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April 1999 LibraryNet Monthly BRANTFORD CONFIRMS HIGH PUBLIC DEMANDIn their recent statistical survey of library usage, the Brantford Public Library (BPL) confirmed that public use of the library remains high, although patterns of use are shifting dramatically. While circulation and personal visits are down slightly, public use of electronic resources is heavy and "virtual visits" to the library have increased significantly. In two one-week sample periods, BPL measured in-house use of their circulating and reference collections and electronic resources. To measure the use of electronic resources, BPL used WinU to count the number of times patrons accessed the library's CD-ROM titles and how many individual web pages were accessed via the library's public Internet access terminals. The ratio of physical items consulted in-house to items borrowed was 1:2. The ratio of self-service electronic information transactions to staff-assisted reference transactions was about 5:1. BPL CEO Wendy Newman says, "Those 18,000 self-help transactions (the sum of items consulted but not borrowed and the electronic accesses described above), occurring in one week in a medium sized library, in addition to the usual reported circulation and reference transactions, demonstrate high public need and use." BPL also reported that "virtual visits" are up and should be noted when numbers of personal visits are cited. Remote access of the BPL dial-up online catalogue increased by a significant 40 per cent over the past year. BPL expects remote access to continue to grow now that their catalogue is accessible through the World Wide Web. For more
information: BATTLIN' BIBLIOPHILES DEFEND THE LIBRARY AS A RESEARCH SITEAn article in the March 25, 1999 National Post reported on a contest of Net searchers, the "Online Onslaught" team, against the "Battlin' Bibliophiles" library team which was held last month (March 1999) in Dayton, Ohio. Each of the teams of students had 10 questions to answer. In the end, the Internet team was faster, but the library team was more accurate. The lesson drawn was: "The Internet is a great source for quick information on certain subjects and clearly is superior for finding up-to-date data, but the library often is just as quick or quicker, and its information may be more trustworthy." The full
story ("Internet vs. Library: Faster Search Isn't Always Better" by James
Cummings) is available at the Computer News Daily site: WHAT DO PATRONS USE THE INTERNET FOR?How much do we really know about the way in which the Internet is being used in public libraries? What sites are actually being visited? A recent study by Dr. Ann Curry of the School of Library, Archival, and Information Studies at the University of British Columbia used transactional log anaysis (TLA) of data gathered from web server logs at the Burnaby (BC) Public Library in an attempt to discover just what patrons are looking at. The highest percentage of web sites visited (30.7%) were email or chat-related. The authors of the study point out, however, that every time an email function is performed on a web browser, a new URL is generated. This may have produced a disproportionate number of log entries compared to other activities or subjects. Entertainment (mass culture) and business were the next most popular topics, at 8.2% and 8.1% respectively. Search engines and directory sites represented 7.5% of the web sites visited. Unfortunately, 12.7% of the log was classified as "unidentifiable" - sites that the researchers were unable to access in order to determine their subject area. Hopefully, this small pilot study will encourage other researchers across Canada to help determine trends in public library Internet usage. The complete
study is available on the LibraryNet website at: "WILL LIBRARIES SURVIVE?"The American Prospect, an online magazine produced by the U.S. Electronic Policy Network, recently published an article by Geoffrey Nunberg, a principal scientist at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center and linguistics teacher at Stanford University. Nunberg has written an interesting analysis of the similarities and differences between Bill Gates' recent donations to libraries and the Carnegie Foundation's efforts at the turn of the century. "The question is: When the current rush of enthusiasm has subsided, will we be left with an infrastructure and institutions as robust as those that emerged a century ago? And how much of a role will traditional libraries actually have to play in the informational new order?" He concludes that traditional libraries will be essential for many years to come, and argues that the best reason for making libraries the mediators of public access to electronic information is "in a word, librarians." For the complete
