Jeff's Community Informatics Projects

Discussion

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The libraries examined in this study do not provide enough resources to inspire and cultivate Digital Consciousness.  Many libraries have expressed a strong desire to fulfill these needs, but until they are recognized on a greater scale, they will remain unanswered.  Bertot’s report to the ALA (2007) suggests several functions that libraries ought to perform:

• Provide and sustain public access Internet services and resources that meet community public access needs
• Install, maintain, and upgrade the technology infrastructure required to provide public access Internet services and resources
• Serve as a public Internet access venue of first choice within the libraries’ communities for content, resources, services, and technology infrastructure (e.g., workstations and bandwidth), rather than the access point of last resort/only option
• Serve as key technology and Internet-based resource/service training centers for the communities that the libraries serve
• Serve as agents of e-government
• Fund their information technology investments

The community access needs mentioned in the first objective should include fostering digital consciousness in as many populations as can be effective.  If libraries are to become the “first choice” venue as objective three describes, then they will need more than just some work stations and bandwidth.  Modern libraries must rise to the occasion by first addressing their own hindrances, and by going beyond these to incorporate new technologies, people, and policy strategies.

This report pushes forward a number of recommendations based on the previous analysis.  By beginning with these first librarians can effectively solve immediate issues and move on to more innovative tasks.  The following are suggestions that work in that school of thought – remedy and improve.

• Spruce up the Staff and Training - All of the smaller libraries in Illinois (those in Alexander and Pulaski County and a few in Peoria and St. Clair) only had one librarian (staff member) to head up the entire establishment.  In those cases the weight of helping to maintain computers and help users with tasks fell on a person already overstretched for tasks. These areas could use more staff, and the staff available at them could use more IT training.  This may even be easy to integrate with current work schedules.  Librarians could be enrolled in classes online (which they might even do during slow times at work) or perhaps have a distance support service who might help with IT trouble-shooting issues.
• Don’t add, Upgrade and Bolster - As outlined previously, rural areas often have more computers, but they’re generally considerably older PC’s.  They have fewer peripherals like color and laser printing or scanners and recording devices.  Consequently more money could go towards helping these locations upgrade or switch out workstations and add technology beyond computers, such as wireless, DVD burners, and scanners.  Upgrading workstations could also fix other problems, such as the need for newer anti-virus or web browsers, and also facilitate for more advanced software programs, like graphics editors or educational software, which many people would not be able to afford for their home PC.  Overcoming the gulf to achieve Digital Consciousness is related to immersion and literacy with advanced technologies—both software and hardware.
• Think Open, Think Free – None of the libraries in this sample deployed Linux on their computers.  Distributions such as Ubuntu have quickly become as usable as any Windows OS and offer a wide array of free, virtual community supported, programs that can do anything from your taxes to make pictures to help you chat with friends.  Libraries who are pressed for monetary resources could avoid buying expensive software by installing free and open source programs (with or without Windows).
• Rock Out the Connectivity Peripherals - Many libraries facilitate for basic connections such as USB, optical media (CD/DVD), headphones and the internet, but few field equipment that can assist with the production of digital multimedia.  Adding scanners and still digital cameras could be an easy first step, but eventually libraries might find ways to implement more advanced and exciting tools like web cams, digital drawing tablets and TV tuners.  Some of these devices are relatively inexpensive and might be purchased in place of just a single book or DVD.
• Enable Innovation, Invention and Creation - Overall, libraries, especially those in predominantly African American areas, could do well to start offering color printing.  Policies and hardware limitations prevented CD/DVD burners from being common place items.  It seems to be a contradiction to field PC’s with powerful tools like DVD burners and yet prevent visitors from playing the DVD’s they rent from the very same library on them.  Clearly libraries don’t want to aid in piracy but at the same time they could help to educate users about fair use.  A library could hold a contest for the best digital remix made completely of its own content.
• Empower the Community with Creation Resources - In general, libraries serving predominantly African American areas suffer from fewer resources for the creation of physical items like fliers, CD’s or DVD’s, and are less able to offer services such as faxing a resume or signed document to an important party.  These communities might have even more need than others when it comes to local social/political movements, entrepreneurial start-ups, and community programs.
• Rework Policies - An ideal policy setup is one that includes enough librarian and parental supervision to not require an internet filtering system, so as to not inhibit education and ensure all websites are reachable.  Libraries could consider offering time extension bonuses for patrons doing tasks like searching library databases or working on long term projects, like archival of family history.  Finally, they should look into user account-based file storage options for projects they might create using library software or web-based applications.  It is this kind of flexible and open policy setup, that when paired with appropriate supervision and virus protection, can best foster uninhibited development of Digital Consciousness.
• Compromise on Policy, Save Money, Prepare for the Future: Install Wireless! - In 2006 over 31% of all internet users owned a laptop with wireless capabilities (PEW Tracking Survey 2006).  This number has likely climbed in recent years with the rising popularity of WiFi.  Libraries can help offset restrictive computer use policies by providing wireless internet for laptop users, allowing them to act unhindered and still in work in a location featuring all of the benefits of a library.  Furthermore, wireless networks to not necessitate expensive switches or network cable, allowing for each future expansion.  Even items like printers could be wirelessly linked.  In the future many phones will be able to take advantage of wireless and most people who will own a computer will own a mobile one.
• Keep the Door Open! – Libraries who are open longer are better able to facilitate patrons of more kinds.  Not everyone has a simple 9-5 job, especially populations who might not own a computer and instead work 2 jobs.  Obviously more time open requires more staff, but the more resources a library offers the more incentive it might offer volunteers.  An elderly person might be able to volunteer and help keep a library open longer and in turn take classes online or be given additional access to ancestry archives to create a book on their family history.  Social capital can come into play – libraries can work out rewards systems and draw upon the power of the community in order to help make it that much better.

