Libraries Bridge the Digital Divide

Kranich, Nancy. “Libraries Bridge the Digital Divide.” Spectra 37, no. 7 (July 2001): 4-12.

This short article addresses the importance of the role of libraries in their communities, especially in the efforts to narrow the Digital Divide. The author re-states the fact that for many people, the public library provides their only access to the Internet. Written in 2001, it shows that the importance of public libraries in providing Internet access has been long-recognized.

Interestingly, the author also emphasizes the importance of libraries for “content, training, and expertise crucial to ensuring widespread public participation in our information society” (12) at a time when the nation’s main emphasis seemed to be getting workstations into libraries.

The Middle MIle: The Role of the Public Library in Ensuring Access to Broadband

Visser, Marijke and Mary Alice Ball. “The Middle Mile: The Role of the Public Library in Ensuring Access to Broadband.” Information Technology and Libraries 29, no. 4 (Dec 2010): 187-195.

This article discusses the role of public libraries in providing access to broadband telecommunications. The authors emphasize the importance of that access and elaborate on the concept of tiers of users. They talk about the "early adopters," those who embrace and adopt new technologies as they become available, the second tier users who "appreciate the availability of online resources and use a mix of devices to access Internet content but vary in the extent to which they try the latest application or device" (187), and the third tier users who "have generally not embraced [the Internet's] full potential, from not seeking out readily available resources to not connecting at all" (187).
The authors, Marijke Visser and Mary Alice Ball, seem to see an unrecognized urgency in making broadband communication universally available. However, they offer little in the way of suggestions to make that happen. On the other hand, they do offer valuable insights into the barriers to broadband access (price, availability, perceived relevance, and technical skills of users. Their main focus seems to be on how libraries can provide the training necessary for users to be able to adopt broadband use.

This article had limited useful material for my purposes, but offers interesting insights and quotable material on the roles that public libraries and play in helping people use the Internet. The authors also offer a strong case for libraries taking a leadership role in discussions about local, state, and federal information policies. The draw heavily on the work of Bertot, McClure, and Jaeger.

The Role of Public Libraries in Providing Access to the Internet.

Henderson, Carol C. and Frederick D. King. “The Role of Public Libraries in Providing Access to the Internet.” In Public Access to the Internet, edited by Brian Kahin and James Keller, 154-171. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1995.

This article, written in 1995, urged the use of public libraries as access points to the Internet at a point early in the Internet’s development. As such, it’s right on point for the project I’m working on and provides an interesting starting point for my discussion.

The authors did not gather original data, but rather made arguments and offered suggestions based on research data and public documents available at the time they were writing. Much of the data cited is 20 or more years old, but the article itself contains strong arguments in support of public libraries as access points, as well as a discussion of some of the obstacles to that access (e.g., cost). I expect to find that those same arguments still apply. I also expect to find answers to how libraries addressed the obstacles that existed in 1995, as well as information about current obstacles.

I recognized some of the names the authors cited (e.g., McClure), and believe those sources to be among the leaders in the push to make public libraries access points to the Internet.