================================================================= ALAWON Volume 6, Number 100 ISSN 1069-7799 November 18, 1997 American Library Association Washington Office Newsline In this issue: (116 lines) PUBLIC INTERNET ACCESS AT NATION'S LIBRARY SYSTEMS INCREASES SHARPLY; LIBRARY BRANCHES LAG _________________________________________________________________ PUBLIC INTERNET ACCESS AT NATION'S LIBRARY SYSTEMS INCREASES SHARPLY; LIBRARY BRANCHES LAG Washington, D.C.-- While nearly three-fifths of the nation's public library systems offer some type of Internet access, fewer than one in seven have World Wide Web access in their community branch libraries, according to a study sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS). Based on a survey of 1,700 of the nation's more than 8,900 public libraries, more than 60 percent offer public access to the Internet, up from nearly 28 percent in 1996. However, only 13 percent of library systems offer World Wide Web access at some or all of their branches. The study also showed that 64 percent of public library systems in metropolitan areas offer Web access in at least one branch compared with only 44 percent of rural area library systems. "This increase in public library-Internet connectivity confirms the powerful role of public libraries in the nation's infrastructure," said Jeanne Hurley Simon, chairperson of the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, an independent federal agency. "However, the data also show the needs and the gaps, like the huge gap for branch libraries lacking Internet connections." ALA President Barbara J. Ford said the report should be of particular interest to policymakers, funders and telecommunications providers. "The increase in Internet connections is exciting but there is still much to be done if we are to achieve the President Clinton and ALA's goal of connecting every public and school library by the year 2000," said Ford. The Federal Communications Commission earlier this year approved telecommuni-cations discounts from 20 to 90 percent for public libraries. Ford noted that the new telecommunications discounts should help even more libraries to offer Internet access, especially those in low income areas, but that a comprehensive effort is needed at the local, state and federal levels if all Americans are to have access to electronic information at their libraries. The 1997 National Survey of U.S. Public Libraries and the Internet: Summary Results shows that telecommunication fees and the availability of federal/state funds were the top two factors affecting public library involvement with the Internet. The survey showed that public libraries spent at least an estimated $280 million on Internet access alone in 1997. The survey was conducted by Dr. John Carlo Bertot, assistant professor in the Department of Information Systems at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County; Dr. Charles R. McClure, professor in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse (N.Y.) University, and Dr. Patricia Diamond Fletcher, faculty associate in the Department of Information Systems at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. The study sample was selected from the file used to produce Public Libraries in the United States: FY 1994, a publication of the National Center for Education Statistics. The survey provides information on U.S. public library infrastructure costs associated with Internet-related services and technology, and expands upon areas of public library Internet-related data as reported in the 1994 and 1996 studies sponsored by NCLIS. Copies of the survey summary results are available online at http://www.ala.org/oitp/research/plcon97sum. The final report should be available by Spring 1998. By law, NCLIS advises the president and the Congress on national and international library and information services policies and plans. Fourteen members of the 16-member NCLIS are appointed and serve five-year terms. The other two are the librarian of Congress and the director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Chicago-based American Library Association is a nonprofit education association with some 58,000 members, including librarians, library trustees, educators, friends of libraries and other supporters. Its mission is to promote the highest quality library service and public access to information. _________________________________________________________________ ALAWON is a free, irregular publication of the American Library Association Washington Office. To subscribe, send the message: subscribe ala-wo [your_firstname] [your_lastname] to listproc @ala.org. To unsubscribe, send the message: unsubscribe ala-wo to listproc@ala.org. ALAWON archives at http://www.ala.org/ washoff/alawon. Visit our Web site at http://www.alawash.org. ALA Washington Office 202.628.8410 (V) 1301 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, #403 202.628.8419 (F) Washington, DC 20004-1701 800.941.8478 (V) Lynne E. Bradley, Editor Deirdre Herman, Managing Editor Contributors: Andrew Magpantay All materials subject to copyright by the American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits. =================================================================