 |
|
|
|
|||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
|
|  |
   
|
|||
|
March 2002 LibraryNet Monthly TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. NEW COMMUNITY INFORMATION ONLINE SOFTWAREOn March 4, the Ontario Community Information Online Consortium (CIOC) launched a new website where the non-profit sector can learn about its award-winning software, which was originally developed, under the name of Halinet, by the Halton Hills Public Library. Community Information Centre (CIC) software provides a database management mode in which a single agency, or a network of agencies, can manage and update their community information records directly on the Internet. Community partners can see their own agency records online and send updates to the managing agency. The public interface of the software provides an easy to use search capability. Volunteer Opportunities (VOL) software allows people to select volunteer opportunities according to their community, areas of interest, and time available. A special search feature enables Ontario high school students to find opportunities that satisfy their mandatory volunteer requirements. The two software programs can function independently or work together. The CIOC's current membership represents over 60 different agencies managing 19 online databases that serve the community information needs of over 60% of Ontario's population. For more
information: 2. QUEBEC FUNDS BROADBAND STUDIESOn February 21, Québec's Minister of Culture and Communications Diane Lemieux announced that the 'Fonds de l'autoroute de l'information' program will provide up to $25,000 toward the cost of studies of rural broadband infrastructure deployment by rural school boards and municipalities. The studies will help make possible the accelerated deployment of high speed Internet outside urban centres, and assist local authorities in preparing applications for the 'Villages branchés' program, announced in the last provincial budget. Qualifying projects will receive financial assistance equivalent to 75% of the cost of the study, up to $25,000. The deadline for funding proposals is December 16, 2002. The 'Villages branchés' program of the Ministry for Education will make $75 million available to connect Quebec schools in a cutting-edge telecommunications network. The infrastructure thus developed will also be extended to public libraries and municipalities. For more
information: 3. NEW FRANCOMMUNAUTÉS COMPETITION OPENAs part of the Journée internationale de la francophonie on March 20, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister and Minister responsible for Official Languages Stéphane Dion announced $4 million in funding to renew Industry Canada's Francommunautés virtuelles program. Since its creation in 1998, Francommunautés virtuelles has supported the development of French-language applications, services and content on the Internet. These projects have enabled Francophone and Acadian communities throughout Canada to take ownership and make use of information technology and the Internet. Projects supported by Francommunautés virtuelles must be innovative and respond to needs expressed by Canada's Francophone and Acadian communities, in terms of access to the Information Highway in French and the acquisition of skills and knowledge related to information and communications technologies. The program is intended for Canadian, French-speaking non-profit organizations. An organization may receive contributions representing 50 percent of total allowable costs, to a maximum of $75,000 for a regional project and $250,000 for a national project. The deadline for the submission of proposals is May 24, 2002. For more
information: 4. THREE NEW DIGITAL DIVIDE STUDIES"Rethinking the Information Highway: Rethinking the Dual Digital Divide" has just been released by Human Resources Development Canada's Office of Learning Technologies (OLT). The study analyses the state of the digital divide in Canada as of the year 2000, how the divide has changed since 1997, and why many Canadians remain unconnected to the Internet. The analysis focuses on three main barriers to usage: cost, perceived lack of need, and lack of interest. Income remains the most important factor determining the likelihood of Internet access, although by 2000, location was gaining in importance, with rural areas showing lower levels of access compared to urban settings. An important conclusion of the report is that community-based, not-for-profit Internet access and training services can significantly increase the usage rates by the social sub-groups traditionally found to have low or lagging technology adoption rates in Canada. Communities can facilitate access by taking advantage of an established community organization that is already familiar to residents. Recent research demonstrates that this approach has helped draw many "near users" online. One case study of a low-income neighborhood showed a level of interest in and use of the Internet that was higher than the national average for those facing affordability and literacy barriers. The full
text of the report is available online (in PDF format) at: Laura Stanley's California-based research on social and psychological issues behind the digital divide confirms many of the conclusions on community-based initiatives drawn by the previous report. Her report, "Beyond Access," concludes that the digital divide's "topography is defined by psychosocial factors as well as access." Several social and psychological obstacles can undermine individual motivation to engage with and thus potentially benefit from this new technology. The study identifies three kinds of obstacles - relevance, comfort zone, and self-concept. The majority of respondents suggested that one or more of these other obstacles significantly discouraged their initial interest in achieving computer literacy, more so than cost alone. Respondents explained that finding the 'right' computer class played a large role in helping them overcome their computer anxieties. The right class includes an accommodating class structure and environment, was low cost or free and flexible about attendance. The report is based on an eight-month in-depth qualitative study of 100 new computer users and non-computer users, sponsored by the University of California at San Diego's Civic Collaborative. The full
