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February 2000 LibraryNet Monthly TABLE OF CONTENTS
MORE ACCESS FOR MANITOBA, NEW BRUNSWICK, AND ONTARIOPublic libraries in three provinces announced this month that they will be receiving grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to increase access to Internet services in public libraries. In addition, Microsoft Canada will make a separate donation of software to all libraries receiving Foundation grants. The funding will result in 83 new Internet workstations in 36 of New Brunswick's public libraries. In Manitoba, 46 libraries will receive 128 workstations, and 1,407 workstations will be installed in 376 Ontario public libraries. The grants will also provide regional computer training labs for the training of library staff and patrons. In addition, Manitoba and Ontario will receive labs consisting of networked laptops, to allow for mobile computer training in rural areas. Training from the Foundation will provide library leaders from each province with the technical skills to support local libraries during the installation process. According to a July 1999 Statistics Canada study, individuals in the highest income households are nearly five times more likely to regularly access the Internet than those in the lowest income households. The Gates Foundation grants are intended to increase technology access for people who would otherwise not have access to computers and the Internet by partnering with provincial, territorial and state public libraries to increase Internet access for libraries that serve low income communities. Foundation grants are targeted toward libraries that serve low-income communities in Canada and the United States. Canadian libraries serving populations where 17.6 per cent or more of the population live in poverty are eligible. (These figures are based on the Poverty Profile 1996 report issued by the National Council of Welfare.) For more
information and grant guidelines: ALBERTA TO WIRE PROVINCE WITH FIBRE OPTICSOn February 8, the Alberta government announced that it will make providing fibre-optic connections across the province a priority. As one of sixteen goals set for Alberta's centennial year of 2005, the government pledged to build a provincial technology network that provides every home, business, classroom, library and municipality with access to a high speed Internet connection able to support video and multimedia. For more
information: OLA PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE AWARDSThe Ontario Library Association's Public Library Service Awards celebrate excellence and innovation in Ontario's public libraries. The 1999 winners, selected by an independent jury drawn from the library community, were announced at the OLA's annual Superconference in Toronto on February 5. Information Access Oxford (IAO), the technology branch of the Oxford County Library, was one of three Minister's Award for Innovation winners. IAO is a financially self-sustaining branch of the county library and many community partners, including county government, local municipalities, other nearby libraries, and HRDC. Today, the library offers computers with Internet access for public use at all branches, with an Internet accessible catalogue, technological support to Library and County of Oxford employees, and extended branch hours to meet the needs of its rural patrons. Halton Hills Public Library won one of two Angus Mowat Awards of Excellence winners for its Community Newspapers project, which indexes local community newspapers and provides the full text of their articles over the Internet. Partners in this project include the Halton Hills, Milton, Oakville and Burlington public libraries, as well as the Halton District School Board. The second Angus Mowat Award of Excellence was given to Windsor Public Library for its P.O.W.E.R. Surfers project, an electronic directory of cancer and other health-related web sites selected and reviewed by health professionals. P.O.W.E.R. Surfers was created in partnership with the Windsor Regional Cancer Center and the Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital. The Windsor-Essex Regional Library Network (WERLnet) was co-winner of the Award for Technological Innovation. WERLnet is a partnership made up of the Windsor Public Library, the Greater Essex County District School Board, and the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board, which built a shared integrated on-line library system providing access to all materials owned by the partners. The City of Windsor and WEDnet (Windsor-Essex Development Network) supplied technical and telecommunications support. The Canadian National Institute for the Blind's (CNIB) Library for the Blind was the other winner of the Award for Technological Innovation. Their VISUNEWS service (in the pilot project phase) will provide full-text Internet and telephone access to major French and English Canadian newspapers. VISUNEWS is a major development in providing daily news to CNIB Library users, who would otherwise have little or no access to print news media. For more
information on these projects: INTERNET CHILDREN'S SAFETY PROGRAM LAUNCHEDOn February 2, the "Missing Program" - a national Internet safety initiative aimed at raising awareness among families and educators about on-line child predation and Internet-related kidnaping - was launched. The program was initiated by the Mounted Police Foundation (MPF). The program is designed to provide parents, teachers and librarians with the information they need to understand the nature and signs of Internet predation; provide children with helpful resources in an attractive and entertaining medium; provide a framework for discussing these issues in the family and the classroom; and provide examples of families and schools where these discussions have succeeded. The central component of the program is "Missing" Kits, which include a CD-ROM computer game that teaches children how to identify the signs of predation; guides and workshops for children, parents and teachers; short video documentaries; and a poster. Industry Canada will partner with the MPF and other organizations in the reproduction and distribution of "Missing" Kits for 20,000 Canadian schools and libraries. The Missing Program also features a web site with links to related resources, and a series of provincial workshops to educate teachers, librarians and law enforcement officials about Internet predation and train them in the effective use of the Missing Kit. The kit was produced with the assistance of the National Crime Prevention Center of the Department of Justice, the BC Ministry of Education, the Canadian Library Association (CLA), the Home and School Federation, IBM Canada, Telus, CAIP, AT&T Canada and the Alberta Science Foundation. The CLA and several libraries in BC and Alberta were also involved in the review and testing of the kit. The MPF was established to manage funds generated from the RCMP's licensing programs, which are used to support and enhance RCMP community policing, public relations and crime prevention programs throughout Canada. For more
