Public Library Internet Connectivity Survey

Dear folks, note February 1 deadline on this important survey. Internet connectivity scholar and all-around good guy John Bertot just sent this to me to send to PUBLIB, and I thought I’d give it some extra legs from this blog. Please share as widely as possible. (If you’ve ever wondered how his name is pronounced, it’s BEAR-toe.) — CARE-enn

NATIONAL SURVEY OF PUBLIC LIBRARY INTERNET CONNECTIVITY — LAST CHANCE!

A letter announcing a new national survey of public libraries and Internet connectivity was sent to public libraries across the country in late November 2004. This study is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the American Library Association (ALA), and is being conducted by researchers from Florida State University’s Information Use Management and Policy Institute (http://www.ii.fsu.edu).

The survey ends FEBRUARY 1, 2005. PLEASE take the time to complete the survey, available at http://www.plinternetsurvey.org.

The survey has a total of 19 questions divided into two parts that will take you about 15 minutes to complete. The first part of the survey pertains to selected library branches in your system (if applicable), while the second part pertains to the entire library system. It is likely that not all of your branches were included in the study, as they were selected randomly.

You will need the 8 or 10 character Library ID code included in the letter you received to initiate the web-based survey. If you have lost that ID number, you can look it up at the study website http://www.plinternetsurvey.org.

The answers you provide will provide public libraries, state library agencies, the Gates Foundation, ALA, policymakers, and others with extremely important data regarding public library Internet connectivity issues, and the impacts of such connectivity in the communities that libraries serve. To read more about the study, please visit http://www.plinternetsurvey.org.

Thank you very much for your willingness to participate.

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John Carlo Bertot, Ph.D.
Phone: (850) 644-8118
Professor
Fax: (850) 644-4522
School of Information Studies
Email: bertot@lis.fsu.edu
Florida State University
http://slis-two.lis.fsu.edu/~jcbertot