Received: from VMS.DC.LSOFT.COM (vms.dc.lsoft.com [206.241.12.2]) by library.wustl.edu (8.6.12/8.6.9) with ESMTP id BAA06541; Wed, 19 Feb 1997 01:08:26 -0600 Message-Id: <199702190708.BAA06541@library.wustl.edu> Received: from vms.dc.lsoft.com by VMS.DC.LSOFT.COM (LSMTP for OpenVMS v1.1a) with SMTP id <8.78752196@VMS.DC.LSOFT.COM>; Wed, 19 Feb 1997 2:02:49 -0500 Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1997 18:18:50 -0600 Reply-To: SLRLN-L LIST <SLRLN-L@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU> Sender: SLRLN-L LIST <SLRLN-L@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU> From: Melissa Silvestre <silvest@UMSLVMA.UMSL.EDU> Subject: Indiana's public library Internet access model Comments: To: SLRLN-L@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU To: Multiple recipients of list SLRLN-L <SLRLN-L@WUVMD.WUSTL.EDU> Status: O X-Status:
This might be of interest. It would be nice to get something
like this for St. Louis or all of Missouri.
>Date: Tue, 18 Feb 1997 07:55:08 -0800
>From: Millard Johnson <zendog@incolsa.palni.edu>
>To: Multiple recipients of list <web4lib@library.berkeley.edu>
>
>What librarians of Indiana are doing may be of interest.
>The highest legislative priority for INCOLSA, the Indiana
>State Library and the Indiana Library Federation is a
>project we tentatively call INSPIRE ($1.5 M per year).
>The objective: any citizen of the state WITH A LIBRARY CARD
>can (from any computer in home, office, classroom, or library)
>search the Internet and a large suite of fee-based
>databases for free. We know we can have SiteSearch, WebZ
>and all of FirstSearch including lots of full text and
>hardware and staff to run it, with this level of funding.
> With the cooperation of OCLC, Encyclopedia Britannica,
>and other vendors we set up a prototype using simple web
>pages. We classified information as: 1)Info for business,
>2)Info for students teachers and parents, 3)Consumsumers and
>community resources, 4)government agents and clientele, and
>5) general information explorers. We held Windows On the
>World (WOW) workshops around the state and invited
>legislators, library board members and other community
>leaders to attend. At the conclusion we allowed attendees to
>sign up for virtual library cards which were sent -- along
>instructions and back ground information.
> It is very easy for these legislators to see that this
>managed resource is much better for their kids to do home
>work research, businesses to find competitive information,
>or academics to do better quality research. We plan to
>use the library card requirement to tell people that this
>is not free but is a service that is paid with tax dollars
>paid by libraries.
> We sell the concept to conservatives by saying that
>future economic growth is along the information highway and
>this will give Indiana a strong competitive advantage over
>more backward states. (Incidentally, NetFirst was the
>INSPIRE Internet access and that -- as a selected resource --
>it lacks all that p... stuff.) We tell liberals that quality
>of life depends on strong community institutions, like
>libraries, and information for personal and cultural
>development.
> Our prospects look good because: 1)Indiana librarians are
>united behind this, 2)We have done the right things behind
>the legislative initiative, 3)It is the right thing to do.
> There is more, but you will have to wait to read it in
>the "BIG" paper.
>**********************************************************
>Millard F. Johnson zendog@incolsa.palni.edu
>"I would rather risk failure than achieve it without risk"
>**********************************************************
>
>
Melissa Silvestre
silvest@umslvma.umsl.edu http://www.umsl.edu/~silvest/
Reference Librarian, University of Missouri-St. Louis
(314) 516-6473
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