Washington, DC - The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) and the American Library Association (ALA) announce the release of Moving Toward More Effective Public Internet Access: The 1998 National Survey of Public Library Outlet Internet Connectivity, a report on research jointly sponsored by NCLIS and ALA.

In releasing the report, Chairperson Jeanne Hurley Simon stated, "The Commission believes that achieving universal Internet connectivity is not enough. Libraries need to offer effective public Internet access, which includes graphic and workstation capabilities at sufficient speeds with the staff support and training needed to meet the needs of the patrons."

For survey purposes an "outlet" is a main or branch library, excluding bookmobiles. The 1998 survey, based on a sample of 2,500 of the nation's 15,718 public library outlets found that:

• A substantial number of public library outlets have Internet connectivity (83.6%), provide public Internet access (73.3%), and offer graphical public internet access (68.6%). However, only 45.3% offer graphical public access to the World Wide Web at 56 kbps or greater.
• Although the poverty level of the population served does not seem to be a significant factor in determining the availability of public Internet access, metropolitan status does: rural libraries lag behind other types of libraries in providing Internet access. Only 67.6% of rural public libraries offer public Internet access which places these libraries 9.1% behind suburban libraries and 16.4% behind urban libraries.
• Nearly one-third (31.4%) of the library outlets currently offer no graphical public Internet access. 28.3% of the outlets have only one graphic workstation for public Internet access and 14.3% have only two graphic workstations. More needs to be learned about what constitutes an adequate number of public access Internet workstations in a library. Nevertheless, in many libraries, one graphic workstation for public Internet access is likely to be inadequate to meet public needs.

Based on this assessment, the Commission will advise the President and the Congress about the types and levels of support necessary to achieve effective public Internet access.

The report is for sale by the U.S. Government Printing Office at a cost of $16.00 (stock number: 040-000-00718-1). The report can also be accessed through NCLIS' Web site www.nclis.gov/what/1998plo.pdf.

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 advise the President and Congress on national and international library and information policies and plans.