article: FRANCOMMUNAUTÉS VIRTUELLES DEADLINEFrancommunautés virtuelles is a federal program, created by Industry Canada, with a budget of approximately $1 million per year over three years. The program's objectives are as follows: to develop applications, services and content in French on the Internet; to promote networking and to reach all Francophone and Acadian communities in Canada; to stimulate the development of the French Canadian multimedia industry; to maintain and develop Francophone and Acadian communities in Canada through the use of information and communications technologies. The pilot phase of the Francommunautés virtuelles program was successfully launched in 1998-99. Contributions were made to 32 projects based in every region of Canada, including a directory of services for Francophone women, an "Infomobile", a virtual atlas of Francophone communities, an interactive site on the history of Canada's Francophone communities, and an economic forum for Francophone business people. The Francommunautés virtuelles program makes contributions of up to $75,000 per project, representing 50% of the eligible costs. Applicants may be associations, institutions, individuals, non-government organizations or companies. All of these entities must be Canadian. The next deadline for submitting proposals under the Francommunautés virtuelles program is May 14 1999. For more
information: STATE OF THE INTERNET IN CANADAThe Nua Internet Survey organization profiled Canada in the April 12th edition of its newsletter, entitled "The E-Maple Leaf". "Canada has been somewhat overlooked as a major player in the Internet arena, given its North American neighbour's sustained position in the online spotlight. However, while the US remains the driving force of the Internet economy, the facts show that Canada is setting its own agenda, and its own pace.... While it remains to be seen how and when the world's economies can expect to see a return on their Internet investment, in 1999 Canada is pushing all the right ecommerce buttons." In a timely confirmation of that opinion, Canada has just become the first nation in the world to complete the task of connecting its schools and libraries to the Internet. While the Scandinavian countries rank highly in Internet usage, SchoolNet recently received confirmation from Sweden that not all of their schools are connected to the Internet. Individual municipalities are still applying for grants from the state to complete the implementation of connectivity. In Denmark, while their goal is to connect all libraries to the Internet by the end of 1999, currently only 88% of the Danish population have Internet access via their local public library. This makes Canada the first nation in the world to connect its schools and libraries to the Internet. To read the
full newsletter: HALTON PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND HRDC INCREASE INTERNET ACCESSHalton, Ontario residents will soon have increased access points to Internet resources. Through a "Local Labour Market Partnership" with Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC), the public libraries will provide Halton community members with 160 per cent more publicly accessible Internet computers. While the entire network of libraries will benefit from this partnership, each location has been able to tailor its upgrade plan to meet local needs. By the end of the summer of 1999, the community will find Burlington, Halton Hills, Milton and Oakville Public Libraries offering enhanced resources, including: more Internet workstations, more or better printers, more large screen monitors for the visually impaired in Milton and Burlington, more electronic resources, and more job search tools. The public libraries and HRDC believe that this will all add up to more opportunities for Halton residents to develop the information and technical competencies which are critical employment and business skills. For more
information: SIX ACADEMIC JOURNALS GO ON-LINEOn April 14, Industry Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) announced $207,600 in funding to enable three prestigious Canadian university presses to publish six academic journals on-line . In a joint project between Industry Canada's SchoolNet Program and SSHRC, funding will be provided to the University of Toronto Press, Wilfrid Laurier University Press and Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal to create a process that allows different publishers to electronically produce scholarly journals using Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). SGML is a non-proprietary international standard that ensures the cross-platform compatibility of documents providing the flexibility to produce documents in print, Hyper-Text Markup Language (HTML), CD-ROM, Portable Document Format (PDF), braille and other display and retrieval formats. The six journals, scheduled to go on-line by the year 2000, are:
For more
information: CANADA POST MOVES BEYOND "SNAIL MAIL"On Tuesday, March 30, the Globe and Mail reported on the Electronic Post Office, an initiative by Canada Post Corporation and Cebra Inc. (a subsidiary of the Bank of Montreal), which will offer all Canadian residents the ability to send and receive mail electronically. "This will open the doors to a whole variety of services," says Bill Robertson, General Manager of Electronic Commerce for Canada Post. "We're going to offer bill presentment and paying and the electronic version of registered mail through the Internet this summer and then things like sending cash via the Internet. Eventually, almost anything that can be sent through normal mail will be offered electronically: bills, flyers, ads, forms and letters. The post office will sell electronic delivery as an alternative to print to all