Washington, D.C. - The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) announces the start of the sixth public library Internet study. Dr. John Carlo Bertot, University of Albany, State University of New York has been hired as an expert consultant to conduct the study for the Commission.
The 2000 Internet Connectivity Study follows an earlier report, Moving Toward More Effective Public Internet Access: The 1998 National Survey of Public Library Outlet Internet Connectivity, jointly sponsored by NCLIS and the American Library Association. The 1998 study is available at http://www.nclis.gov/what/1998plo.pdf.
In transmitting the earlier report to the President and to the Congress, Jeanne Hurley Simon, Chairperson, U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science stated, "Just as they have offered open access to recorded knowledge since the earliest days of our nation's history, public libraries have a vital role in assuring that advanced information services are universally available to all segments of the population on an equitable basis."
The new study will ask questions to measure the level of connectivity, public access, training support and technology funding, current and anticipated, for staff and the public. A controlled sample of 1,200 - 1,500 public library outlets will be identified for the primary survey. A sub-sample of public library consortia and library networks will be identified and asked more specific questions on access and use patterns. Additional questions will deal with acceptable use polices and installation of filtering software in libraries vis-à-vis searching the Internet and use of Internet-accessible resources, including commercial product databases, by the public.
Testimony presented at the NCLIS hearing, Library and Information Services for Individuals with Disabilities highlighted the need to include questions dealing with software and hardware to support Internet access for persons with disabilities. Therefore, questions on these issues will be part of the study also.
To be completed in three phases between February 1 and August 31, 2000, the study will also gather information on the ability of public libraries to report electronic database use. The electronic database use measures will be derived from those tested in Developing National Public Library Statistics and Performance Measures for the Networked Environment http://www.albany.edu/~imlsstat/.
Copies of prior NCLIS studies are available upon request by phone at (202) 606-9200 or by e-mail at info@ nclis.gov
For more information visit the NCLIS website at http://www.nclis.gov or contact Denise Davis, Director, Statistics and Surveys at e-mail address ddavis@nclis.gov.
The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science is a permanent, independent agency of the Federal government charged by Public Law 91-345 to appraise the adequacies and deficiencies of current library and information resources and services and to advise the President and Congress on national and international policies and plans.