information on this project: SURVEY OF ON-LINE SAFETY PERCEPTIONSThe Media Awareness Network and Environics Research Group have been commissioned by several federal government departments, including Industry Canada, to survey public opinion, usage patterns, and perceptions of, as well as experiences with, controversial Internet content and on-line child safety issues . The survey will attempt to determine whether these issues are barriers to the further growth and development of the Internet in Canada. Survey results may also be useful to ISPs, libraries, and academic institutions in their efforts to develop the most effective solutions to these challenges, whether education and awareness-building initiatives, user empowerment tools (such as filtering software), or complaints and reporting mechanisms. The survey, to be launched late this month or early in March, will be administered to 1200 computer-equipped Canadian families with children aged under 18 years, half of which are connected to the Internet and half which are not. Children's Internet usage in libraries and schools will also be taken into consideration. By surveying both connected and non-connected households, the research team will be able to assess any differences in views, opinions and perceptions between these two groups, as well as determine the importance of the various factors that affect whether or not a family is on-line. For more
information: NEW CAP SITES ANNOUNCEDOn February 17, the results of the latest Community Access Program (CAP) competition were announced. Nearly two hundred rural communities across Canada will acquire public Internet access sites, including 5 in the North, 31 in the West, 91 in Ontario and 71 in Quebec. Through Industry Canada's CAP, the Government of Canada aims to help establish up to 10,000 access sites in remote, rural and urban settings nationwide by March 31, 2001. The program is a key component of the Government of Canada's Connecting Canadians strategy, aimed at making Canada the world's most connected nation. CAP is also integral to the Government of Canada's Youth Employment Strategy. Through CAP's Netcorps Canada, young Canadians have the opportunity to gain employability skills through work experience at CAP sites. The next CAP proposal submission deadline for rural and urban communities is May 31, 2000. For more
information: NOVA SCOTIA LIBRARY DEVELOPS HERITAGE SITEThe Collins Street area, located in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, has been identified as an area which represents significant architectural elements of Nova Scotian history, and was recognized as a provincial historic district in 1997. The thirty-one homes in the district date mainly from the 19th century, and include fine examples of the Four Square, Gothic Revival, Second Empire, Queen Anne Revival and Vernacular styles. The Western Counties Regional Library, in partnership with a local heritage committee, is using funding obtained from Industry Canada to add in-depth information on each of the houses in the district to the Yarmouth Community Heritage website. The library also plans to develop a virtual walking tour of Collins Street. Visit the
site at: http://www.library.ns.ca/regionals/wcr/heritage/pages/collherit/ NEW PUBLIC ACCESS INTERNET RESEARCHDr. Ann Curry, Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia's School of Library, Archival, and Information Studies, is about to begin a new study on the use made of public Internet access terminals in Canadian public libraries. LibraryNet is contributing funds for this two-phase study, which will build on earlier research supervised by Dr. Curry, as reported in the April 1999 issue of LibraryNet Monthly. Transactional log analysis (TLA) of data gathered from the web server logs of first ten, and later twenty-five, libraries across Canada will provide objective data regarding the types of Internet sites which are accessed from public terminals. A preliminary research report describing the participating libraries and their community's characteristics will be released on March 1st, 2000. For more
information: To read the
earlier study: CLOSING "DIGITAL DIVIDE" A PRIORITY FOR CLINTONAmerican President Bill Clinton listed closing the "digital divide" as one of his top priorities for his final year in office in his State of the Union address of January 27, 2000. A U.S. Commerce Department study released in July 1999 showed a growing divide between the percentage of whites and minorities, urban and rural dwellers, and rich and poor who are connected to the Internet. The study found 60 percent of households earning $75,000 or more had Internet access, compared with less than 10 percent of households earning less than $20,000. Across all income levels, whites were more likely to have Internet access than blacks and Hispanics. The president's 2001 budget proposal calls for $2 billion in tax incentives over the next decade to encourage private corporations to donate computers, sponsor community technology centers, and pay for technology training for workers. It would also earmark $150 million (twice the current amount) in Department of Education grants to help train all new teachers entering the work force to use technology effectively, plus $100 million to create one thousand technology centers in low-income urban and rural neighborhoods. The initiative would also set aside $50 million for a pilot program to help more poor families buy computers for home use, and $45 million to promote innovative technological projects in poor and minority communities. Clinton plans to tour depressed areas left out of the explosion of Internet access this spring. For the complete