text of the report is available (in PDF format) at: For more
information: The American study "Public Library Internet Services and the Digital Divide", completed in January 2002, investigates the impact on the digital divide of the introduction of the Internet in public libraries and the role of external funding (such as the e-rate and Gates funds) in that effort. The report focuses on the impact of the Internet on the library, the impact on the community, and the evaluation of the effects of public library Internet access. It also offers specific suggestions on how public libraries can better use such external funds to promote information technology development and deployment. The full
text of the report is available (in PDF format) at: 5. WORLD-WIDE NEXT GENERATION INTERNETOn February 18, the formation of the Global Terabit Research Network (GTRN) was announced. GTRN is an international partnership which will establish a world-wide next generation Internet, connecting national and multinational high speed research and education networks. Recent years have seen the creation of a number of successful national and multi-national advanced high speed research networks, such as the Canadian CA*net3 network, and the pan-European GEANT network. Though these networks provide the bandwidth needed for e-science nationally and regionally, development of e-science on an international scale has been hampered by the lack of a global backbone comparable in speed and reliability to these networks. The GTRN will solve this problem by creating a high speed, stable global backbone to provide next generation advanced Internet services to the global research and scientific community. The partnership involves North America through CANARIE in Canada and Internet2 in the U.S., and Europe through the NREN Consortium. Later it is expected to be expanded to Asia, Latin America, Russia, the Middle East and Africa. For more
information: 6. LIBRARIES SPOTLIGHTED IN CANADIAN LIVINGA feature article about Canadian libraries, "Books. and Beyond" by Julie Ovenell-Carter, appears in the current (April 2002) issue of Canadian Living Magazine. Ovenell-Carter calls the modern public library "the nation's new community centre." The article highlights several libraries across the country, including the Richmond, Toronto, and Windsor public libraries and the Nunavut library system, and cites child and adult literacy advocacy, computer training programs, online services, book clubs, and other services. Canadian Living asked the Canadian Library Association to post a call for submissions "exemplifying the role of libraries as integral parts of Canadian communities" on the CLA website. Ten additional success stories submitted by libraries across Canada, which aren't included in the hard copy article, can be read on the Canadian Living website. For more
information: 7. KELOWNA LAUNCHES 34 NEW PUBLIC INTERNET ACCESS CENTRESOn January 25, 34 public access centres across the Okanagan region of B.C. were launched with assistance from the Community Access Program (CAP). A diverse group of community partners collaborated on the project, including the Okanagan Regional Library, the Central Okanagan School District No. 23, and a dozen social agencies coordinated by Kelowna Community Resources. The principal partner was the School District, which has already implemented 22 Community Access centres, located in secondary and middle school Career Centres and elementary school libraries. Kelowna Community Resources (KCR) is a not-for-profit organization that oversees a mosaic of programs, many of them serving the disadvantaged. Potential users of the KCR's 12 CAP centres were included in planning this branch of the network. 400 clients were surveyed, and the results determined centre locations (including a drop-in centre, recreation centres such as the YM-YWCA, an income assistance office, and a youth facility) and the type of services provided. For more
information: 8. NATIONAL LIBRARIAN ASKS 'WHAT ARE LIBRARIES WORTH TO YOU?'On February 20, National Librarian Roch Carrier appeared on the Ontario Today phone-in show on CBC Radio One, hosted by Dave Stephens. The theme for the program was "What are your local libraries worth to you?" Mr. Carrier opened by stating his concern for the future of libraries, particularly school libraries. "If the library is closed, that means that we are not giving a chance to our kids to develop." Several callers told tales of downsizing and collection shrinking in their local libraries, and of school libraries where the teacher-librarian works less than half-time. Another theme was the competition with other municipal services for funding, and the increasing costs of Internet and computer access and other non-traditional media putting even more pressure on the small acquisitions budget. Mr. Carrier closed by stating that "as National Librarian, as [a] writer, as a father, as somebody who cares for the country, I can perhaps raise the profile of that challenge we have." For more
