NREN by Jean Armour Polly (reading eggs books .TXT) 📖

learning, intellectual freedom, and confidentiality.

However, most public libraries lack what computer experts call infrastructure. If there are computers, they may be out of date. Staff may not have had time to learn to operate them, and the computers may literally be collecting dust.

There may be no modems, no phone line to share, no staff with time to learn about the Internet and its many resources. Money to update equipment, hire staff, and buy training is out of the question. Public libraries face slashed budgets, staff layoffs, reduced hours, and cutbacks in services.

Many of these drawbacks are noted in the recent study by Dr. Charles R. McClure, called Public Libraries and the Internet/NREN: New Challenges, New Opportunities.

Public librarians were surveyed about their attitudes toward NREN in interviews and focus groups. According to the study, public librarians thought that the public had a “right” to the Internet, and its availability in their libraries would provide a safety net for the electronic-poor.

On the other hand they felt that they could not commit resources to this initiative until they knew better what the costs were and the benefits might be. They longed for someone else to create a pilot project to demonstrate the Internet’s usefulness, or lack thereof, for public library users.

The study describes several scenarios for public libraries as the NREN evolves. Some may simply choose to ignore the sweeping technological changes in information transfer. They may continue to exist by purveying high-demand items and traditional services, but they may find it increasingly difficult to maintain funding levels as the rest of the world looks elsewhere for their information and reference needs. The public library may find itself servicing only the information disenfranchised, while the rest of the community finds, and pays for, other solutions.

As the study explains:

“While embracing and exploiting networked information and services, [successfully transitioned libraries] also maintain high visibility and high demand traditional services. But resources will be reallocated from collections and less-visible services to support their involvement in the network. All services will be more client-centered and demand-based, and the library will consciously seek opportunities to deliver new types of information resources and services electronically.”

“In this scenario, the public library will develop and mount services over the NREN, provide for public access to the NREN, and will compete successfully against other information providers. In its networked role, the library can serve as a central point of contact as an electronic navigator and intermediary in linking individuals to electronic information resources-regardless of type or physical location. The public library in this second scenario will define a future for itself in the NREN and develop a strategic plan to insure its successful participation as an information provider in the networked environment.”

 

What Should Happen

Senator Gore has proposed what has been variously called Son of NREN or Gore II, which should help address many of these infrastructure problems.

Unfortunately, the Bill was not passed and the closing of the last Congress. There is hope, however, that it will be reintroduced this Spring.

Specifically, Gore’s bill would have ensured that the technology developed by the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 is applied widely in K-12 education, libraries, health care and industry, particularly manufacturing. It would have authorized a total of $1.15 billion over the next five years.

According to a press release from Senator Gore’s office,

“The Information Infrastructure and Technology Act charges the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) with coordinating efforts to develop applications for high-performance computing networking and assigns specific responsibilities to the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Agency, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Institutes of Health. It would expand the role of OSTP in overseeing federal efforts to disseminate scientific and technical information.”

“The bill provides funding to both NSF and NASA to develop technology for ‘digital libraries’— huge data bases that store text, imagery, video, and sound and are accessible over computer networks like NSFNET. The bill also funds development of prototype ‘digital libraries’ around the country.”

The public needs NREN because 300 baud used to be fast and low-resolution graphics used to be pretty. Now we get impatient waiting for fax machines to print out a document from half a continent away, when a few years ago we would have been content to wait days or weeks for the same article to arrive by mail. We are satisfied with technology until it starts to impede our lives in some way. We wait impatiently, sure that we spend half our lives waiting for printers, and the other half waiting for disk drives. Time is a commodity.

I can envision that little girl walking into the public library with the following request: “I’m doing a school report on the Challenger disaster. I need a video clip of the explosion, a sound bite of Richard Feynman explaining the O-ring problem, some neat graphics from NASA, oh, and maybe some virtual reality mock-ups of the shuttle interior. Can you put it all on this floppy disk for me, I know it’s only 15 minutes before you close but, gee, I had band practice.” This is why public libraries need NREN.

We would do well to remember the words of Ranganathan, whose basic tenets of good librarianship need just a little updating from

1931:

“[Information] is for use.” “Every [bit of information], its user.” “Every user, [his/her bit of information].” “Save the time of the [user].” “A [network] is a growing organism.”

And so is the public library. A promising future awaits the public library that can be proactive rather than reactive to technology. Information technology is driving the future, librarians should be at the wheel. It is hoped that the new Administration in Washington will provide the fuel to get us going.

 

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SIDEBAR

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Excerpts from S.2937 as introduced July 1, 1992 102nd Congress 2nd Session IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

Mr. GORE (for himself, Rockefeller (D-WV), Kerry (D-MA), Prestler (R-SD), Riegle (D-MI), Robb (D-VA), Lieberman (D-CT), Kerrey (D-NE) and Burns (R-MT)) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

A BILL To expand Federal efforts to develop technologies for applications of high-performance computing and high-speed networking, to provide for a coordinated Federal program to accelerate development and deployment of an advanced information infrastructure, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the “Information Infrastructure and Technology Act of 1992”.

