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The article looks at the role of public libraries in providing access to government information in the U.S. It outlines the shift that has occurred in government information from print to digital formats and discusses challenges this poses to libraries, including inadequate Internet access capacity. It looks at various approaches to evaluating library services. Other topics include the digital divide and library and information science (LIS) education.

The article looks at the legacy of library science scholar and outgoing "Library Quarterly" editor John Carlo Bertot, focusing on the importance of his work in relation to the advent of the Internet and digital services in libraries. Topics include Bertot's research on the extent and implications of Internet access in U.S. public libraries and his influence on library science education during his tenure at the University of Maryland College of Information Studies.

Drawing upon findings from a national survey of U.S. public libraries, this paper examines trends in Internet and public computing access in public libraries across states from 2004 to 2006. Based on library-supplied information about levels and types of Internet and public computing access, the authors offer insights into the network-based content and services that public libraries provide. Examining data from 2004 to 2006 reveals trends and accomplishments in certain states and geographic regions. This paper details and discusses the data, identifies and analyzes issues related to Internet access, and suggests areas for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigate the Impact of Information and Communication Technology tools on Information Seeking Behaviour of the Tirunelveli District Central Library Users. This study also investigate, the ICT usage pattern, user needs, and future expectation of ICT based services, of various categories of users in public library system. This study has been taken up in the District central Public Library, Tirunelveli. The questionnaire was given to 125 numbers of various category of users in the library. The analysis revealed that the presently available ICT facility is not sufficient to fulfil the user needs, and also recommends that it needs to be developed, in order to enhance our citizen and develop a knowledge power society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the transition, challenges and strategies of public libraries to the digital age on the example of the Main Library of Vienna, Austria. The library improved its accessibility, created new working space for e-readers, and division into college-areas to improve their flexibility. Other topics mentioned were integration and presence of social media at the library, devolpment of digital choices such as ebooks, and the use of the internet at the library.

