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This study evaluates the home pages of Florida's public libraries for accessibility by people with disabilities. The evaluation includes every Florida public library system website, examining each home page of the 78 libraries offering websites. The study employed the WebXact online evaluation service to identify errors using compliance standards contained in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Section 508 legislation requires libraries to attain accessibility compliance, as all Florida libraries are recipients of federal funding. The hypotheses are: libraries with larger budgets and larger per capita income are more likely to have accessible websites. Of the 78 public library systems home pages examined, only 21 were found to be without accessibility errors. These findings indicate that 73% of the home pages had at least one major accessibility error based on Section 508 criteria. Additional findings indicate that accessibility performance is related to library income levels and income per service population. Presented research includes a legislative history of accessibility, with a section focusing on library website accessibility. Related accessibility studies are reviewed for comparability purposes and substantiation of findings. The study offers recommendations for improving accessibility and identifies opportunities for additional research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

American libraries currently face a dramatic shift in how they are perceived, both by the public and by lawmakers. In order to preserve the traditional values observed by librarians, such as patron privacy and access to information, libraries must also preserve the traditional associations that have defined them. The value of libraries has been undermined by the threat of terrorism and the subsequent political pressure to find blame for the terrorist attacks. Librarians must choose whether or not to stick to the traditional library brand, or evolve and market libraries as something else. Without public support, definitions will not change easily. The American public still views the library as a place to read and find books, and this definition must prevail for libraries to retain their relevance in American life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the roles of academic library Web sites, summarises the findings of research aimed at comparing the contents and usability of Polish and American academic library Web sites and presents conclusions regarding the basic functions they perform. Twenty-five Polish and 25 American Web sites were evaluated according to a detailed questionnaire prepared specially for this purpose. In total, 275 different elements of academic library Web sites were evaluated and analysed, including 237 elements regarding their contents and 38 regarding their usability. It became evident that these groups of Web sites differ significantly as regards to the contents but their usability features are quite similar. Generally speaking, as the research proved, Polish academic libraries treat their Web sites as "shop windows" and points of access to the information about their book collections (through OPACs). American academic libraries, on the other hand, tend to perform all their functions completely on the Web and have moved as many services and resources as they can to the new online and digital information environment. While the users of Polish Web sites are only informed about the services offered in "real life", those who use American Web sites - "virtual versions of libraries" - can complete their tasks and satisfy many of their information needs wholly on the Web. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]