This report also moves to make some specific suggestions regarding libraries in the counties interviewed:

• Increase the staff in St. Clair, Pulaski, and Alexander counties.  They generally had too few computer experts (aka none) and often (St. Clair) had to deal with unfavorable potential patron to librarian ratios.
• Pulaski and Alexander county need newer computers, and they and St. Clair all could use more wireless coverage.  For the rural counties this also means broad-band caliber bandwidth.
• All counties are in need of more advanced connectivity devices, such as video cameras, scanners, instructional displays, microphones, and more.
• Peoria libraries need more color printing available and to change their restrictive policy on DVD and DVD-RW use.  They would also do well to casually supervise youthful patrons more instead of limit users with internet filtering systems.
• St. Clair county should consider implementing a system-wide automatically updating anti-virus system.
• Predominantly African American communities generally have fewer resources and benefits than significantly African American communities.  This imbalance, which likely has roots in the tradition of institutionalized racism, needs to be offset by matching the capacities of more fortunate libraries.
• Champaign Public library could put more of its vast array of resources into the Douglass branch, particularly multimedia technology related ones that could be integrated into children’s activities and youth digital education efforts.

There were several limitations to the study design.  First and foremost the sampling was plagued with issues of definition.  Rural, suburban, and city communities may not only be defined by total population, but other factors like population density and activity.  Though consideration was given to qualifying African American communities by both proportions and total population numbers, only the survey of Peoria County truly deployed a method that could identify specifically segregated populations.  To really get an idea of a predominantly Black community you’d have to consult proportions, sheer numbers and the extent to which people cluster together (census tracts) in their living, as well as all of the qualitative measures of community (talk to locals and find out how they identify and associate).  The assumptions about community employed in this paper are probably flawed but could be better rectified if they were considered to be an initial exploration conducted from a bird’s eye view.

The assumption that libraries serve the communities most immediately located around them may also have drawbacks. People who have to drive from far away might just go to another if it’s better or preferred; if the difference in driving time is not significant then they could easily switch.  The location principle also does not address other variables that might influence library choice, like traffic, parking, or speed limits.  People who can’t drive might not go to the library in the first place, and those who need public transportation might be channeled to a certain library.

Data collection also had its own challenges.  The in-person visits were fiercely more effective methods of gathering data than telephone calls, which were ten-fold better than looking at websites, of which only the well-off libraries even had.  Many librarians seemed to want to positively answer and cater to questions, without really critically thinking them over.  Others were just uninformed and still some might have been ignorant (say, being unable to know how to identify a DVD-rom drive or IE7).

A substantial amount of discovery came during the process of the interviews, as the questions had to change to better suit the answers provided by librarians.  The first few calls did not ask about card dedicated catalog computers specifically; often general computers share this function, but not always.  Many libraries, particularly those surveyed in the St. Clair area had non-functional computers and equipment (scanner, wireless).  To list their total computer lab size as those that were working wouldn’t really reflect this problem.  Other libraries presented conflicts between policy and actual activity.  For instance, Peoria’s official computer usage policy forbids users from using optical media (CD’s, DVD’s), but the library at one branch surveyed reported that users could use them there.  Obviously figuring out how to fit phone interview data into statistics categories has its challenges.

The scope of the study itself had several sweeping limitations.  Obviously only 5 of the dozens of counties in Illinois were selected, leaving many populations out.  The normal drawbacks of phone interviews, such as hang ups, call backs, and partial interviews also all applied.  And finally, for this report’s release, the small sample of 21 libraries was not enough information to indisputably present conclusions, but instead only render suggestions (and perhaps suspicions).

These limitations of course beg new avenues for future research.  The most obvious would be in-depth case studies of the various libraries in the database, to add comprehensive documentation or explore user behaviors, interests, and methods that they might achieve Digital Consciousness.  Future research could also widen the scope of the project to include all counties in Illinois, or at least more of them.  The ground work has already been laid to examine 34 some odd libraries in Cook county alone, Chicago city itself holds probably another 30-40.  Others might compare libraries that serve different populations, such as Asian or Latino/a to get a sense of services and opportunities for ethnic minorities in Illinois in general.  The dataset might also be expanded to include new variables and categories, such as more specific questions about policies and staff knowledge.  Many libraries had websites but this study did not seek to evaluate them for their effectiveness in communication and provision of knowledge and other library-related resources.  They could be examined for helpfulness, accuracy, and ease of use.  Overall, there is a great deal more research that awaits.  May this study be the inspiration.

This report illuminates the final stage of digital inequality, Digital Consciousness.  It is one of the first to do so (certainly the first with this term) and stands as a guide for the development of computer and internet resources, policies, and staff in libraries across the country.  Those that serve disadvantaged populations, such as African American communities, should not be the last to get on board with the movement: cyberdemocracy, collective intelligence, and information freedom.  In fact, these libraries ought to be among the first, as they can offer valuable, diverse, and effective contributions and do so with the advantage of being a traditional and instrumental social service and information provision institution.  As more people growing up in these communities are able to develop Digital Consciousness and become cyberorganizers more momentum will build behind us.  Change is coming one way or another, but we must be the ones to ensure it is just.