Document Type

Article

Date

1998

Embargo Period

4-24-2012

Keywords

public libraries, connectivity, access, costs, Telecommunications Act of 1996

Disciplines

Library and Information Science

Description/Abstract

Previous national studies of public libraries and the Internet documented the state and changes of public library Internet connectivity, type of connectivity, public access services, and costs associated with such connectivity from public library central units or systems/administrative units (Bertot, McClure, and Fletcher, 1997; Bertot, McClure, and Zweizig, 1996; McClure, Bertot, and Zweizig, 1994). The 1998 data studied all library outlets (defined as both central or system/administrative units and branches, excluding bookmobiles and 227 outlets for which it was not possible to determine the geocodes), the poverty level of the users served by these outlets, and the library’s metropolitan status as urban, suburban, and rural (see Figure 1 for a detailed breakdown of public library outlets and their poverty-metropolitan status categories). This comprehensive picture can provide the public library community, policy makers, and researchers with a more informed picture of which library outlets in different types of poverty and/or urban/rural settings provide what level and type of Internet connectivity. Such data provide an important benchmark describing how public library outlets support Universal Service objectives as legislated through the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-104). The data can also inform policy makers as to possible future changes and impacts resulting from the disbursement of funds to these public library outlets in support of Universal Service objectives.

Source

local input

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