- Provide all Victorians with affordable access to information electronically
- Develop a network infrastructure
- Provide community benefit
- Provide equitable access to electronic information and resources
- Build on the public library network
- Level one - ISDN to the headquarters of every Victorian public library service, and public Internet access provided
- Level two - ISDN to at least the headquarters of every Victorian public library service, and public Internet access at most branches through ISDN and/or dial-up
- Level three - Public Internet access via WAN to all branches in the library system. Library runs its own file server for community information, publishing etc.
- Provides a baseline measure of public library Internet connectivity
- Describes public library type and level of Internet connectivity
- Details public library branch Internet connectivity
- Reviews the costs of public library Internet connectivity
- Assesses public library Internet connectivity from the perspective of librarians and users
Results and Issues
by John Carlo Bertot and Charles R. McClure
March 1998
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The full report is available in PDF format.
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INTRODUCTION
Victorian public libraries have been leading Australian public libraries in their rapid adoption of Internet connectivity. The effort to connect Victorian public libraries to the Internet is the result of collaboration and partnerships between the Victorian government, the Victoria State Library, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and the public library community. These partnerships, and the efforts of public librarians, enabled Victorian public libraries to achieve 100% Internet connectivity for the 42 Victorian library services in a relatively short period of three years (1994-1997).On December 3, 1997, the Premier of Victoria launched the Networking for all Victorians project. The project was conceived in 1995 when Ross Gibbs who was the Director of the Office of Library Services, Arts Victoria, suggested Viclink approach the Victorian Government’s Community Support Fund (CSF) for a grant to link all Victorian public libraries to the Internet and provide free public access to the Internet for all Victorians through public libraries (Mackenzie and Siegersma, 1996). The purpose of the grant was to:
These goals provided the basis for Victoria public library Internet connectivity activities.
A Working Group comprised of Victoria public librarians and representatives from Arts Victoria, VICNET and Viclink undertook to oversee the project (for background reading on Viclink, and VICNET, see Mackenzie and Sieger-sma, 1996). The Working Group identified three levels of access for libraries, and recommended that libraries should attain levels of connectivity following these stages:
Grant applications by library services were submission based, with significant input from VICNET. The library was required to make a commitment to on-going costs associated with maintaining connectivity. A component to the CSF grant went straight to VICNET and a further amount for training. Services received funding allocations in the amount of $2,500 per branch. Viclink conducted a one-day seminar designed to provide library managers with the necessary tools and information to enable a strategic implementation plan to be devised and to prepare submissions.
This study, sponsored by Viclink, collected Victorian public library and public library user Internet connectivity data that:
The study describes the extent and nature of Victorian public library Internet connectivity as of August 1997. The study also describes user-based feedback on public library Internet-based services.
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The full report is available in PDF format.
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it. Get Acrobat Reader now! (FREE Download) |
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