way to get access to it is through the Marvel service from the
Library of Congress.
The June 1994 transmittal of the printed
report to the President, other policy-makers and to the library
and information services communities prompted more discussions
which, among other things, identified the need for additional
information as to the costs for public libraries to connect to
the Internet and to provide Internet-based services.
One of those discussions was with Vice
President Gore at the Commission's July 29, 1994, meeting, when
the Vice President called upon NCLIS to ". . .ask those questions,
inventory those challenges and respond to the questions that involve
libraries' roles in the information superhighway."
Two other key discussions took place in
September 1994, with representatives of fifteen state library
agencies and representatives of federal executive and legislative
offices active in developing the National Information Infrastructure.
Laura Breeden took part in the discussion with the federal officials.
From the state libraries and statewide
networks represented at these September 1994 meetings came the
following recommendations:
Recommendations from federal government
officials at these September 1994 sessions included the following:
Last year, cost data on public libraries'
Internet connections and on statewide library networking were
largely unavailable except in anecdotal form. There was no useful
or centrally located or systematic cost data. Given the importance
of the topic and the need to identify and describe various components
of cost involved in connecting public libraries to the Internet,
we at the Commission decided to expand our work in this area.
In February 1995 we retained Dr. McClure,
professor at the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University,
and Syracuse doctoral students John Carlo Bertot and John Beachboard
as investigators for the new cost study. I am pleased to tell
you this report is being printed now and we expect to have it
available by the ALA conference in Chicago late this month.
The models and the cost categories presented
in this report are a first effort to define and describe typical
costs related to public libraries' Internet connectivity and provision
of services. As such, the study team expects that the identified
costs can be further refined and defined as they are used in the
field. These study findings can better shape policy debates on
the role of public libraries in the Internet/NII. They can also
help libraries to
Ultimately, such efforts can help the public
library community better make the transition to the networked
environment and promote universal access to the Internet/NII.
The study team identified seven broad cost
categories into which a majority of public libraries' Internet-related
costs fall:
There are also "covered-cost items,"
identified by our study team as the numerous Internet -related
items that public libraries receive without charge as a result
of collaboration with a variety of local, state and national institutions.
The study has also identified three basic
levels of public library involvement with the Internet: 1.)
access to the Internet, 2.) provision of Internet services (such
as gophers and World Wide Web) and 3.) use of commercial services
such as Dialog or CARL Uncover via the Internet. These levels
of public library involvement provide a planning framework within
which library planners can identify the pertinent cost elements
and cost ranges.
As our study team reports,
"Therefore, be it resolved, that
a comprehensive approach be taken to the planning and development
of multi-type library and information networks, including both
profit and not-for-profit libraries from the public and private
sector, and
That the Congress enact legislation
creating and funding the National Research and Education Network
(NREN) to serve as an information 'superhighway,' allowing educational
institutions, including libraries, to capitalize on the advantages
of technology for resource sharing and the creation and exchange
of information. The network should be available in all
libraries and other information repositories at
every level. . ."
4. 1993/94 Study of Public Libraries
and the Internet
5. 1995 Study to Develop Models for
Public Libraries' Internet Costs
"Costing public library Internet
activities is not an easy task. There are many cost elements,
several levels of Internet involvement, and varying local/state
library situations that can affect Internet-based services' costs
that public libraries bear. . . .A key factor to remember in planning
Internet connectivity and services is that different models for
connectivity have different implications for cost. . . How public
librarians choose to design their connections and services will
depend on their needs, the resources available, and the services
and resources they wish to provide their community -- the possibilities
are limitless!"
This cost study also examines the dimensions of cost models according to an organization's information technology infrastructure as described by P.G. W. Keen in 1991 -- that is, in terms of the technology infrastructure's reach and range. Reach refers to the physical or geographic areas to which service is provided. Range refers to the types of services available once connectivity is provided. Our study team added a third dimension, governance, to encourage librarians to think about collaboration with other organizations.
The NCLIS report presents models and a worksheet to assist public libraries in planning for Internet-based activities. The models are examples of the types of connections and services that libraries can derive under each model. The worksheet, of which you have copies, identifies the major cost elements to consider, based on the level of involvement with the Internet that libraries desire.
Our study team offers the following cautions:
"Users of this report should view the worksheet and connection models as examples and consider what local telecommunications, political and other concerns will affect a public library's ability to connect to and interact with the Internet. The authors of this report, therefore, expect that public libraries will modify and adapt the models and worksheet in this report to their particular situations. As such, this report is really a beginning point for a library's Internet initiative rather than a 'how-to' guide, and serves to assist public libraries in making the transition to the Internet."
As you might expect, we at NCLIS are eager to get this report published and distributed in paper and over the Internet. We are just as eager to proceed with studies of cost models for other types of libraries -- academic, school and special. We are seeking partners in that effort and hope to be able to announce to you soon that we can indeed proceed with these studies.
We expect that these studies will be valuable, not just to libraries, but to our local, state and federal policy-makers who justifiably ask, "Well, how much is this going to cost our tax-payers?"
Maybe the librarian in Troy and Madison County will be asking that question following the dedication of the newest library in the Lewis & Clark System. Thirty-five years ago there was no library in Troy, and today there is an up-to-date, fine modern library. I hope our hometown lbirary in Troy is ultimately enriched by what we at the Commission are attemtping today.
What have I told you about NCLIS' view of libraries and their role in the National Information Infrastructure? While I may not have read you a list of points about libraries' roles, I hope I have conveyed to you that NCLIS views libraries as essential components of the NII, as contributors to and benefiters from the information infrastructure. We sponsor studies, forums, hearings and other activities to examine, define and promote libraries' roles as necessary and natural parts of healthy communities, whether those communities are real or virtual.
Thank you very much for your interest and attention. If there is time, I will be glad to answer questions.