information: 9. INTERNET PART OF EVERYDAY LIFE FOR VETERAN USERSA new study released by the Pew Internet and American Life Project (PIP) claims that as Americans become more familiar with the Internet, their use becomes more sophisticated and serious. The report says that over time, the Internet simply becomes "a normal part of life's rhythms." The longer someone is online, the more sophisticated and serious they become about using the new medium. The report also notes an overall increase in the variety of online activities people engage in. In March 2000, the average Internet user had tried 11 activities, ranging from sending e-mail to online shopping and participating in chat. One year later, the average user had tried 14 of the 24 activities the researchers asked about. "More people used the Web to get health care information, news, financial information, and product information," the report states. "The largest increments of growth in those types of activities came among Internet veterans." There was little growth in "fun" activities, such as searching for hobby information, playing games, and other diversions which Internet newcomers try out first. Among entertainment activities, only online music showed a significant increase. The Internet continues to cut into some real world activities, notably newspaper readership and shopping in stores. 14 percent of respondents said they read newspapers less, and 21 percent of Internet veterans reported declining newspaper reading - although veterans were more likely to read online news. Project director Lee Rainie said the results contradict a growing perception among media critics and other observers that the Internet may be a passing fad. "A lot of people sort of think that the Internet is passé, that it's fading out of people's lives. And this tells the exact opposite story." The longitudinal study sought follow-up input in March 2001 from a group of 1,501 Internet users who first were interviewed by Pew researchers about Net-usage habits in March 2000. The Pew Internet & American Life Project funds original research exploring the impact of the Internet on children, families, communities, the work place, schools, health care and civic/political life. It is a non-profit initiative of the Pew Research Center for People and the Press. The full
report is available at: 10. BOOKS ONLINE FOR THE VISUALLY DISABLEDIt's been estimated that less than 5 percent of published books are available in Braille or audiotape formats. Imagine spending tedious hours scanning hundreds of pages and converting them into a special format for reading assistance applications, every time you wanted to read the latest bestseller. Many visually impaired readers do just that, for lack of better options. Now there's a book-swapping website offering more than 10,000 books to people with visual disabilities. Bookshare.org was launched on February 21 by Benetech, a Silicon Valley nonprofit technology developer. It works much like MP3-swapping utilities such as Napster; however, it's completely legal, under a recently enacted exception in the U.S. copyright law that means organizations catering only to the disabled don't have to pay copyright fees. Only those in the United States who are able to show written proof of a visual disability can qualify for membership on the site, and they must pay a $25 installation fee and a $50 yearly subscription. The current collection is mostly fiction and includes 3,000 books, all scanned by one man over ten years. Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman is in the process of securing another private digital collection containing up to 5,000 books. To prevent unlawful distribution, Bookshare.org uses encryption software and electronic fingerprinting to keep track of how subscribers use the texts. "We go to some length to make it harder to abuse copyrights," says Fruchterman, adding that while publishers are not likely to "publicly endorse" his mission, they've been extremely "cooperative." For more
information: 11. IRELAND TO BOOST BROADBAND ACCESSThe Irish government plans to spend 300 million euros (almost $CDN 4.2 million) to build 50,000 kilometers of high-speed, fiber-optic Internet access "rings" around 123 of its towns and cities by 2005. The country hopes that the networks, funded 90 percent by the Irish federal government and 10 percent by local authorities, will help boost Ireland out of last place in the domestic broadband race of Western Europe. The networks will not be operated or owned by any of the main Irish telecommunications companies, but by a public/private partnership company that would offer all comers access. A national public access network is also in the works and would ultimately string together all the fiber rings. While other nations, including Canada and Sweden, have built individual local access city rings, Irish officials believe their network would be the first national initiative on such a scale. The three-phase broadband program will bring fiber Internet networks to 19 towns - ranging from large cities such as Cork and Galway to remote, Gaelic-speaking villages in County Donegal - by the end of next year. A second phase will bring 48 more towns and 1 million residents online, with the final 56 towns connected by 2005. Minister for Public Enterprise Mary O'Rourke said she is aiming to have a 5 Mb connection as a standard for Irish homes by 2005. According to IDC telecommunications analyst Hamish Mackenzie, Ireland, which lacks a single commercial DSL offering and has almost no cable modem access, is tied with Greece in last place for domestic broadband connectivity in Western Europe. For more
information: 12. EUROPE LAGS IN INTERNET RACEOn February 12, the European Commission released its 2002 "eEurope Benchmarking Report," a detailed snapshot of the development of the information highway in Europe since March 2000, when the Lisbon Summit called for the EU to become the most dynamic, knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010. The report shows that getting Internet access into homes across Europe is not proving as easy as originally hoped. While 38% of all Europeans had Internet access at home by the end of last year, that percentage trails far behind the U.S., where 58% of the population had home access. There are also huge disparities between European Union (EU) member states; for example, 60% of the population of the Netherlands is online, compared with only 10% in Greece. Sweden and Germany have over 50% penetration, and the United Kingdom is fourth in the EU, with around 46% of its population online. Broadband access is still rare in Europe, with only 6% of homes wired to a high-speed net connection. The stranglehold of incumbents such as BT and France Telecom has made it difficult to bring broadband prices down. Overall, the report states that while the "eEurope Action Plan 2002" was a successful short-term tool to get most of Europe online quickly, just being connected is not enough to achieve the Lisbon target. A new focus on the effective use of the Internet is required to bring the full benefits of the Information Society to Europe. To read the
