What’s so important about broadband? New tutorial and data will inform library stakeholders

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The Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study (PLFTAS) data offer a remarkable resource to assist public libraries better exploit broadband for their community residents. With the forthcoming release of the 2011-2012 PLFTAS data just prior to the American Library Association Annual Conference (June 21-26), we will have the next installment of this dataset.

Augmenting this dataset are a number of resources, such as the broadband needs assessment studies that the Information Use Management and Policy Institute at Florida State University recently completed. Selected findings from the Florida Rural Broadband Alliance (FRBA) needs assessment and the North Florida Broadband Authority (NFBA) needs assessment offer suggestions that may assist public librarians in leveraging the forthcoming PLFTAS data.

A first finding showed that many rural public libraries are community leaders in broadband public access, use, training, and one-on-one instruction – for both the broadband technology and for accessing broadband resources. Public libraries have great visibility and credibility in their communities… and residents know that they can rely on public libraries for broadband access, training, and assistance.

A second finding was that many community residents and anchor institutions did not understand the importance, uses, and applications of high-speed broadband at their jobs, homes, or in their communities – nor did they understand how high-speed broadband could improve community members’ overall quality of life. The public library can build on its broadband community leadership to help educate and instruct community residents about the basics and importance of the Internet and high-speed broadband.

A third interesting finding was that while some public libraries had a technology plan there were few engaged in community-based broadband planning efforts. The needs assessment showed that it was possible for anchor institutions, (e.g., schools, libraries, county health departments, law enforcement, emergency management agencies, and others) to better coordinate their broadband deployment, training, and applications to leverage broadband services for their local communities.

So, to leverage the 2011-2012 PLFTAS data, public libraries may wish to review two instructional modules on “The Importance of Broadband” and “Community-Based Broadband Planning.” Both of these self-paced tutorials are freely available with supplemental information in the form of a glossary and access to additional broadband resources. These instructional modules can be used on their own and they can be used to leverage and use the forthcoming 2011-2012 PLFTAS data in working with trustees, library staff members, residents, and other anchor institutions.

Dr. McClure is the President of Information Management Consultant Services, LLC, imcscrm@attglobal.net

Score 1 (or more) for the Digital Divide and 0 for Florida public libraries

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We have discussed the digital divide implications between rural and urban/suburban settings noting how rural public libraries struggle to provide adequate broadband and information technology (IT) support. The Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study (PLFTAS) data demonstrate this struggle. Recent events in Florida suggest that strategies to reduce the rural digital divide – or at least the role that libraries can play in reducing that divide – will remain difficult.

Some background is in order. Last week Governor Rick Scott vetoed $1.5 million that would support multi-type library cooperatives (MLC) covering different regions in the state. Due to the recession, many public libraries in Florida have had budget cuts of 30-40 percent And over recent years, State Aid to libraries has been reduced significantly to the minimum amount that allows the State to qualify for Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Grants to State Library Administrative Agencies.

While the $1.5 million veto may not sound like much money, the pain likely will be felt disproportionately in rural areas since many of the rural libraries depend on their MLC for a range of IT access, training, and support. As part of this blog, I interviewed a number of Florida public librarians for their assessment of the veto on the digital divide in Florida.

One person commented that the veto was an “insult to injury” given previous cuts and listed a range of IT services, staff, training, and support that likely would be reduced in her rural library. Another thought that the support they had been receiving from their MLC “made the difference” between mediocre and above average IT services. Yet another noted that maintaining high-speed broadband and support services may now become a “luxury.” Still another noted that probably 97% of all the training her library staff received came from her MLC. Other stories and testimonials abound.

We have all read the various strategies and heard the exhortations about how libraries can reduce the digital divide, provide public access to a range of broadband and IT services, offer a range of IT and broadband training, work/collaborate with other community organizations and residents, etc. While these strategies are great ones, at the end of the day, resources (i.e., money) are needed to make these services happen.

Data related to the 2010-2011 PLFTAS on the urban-rural digital divide will be updated in the soon-to-be-released 2011-2012 PLFTAS. These will be most interesting in terms of trends and the degree to which this digital divide between rural vs. urban/suburban is being reduced, or not. But since the data were collected in the fall of 2011, the impact of Governor’s Scott veto on funding Florida MLCs and their support for rural libraries’ IT-related services and training, for example, will not be represented.

As many states complete their annual legislative session this month, we’d all like to hear how individual states fared this year in public library funding. So take a moment to post a quick comment to this blog summarizing how the budget wars affected libraries and the digital divide in your state. Will libraries be better off in your state this time next year?

Despite the anguish and teeth-gnashing of many librarians here in Florida, they will continue to fight the good fight and try to reduce the impact of the digital divide as best they can – especially in rural settings. The veto will just make that task more difficult to accomplish.

