Monday, March 21, 2011

CIL 2011 - Day 1 - Demonstrating the Impact of Public Access Technology

Opportunity for All : How the American Public Benefits from Internet Access at U.S. Libraries

The presenters collected data with case studies, telephone surveys and web surveys at libraries across the United States on public library Internet users.

245 million people 14 and older have used a library in the past year. 30 percent of visitors use a computer terminal, 12 percent use wireless. 22 percent of users rely on the public library as their sole source for Internet. 78 percent o the population have access to a computer somewhere but still are using a computer terminal.

67 percent of users received one-on-one help from library staff or volunteers. 14 percent of users attended a computer-related training at the library. Library Internet access helps people connect, research, find employment, get educated, health & wellness, government & legal information, and more. People felt more comfortable using the library to help find employment than going to employment agencies.

Congestion was a major time barrier. Policies such as time limits help ease congestion but it makes it harder for specific tasks (such as finding a job, researching government policy, etc) to complete their task. Digital literacy is another common barrier for patrons as well as shadow mandates (schools closing their libraries and sending all usage to the public library. Managing shadow relationships can be important.

Full study can be found at http://tascha.uw.edu/usimpact/us-public-library-study.html

The speaker recommended Creating Public Value: Strategic Management in Government by M. H. Moore.

Effective messages for external audiences:

  • What's happening at the library in terms of technology services available and their impact in specific high-value areas, especially job search, education, health and wellness, and eGovernment

  • Benchmarking the library against national averages to highlight impact, strengths, and needs

Effective messages for internal audiences:

  • Equipping friends and board members to advocate for the library by helping them understand the value of public accessible

They are making the survey instrument available for free usage by libraries to survey patrons about public access. This might be an interesting thing to pursue if our community gets over the survey fatigue induced by the last survey.

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