text of the State of the Union Address: NLC CONSULTATION ON E-PUBLISHINGOn January 31, 2000, the National Library hosted a full day of discussion and debate between NL staff and publishing industry representatives regarding questions arising from the recent phenomenon of publishing on the World Wide Web. Issues such as how libraries can address acquiring and preserving this form of publication, and how publishers view this electronic product in their environment, were raised. In her opening remarks, Ingrid Parent, Director General of Acquisitions and Bibliographic Services at the NLC, stated that we are in a period of transition from the printed to the electronic format, which requires new procedures, policies, and new relationships and partnerships. Other speakers from the National Library spoke on acquisition and legal deposit, access through libraries, access standards, and preservation and archiving. The objectives of the consultation were for groups to meet, to get to know each other, and to share information. A report and summary of the proceedings will be made available in the near future, and members of the discussion group plan to continue holding discussions on a regular basis on some of the issues raised. INDUSTRY CANADA CALLS FOR COMMENTS ON APPEALS OF CRTC DECISION 99-16On February 19, Industry Canada issued a Public Notice (DGTP-002-2000) in the Canada Gazette seeking public comment on petitions received by the Governor in Council in regard to a decision issued by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC): Telephone Service to High-Cost Serving Areas, Telecom Decision CRTC 99-16, October 19, 1999. The Gazette Notice along with the petitions can be viewed on Industry Canada's Strategis web site under the heading Gazette and Public Notices. The CRTC Decision can be viewed on the CRTC web site. In the decision, the CRTC identified a basic level of service that all Canadians should have access to, and took steps to ensure that, over time, those few areas which are unserved or underserved will have access to the level of service currently available to most Canadians. The Notice provides detailed instructions for filing comments. While the Notice does not specify a time limit for submitting comments, interested parties should file their comments within a reasonable amount of time, normally within 30 days after the publication of the Notice. Provincial ministers responsible for telecommunications are also being consulted. Letters requesting their comments within 30 days were sent on February 10, 2000. Petitions have been sent by: (1) The Board of Education of the Regina School Division No. 4 of Saskatchewan; (2) The Canadian Co-operative Association; (3) The Government of Manitoba and the Government of Saskatchewan; (4) The Library Association of Alberta and the Alberta Library Trustees Association; and (5) The Saskatchewan School Trustees Association. Under the Telecommunications Act, the government has one year from the date of the CRTC decision to vary or rescind the decision or refer it back to the CRTC for reconsideration of all or a portion of it. In this case the government has until October 19, 2000 to act. For more
information contact: ONLINE RESOURCES OF INTEREST TO LIBRARIANSThe Ad*Access Project, funded by the Duke Endowment "Library 2000" Fund, presents images and database information for over 7,000 advertisements printed in U.S. and Canadian newspapers and magazines between 1911 and 1955. Ad*Access concentrates on five main subject areas: Radio, Television, Transportation, Beauty and Hygiene, and World War II, providing a coherent view of a number of major campaigns and companies through images preserved in one particular advertising collection available at Duke University. To visit
Ad*Access: The Québecois writers' association, Uneq, has put together the wonderfully comprehensive "Centre de documentation virtuel sur la littérature québécoise". This site contains short biographies and bibliographies of more than 600 Québec writers. For subscribers, online reviews, critical essays, and interviews from academic sources (such as Université Laval and Université de Montréal) are also available. To visit
L'ÎLE: Forbes Magazine has compiled a list of "Best of the Web" Internet sites in more than 60 categories. The emphasis is on financial and American information, but there are also many broadly useful sites on topics such as parenting and health. Five criteria were used in selecting sites for the list: design, navigation, content, speed and customization. To visit
Best of the Web: LIBRARY COURSES OFFERED ONLINELangara College Continuing Studies department is offering several of its Library & Information Technology courses online during the Winter/Spring session, including Designing a Library/Informational Web Site and Introduction to Cataloging. Registration allows you to access your course at any time, as many times as you wish, for its duration. Fees range from $60 to $290. Participants will need access to the Internet and a web browser; Netscape may be specified depending on the course. Familiarity with the use of a browser and email is required. To register: For more
information INFORMATION HIGHWAYS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENTInformation
Highways 2000 Conference and Exhibition (formerly the Canadian Online
Information Summit) An annual conference held by Information Highways Magazine, Canada's leading publication about electronic content. This year's event includes interactive panels, workshops for user communities, an exclusive pre- conference seminar for government, an executive seminar on knowledge management and much more. CLA is sponsoring sessions including Internet Search Forum: Top Trends in Internet Research, and The Art of the Deal: Sharpening Negotiating Skills. For more
information or to register: If
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