SEC. 7. APPLICATIONS FOR LIBRARIES. (a) DIGITAL LIBRARIES.—In accordance with the Plan developed under section 701 of the National Science and Technology Policy, Organization and Priorities Act of 1976 (42 U.S.C. 6601 et seq.), as added by section 3 of this Act, the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and other appropriate agencies shall develop technologies for “digital libraries” of electronic information. Development of digital libraries shall include the following: (1) Development of advanced data storage systems capable of storing hundreds of trillions of bits of data and giving thousands of users nearly instantaneous access to that information. (2) Development of high-speed, highly accurate systems for converting printed text, page images, graphics, and photographic images into electronic form. (3) Development of database software capable of quickly searching, filtering, and summarizing large volumes of text, imagery, data, and sound. (4) Encouragement of development and adoption of standards for electronic data. (5) Development of computer technology to categorize and organize electronic information in a variety of formats. (6) Training of database users and librarians in the use of and development of electronic databases. (7) Development of technology for simplifying the utilization of networked databases distributed around the Nation and around the world. (8) Development of visualization technology for quickly browsing large volumes of imagery. (b) DEVELOPMENT OF PROTOTYPES.—The National Science Foundation, working with the supercomputer centers it supports, shall develop prototype digital libraries of scientific data available over the Internet and the National Research and Education Network. (c) DEVELOPMENT OF DATABASES OF REMOTE-SENSING IMAGES.—The National Aeronautics and Space Administration shall develop databases of software and remote-sensing images to be made available over computer networks like the Internet.

(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— (1) There are authorized to be appropriated to the National Science Foundation for the purposes of this section, $10,000,000 for fiscal year 1993, $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1994, $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1995, $40,000,000 for fiscal year 1996, and $50,000,000 for fiscal year

1997.

(2) There are authorized to be appropriated to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the purposes of this section, $10,000,000 for fiscal year 1993, $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1994, $30,000,000 for fiscal year 1995, $40,000,000 for fiscal year 1996, and $50,000,000 for fiscal year 1997.

 

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SIDEBAR Resources

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McClure, Charles R., Joe Ryan, Diana Lauterbach and William E. Moen Public Libraries and the INTERNET/NREN: New Challenges, New Opportunities. 1992. Copies of this 38-page study may be ordered at $15 each from the Publication Office, School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244-4100 315/443-2911.

The U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) has issued a Report to the Office of Science and Technology Policy on Library and Information Services’ Roles in the National Research and Education Network. The 25-page document, released in late November, 1992, summarizes the results of an open forum held in Washington during the previous summer. Topics addressed include funding NREN, charging for use, commercial access, protection of intellectual property, and security and privacy. The report “focuses on fulfilling the potential for extending the services and effectiveness of libraries and information services for all Americans through high-speed networks and electronic databases.” A limited number of copies are available from NCLIS at 111 18th St., NW, Suite 310, Washington, D.C. 20036 202/254-3100.

Grand Challenges 1993: High Performance Computing and Communications. The “Teal Book” (because of its color) “provides a far-sighted vision for investment in technology but also recognizes the importance of human resources and applications that serve major national needs. This � investment will bring both economic and social dividends, including advances in education, productivity, basic science, and technological innovation.” Requests for copies of this 68-page document should go to: Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering and Technology, Committee on Physical, Mathematical, and Engineering Sciences c/o National Science Foundation, Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate, 1800 G St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20550

Carl Kadie operates an excellent electronic resource of documents pertaining to academic freedom, the Library Bill of Rights, and similar policy statements. Those with Internet access may use File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to ftp.eff.org (192.88.144.4) Login as anonymous, use your network address as the password. The documents are in the pubacademic directory.

Further Reading

Kehoe, Brendan. (1993). Zen and the Art of the Internet: a Beginner’s Guide (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. The first edition is available for free from many FTP sites. (see below) This version has about 30 pages of new material and corrects various minor errors in the first edition. Includes the story of the Coke Machine on the Internet. For much of late 1991 and the first half of 1992, this was the document of choice for learning about the Internet. ISBN 0-13-010778-6. Index. $22.00

To ftp Zen: ftp.uu.net [137.39.1.9] in inetdoc ftp.cs.toronto.edu [128.100.3.6] in pub/zen ftp.cs.widener.edu [147.31.254.132] in pub/zen as zen-1.0.tar.Z, zen-1.0.dvi, and zen-1.0.PS ftp.sura.net [128.167.254.179] in pub/nic as zen-1.0.PS

Krol, Ed. (1992). The Whole Internet User’s Guide & Catalog. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly & Associates. Comprehensive guide to how the network works, the domain name system, acceptable use, security, and other issues. Chapters on telnet/remote login, File Transfer Protocol, and electronic mail explain error messages, special situations, and other arcana. Archie, Gopher, NetNews, WAIS, WWW, and troubleshooting each enjoy a chapter in this well-written book. Appendices