This article presents the main elements of an exploratory research (undergraduate thesis to qualify for a sociology degree) on how Internet use is embedded in everyday life of Internet users of three public libraries in Bogota, Colombia: Tintal, Tunal and Virgilio Barco. As a result of the research we propose a map of the ways to access and use Internet, and we reconstruct the process of how these practices are embedded in everyday life of children, young people and adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Providing anonymous Internet access in public libraries poses an ethical dilemma for librarians, since the freedom of using the Internet without fear of surveillance must be balanced against the possibility of library resources being used to commit crimes. Using the arrest of a suspected child pornographer as a backdrop, this essay will examine the state of privacy protection in Colorado libraries, the American Library Association's position on data retention, and the implications of anonymous Internet access in libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the results of a patron survey designed by Augusta County Library in Virginia. The findings indicated that 35% of the visitors are over 55 years old, the main reason people come to the library is for recreational books and DVDs, and the majority of patrons visit the library weekly. The article also discusses the library's Five Year Plan, technology upgrades, and renovations.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has established international standards for website accessibility which attempt to ensure that everyone has the same opportunities to use materials published on the World Wide Web (Web). This article provides a summation of the research conducted into the accessibility of public library websites in Western Australia. A discussion is provided of the website audit methods used and results obtained. The research demonstrates the level of compliance with Australian and International standards as well as results of surveys used to determine the perceived willingness to comply with those standards, barriers to compliance and benefits of an accessible website. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of learning in a public library is relevant to what place e-learning and social networking technologies might have there. That a public library aims to provide something for everyone is also important. Alice Springs Public Library (ASPL) is a place of learning; it is also a crowded and composite space. The use ASPL could make of the opportunities offered by e-learning and social networking technologies is affected or determined by the organisation's mission, available space, funding, staffing levels and expertise, and any congruence between the way ASPL is already used for learning and the way these technologies can also be used in that space. These technologies will be facets of a composite service, accessible to everyone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This study aims to investigate the discourses surrounding the provision of internet access in Singapore through the public library system and to consider what the government, librarians and members of the public consider are the legitimate uses of the internet in Singapore's public libraries, how these compare with what the librarians see as their role in facilitating access and to what extent the internet as an educational tool features in public libraries according to users. Design/methodology/approach - A discourse analysis of public documents and semi-structured interviews with ten senior librarians, managers, and 40 members of the public were conducted. Observation was also conducted of library users and of their usage at the computer terminals in the library. Findings - Findings from the study throw up very different definitions of what constitutes learning through the internet within the context of a public library. This reinforces conclusions from previous studies that what is termed learning through the internet is variously constructed, and understood in multiple ways. This defies what is often presented of the internet as a technical quick fix of policy makers to help its population leap frog into the future. Research limitations/implications - While the study provided a glimpse into the discourse surrounding the internet in one country, similar work should be carried in more Asian countries to provide a more comprehensive survey of the region and compare this with findings conducted in an Occidental setting. Originality/value - The study provides an Asian perspective that complements findings on the various discourses that had surrounded internet technology in the USA and Europe. It also calls for a new spirit of awareness on the part of librarians to the views of library users with regard to internet access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtually every public library in the United States provides public access Internet computers as a role central to its mission. This article addresses the issue of why the Internet matters for public libraries, both in terms of impacts on the general public, particularly the digitally disadvantaged (part one of the article) and impacts on libraries themselves (part two of the article). Each part of this report begins with an extensive literature review, followed by a data analysis section. In part one, the author uses the 2000 United States Census dataset to evaluate library efforts to bridge the digital divide, by analyzing differences in the growth of public terminals in library systems serving counties with different levels of household income, households in poverty, non-white households, and non-English-speaking households. The analysis finds no disparity in the number of public computers available in areas with high and low incomes but finds a significant—and widening—disparity in the number of computers available in areas with a higher versus lower percentage of non-white and non-English-speaking households. In part two of the report, the author uses a random effects linear regression model to estimate the effects of Internet access on library usage. This analysis finds that having Internet terminals (versus having no Internet terminals) has a significant positive effect on a library's visits and reference transactions, but not on a library's circulation. An increase in the number of Internet terminals has no significant effect, positive or negative, on visits, reference transactions, or circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The U.S. IMPACT studies have two research projects underway that employ a mixed method research design to develop and validate performance indicators related specifically to the outcomes of public access computing (PAC) use in public libraries. Through the use of a nationwide telephone survey (n = 1130), four case studies, and a nationwide Internet survey of PAC users administered through 636 public libraries, this approach will generate generalizable quantitative data on the extent and distribution of the use of public access computing resources, as well as provide rich contextual data that will help understand how people use the computers and Internet connections in public libraries and the impact it has on their lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public library services, particularly in the USA, have successfully and imaginatively implemented Web 2.0 tools in a variety of ways. These include improving access to content for library users, opening up dialogue with them, and showing them more about what their library can do for them. This article describes how some of these libraries have used the tools for their virtual services, a discovery made during a study tour in 2007, and how they have progressed into 2008 with the same services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes the introduction of Web 2.0 techniques and tools at the Yarra Plenty public library in Victoria, beginning with library staff. The author argues that as libraries move from Web 1.0 type delivery systems to the social networking world of Library 2.0 librarians need to deploy and make accessible these radically different systems, social interactions and library places. Whilst formats have changed, and will continue to change, delivery systems have changed and will continue to change, skill sets and competencies have changed and will continue to change, the users, the citizens who fund and value library services, still need to have their social, cultural and recreational needs met in both the virtual and physical domains in which libraries operate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the significance of Public Access Computers (PAC) in libraries in the U.S. Patrons rely on PAC for popular services like Web browsing, word processing and electronic mail. However, PACs require regular maintenance and many PACs in use are nearing their end-of-life. At Coastal Resource Sharing Network (CRSN), they have begun implementing thin client technology. Of the 120 PACs in their consortium, 47 are thin clients, serving patrons in five libraries. The switch to thin clients has helped reduce the maintenance workload associated with PACs and has provided patrons with a consistent, always up-to-date- user experience.

The author humorously discusses Internet safety in public libraries, particularly noting the negative effects of online pornography on libraries. She comments on the difficulty of public library internet usage as it applies to individual liberties. She notes the relationship between children on the internet and pornography exposure.