customers." Canada Post is aware that only 12.9 million adults, according to survey firm Angus Reid, have access to an Internet connection at home or work. Mr. Robertson is counting on the 10,000 Internet access terminals that Industry Canada has already installed at community sites across Canada in schools, community centres, libraries, and other public access buildings, with lots more to come, to provide access to the remainder of the population. Each public access terminal will have a number of built-in options, including bill paying and electronic mail. What's more, Canada Post plans on equipping those PCs with both credit-card paying and electronic cheque capabilities for those who don't have or want PC banking. The next step is lining up corporate billers. The post office is already testing consumer reaction with a group of eight major companies including Bank of Montreal MasterCard, PetroCanada, Sears Canada and Manitoba Hydro. The success of that pilot will lead to a controlled launch this summer. For more
information: UK BUDGET FUNDS MORE TECHNOLOGY GROWTHUK Chancellor Gordon Brown's March 10 budget speech announced new funding allocated for widening access to new technology. A 1.7 billion pound "computers for all" initiative was launched, enlisting both public and private sectors to make Britain a leader in the information economy. The target is a national network of 1,000 computer learning centres, one for every community in Britain. They will be "in schools, colleges, libraries, internet cafes and on the High Street" (Main Street in North America). Other targets and funding announced include:
The government has also made the introduction of a National Grid for Learning one of its priorities, including plans to connect every school to the Internet and to provide a range of online educational resources. Last year the Prime Minister announced 700 million pounds to provide schools with modern computer equipment as part of the development of the Grid for Learning. For more
information: http://news2.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/events/budget_99/news/ CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT - LIBRARIES AND SMART COMMUNITIESCommunity
Economic Development in a Connected Canada The goal of this conference is to bring together experts in government, economic development, information technology, cultural agencies, rural development, business (large and small), and libraries. Together with the conference delegates, these experts will discuss and define the specific roles that libraries can undertake to create smart communities in a "connected Canada", and promote community economic development. This conference is being held in response to the very successful "Libraries as Leaders in Community Economic Development" conference which took place immediately prior to last year's Canadian Library Association annual conference in Victoria, British Columbia. For more
information or to register: CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT - DIGITAL KNOWLEDGE IIIInformation
Technology : Tracking the Impact of the Internet Digital Knowledge III is a major international conference looking at the impact of information technology and Internet usage on four key areas of our lives - Education, Health, Society, and the Workplace. Third in a unique annual series of investigations engaging Internet users, association executives, communications executives, legislators and policy makers, Digital Knowledge III will tackle one of the major questions surrounding information technology and the impact of the Internet - "Are things better or just different?" For more
information or to register, contact the Conference Coordinators: ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING WORKSHOPS FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENTOn April 15 the Depository Services Program (DSP) hosted the second in a series of workshops on electronic publishing in the federal government, on the theme of "Transforming Canadians' Access to Government Information." The purpose of the workshop was to encourage government publishers to publish their materials electronically and to inform them of libraries' role in providing public access. Marianne Scott, the National Librarian, gave a general overview of issues and challenges in the electronic publishing and dissemination of government information. She identified libraries as key agents in providing human assistance to people seeking government information, and noted that the public has both a high regard for libraries and high expectations of library service. Other presenters included Barbara Clubb of the Ottawa Public Library, who spoke on the topic of digitization, and Rosemary Kavanagh of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, who spoke about encouraging access through alternative formats. The workshop series is intended to support government publishers and information specialists in meeting the public's rising expectations that government information will be available in faster and more flexible electronic formats and at little or no cost. A workshop description and agenda are accessible from the Depository Services Program page. Speakers' notes from the workshop will soon be posted here as well. For more
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