full text of the report (in PDF format): 13. HALF A BILLION PEOPLE ONLINE FROM HOMEAlmost half a billion people around the world had access to the Internet from their homes by the end of last year, according to a Nielsen/NetRatings survey released on March 6. Some 498 million people could surf the web from home by the end of 2001, a jump of 5.1 percent from September. People in Asia continued to hook up faster than anywhere else, with home web access up by 5.6 percent in the last three months of the year from the previous quarter. North America continued to have the largest share of the global Internet audience at 40 percent, while Europe, the Middle East and Africa accounted for 27 percent and Asia 22 percent. "In Asia, homes headed by men with university degrees are most likely to have Internet access, while age is not a determining factor," said Hugh Bloch, managing director of Nielsen/NetRatings Asia. He said the trend was different in Europe and Latin America where household access to the Internet is skewed toward homes where the head of household is 35 or younger. For more
information: Meanwhile, U.S. cable TV companies counted 7.2 million homes subscribing to their high-speed Internet services at the end of 2001, according to an industry trade association. In a study released March 11, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) said that cable companies signed up 875,000 new Internet subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2001. The 7.2 million cable Internet subscribers in the U.S. represent 17 percent of the 70 million households that could connect via cable systems. For more
information: 14. ONLINE COURSES FOR SUMMER AND FALL 2002The Department of Library and Information Studies at the University at Buffalo will offer two courses over the Internet in both the Summer and Fall 2002 semesters. The summer courses will be offered from May 20 - June 28. Registration begins Monday, March 18. Fall Semester courses will be offered August 26 - December 6, and registration for them begins March 30, 2002. 'Management of Libraries and Information Services' provides the framework in which the participant can better understand the basic environment of management. 'Selection, Acquisition and Management of Non-Book Materials' examines various aspects of selection, acquisition and management of non-book materials (including websites, CD-ROMS, audiotapes, films, multimedia kits, and many other formats). For more
information on eligibility and registration: 15. CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENTSThe Smart
City Summit - Enabling Smart Growth The Smart City Summit conference will explore application development, technology and the community partnership building that leads to smart services implementation. Aimed at those trying to streamline local service delivery through technology-based communications, the conference will provide the contacts, information and learning required to move your community in the "smart" direction. For more
information or to register: InfoToday
2002 InfoToday 2002 features three simultaneous conferences: National Online, KnowledgeNets, and E-Libraries, with over 100 sessions and workshops over 5 days. E-Libraries will address the technology and patron service issues that arise in a rapidly changing library world, with new software and systems being added (and subtracted) every day. The conference covers the latest developments in the distribution and management of information through libraries and information centres and also via digital means. National Online focuses on information content and information delivery technologies. KnowledgeNets provides complete coverage of knowledge management and its applications within today's business organization. For more
information or to register: 2002 Summer
Institute: Creating Electronic Texts and Images This course is a practical, hands-on exploration of the research, preservation and pedagogical uses of electronic texts and images in the humanities. Participants will learn how to create TEI encoded XML files from a selection of manuscripts from the University of New Brunswick's Archives and Special Collections, and then how to turn these XML files automatically into multiple formats, including HTML, PDF, and EBook. The course is designed primarily for librarians and archivists who are planning to develop electronic text and imaging projects, scholars who are creating electronic texts as part of their teaching and research, and publishers who are looking to move publications to the Web. Participants should have some experience with the web and an elementary understanding of HTML. The tuition fee is CDN$925 and includes all course fees, nutritional breaks, and lunches. It does not include the cost of accommodations. For more
information or to register: 16. USEFUL INTERNET RESOURCESCampus
Connection Just
for Kids Who Love Books ResearchBuzz IFLA
Public Library Section Newsletter Knowbility.Org Digital
Reference Services Bibliography Best
Business Web Sites A
Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections IFLA's
Public Library Guidelines Usage
and Usability Assessment: Library Practices and Concerns If
you have information you would like featured in the next issue of LibraryNet
Monthly,
|
|||||
|
||||||||