But there are a number of very clear conclusions as to reducing the digital divide: first, there has to be political will at all jurisdictional levels that recognizes that the digital divide exists; second, cuts in resources to libraries only make the digital divide worse; and third, people without access to high-speed broadband and related services – whether from the library or not – are disenfranchised residents of this country.

Dr. McClure is the President of Information Management Consultant Services, LLC, imcscrm@attglobal.net

Broadband readiness

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Recently, the Investigative Reporting Workshop released a number of reports identifying the states and metropolitan areas that have the highest and lowest broadband subscriber rates. Not surprisingly, rural states and least wealthy metropolitan areas have the lower rates.

While not directly comparable, it is interesting to consider the Investigative Reporting Workshop reports to preliminary data from the Information Policy and Access Center for the American Library Association 2011-2012 Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study .

 But broadband “subscriber rates,” “connection speeds,” etc. can be messy metrics and the degree to which states, large metropolitan areas, and other communities (including the libraries in these areas) increase broadband capacity is complex. 

Research recently completed at Florida State University’s Information Institute identified the following factors that affect subscribership and an organization’s readiness for better high-speed broadband capacity included:

  • Ability to change to a different Internet Service Provider (ISP) and the competitiveness of the broadband market in a particular area.
  • Availability of trained Information Technology (IT) staff.
  • Quality of the internal network and capacity to use high speed broadband – including age of network and desktop equipment.
  • Budget available to support costs for high-speed broadband, deployment, and operation.
  • Administrative leadership and staff knowledge about broadband and its importance/use in the organization and to meet user needs.
  • Existence and quality of an IT plan.
  • Demand from staff and/or clientele for “better” high-speed broadband.

These findings are preliminary but they suggest that the degree to which community organizations such as libraries make decisions regarding broadband and the degree to which states, large metropolitan areas, and local communities subscribe, upgrade, or otherwise reduce the digital divide.

 Although broadband costs are critical in “readiness” decisions, they are not the only factor to consider.  In short, states or metropolitan areas interested in minimizing the digital divide and increasing the deployment and use of high-speed broadband will need a long-term strategy or plan that considers these (and other) local organizational factors.

Readers of this blog may wish to comment on the broadband readiness factors suggested above and the degree to which these (or other) factors have affected decisions in their library about upgrading their high-speed broadband.

Dr. McClure is the President of Information Management Consultant Services, LLC, imcscrm@attglobal.net

 

Training and education for e-government services in libraries

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In the February 22 blog post we introduced findings from the 2010-2011 Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study (PLFTAS) regarding E-government and job seeking. Figure 38 in the PLFTAS report clearly documents significant amounts of E-government service provision from US public libraries.

But Figures 39-42 also describe the challenges that affect the ability of the public library outlets to help patrons meet their E-government needs.  The figures provide overall assessment of the importance of selected challenges as well as an assessment of this importance analyzed by rural, suburban, and urban public libraries.

The top two challenges assessed in overall importance in meeting public library E-government needs are:

  • 56% of respondents assessed as “most important” or “important” that the library does not have enough staff to effectively help patrons with their E-government needs; and
  • 51% of respondents assessed as “most important” or “important” that the library’s staff does not have the necessary expertise to meet patron E-government needs.

Thus, E-government staffing issues constitute the greatest challenges faced by public libraries in meeting patron E-government user needs.

To some extent, addressing these two challenges requires additional resources to both hire more E-government library staff and then to engage in ongoing training of the staff regarding E-government services and resources (print and web-based). One study (Section 6.3) regarding public librarians as E-government providers concluded:

Librarians expressed concern and anxiety that they are unprepared to provide the [E-government] services requested by users….  As a result, libraries that embrace the role of E-government service provider must pour significant resources into training staff, most often without assistance from local agencies.  In short, librarians that engage in the provision of E-government services and resources are self-taught and can often lack an essential programmatic perspective.

The irony, however, is that in difficult economic times, such as those we are experiencing now,  the extensive needs of users for E-government and job seeking assistance comes at a time when libraries are least able to hire E-government staff or provide training support.

A quick search on the web and asking selected colleagues found very few formal job descriptions for an E-government librarian (staff or professional). Neither did the search identify many continuing education (CE) opportunities for E-government training, nor formal E-government classes at the various Library Information Science programs outside of the innovative program launched in Fall 2010 at the University of Maryland Center for Library & Information Innovation (now the Information Policy & Access Center).

But there must be more librarian E-government CE opportunities or formal E-government classes or other instructional materials available – perhaps these are in-house and just not publicly available? It would be GREAT if anyone who might be aware of such instructional materials intended to provide basic or updated E-government instruction to librarians would post that information as a comment to this blog.

Dr. McClure is the President of Information Management Consultant Services, LLC, imcscrm@attglobal.net