[Publib] Final Weeks for 2009-2010 ALA Funding and Technology Survey

[John Bertot]

The 2009-2010 Public Library Funding & Technology Access survey (www.ala.org/plinternetfunding 
) conducted by the American Library Association (ALA) and the Center  
for Library & Information Innovation at the University of Maryland (www.liicenter.org 
) is set to close November 6, 2009.  The survey is available for  
completion at www.plinternetsurvey.org.

Funded by the American Library Association and the Bill & Melinda  
Gates Foundation, the survey provides important data regarding public  
library Internet connectivity, use, funding, and services.  Since  
1994, these surveys have been used by the American Library Association  
and others to inform and educate stakeholders - policymakers, funders,  
elected officials, supporters, and the media - at the local, state and  
national levels about the issues and needs your library faces in  
providing public computer and Internet access services and resources;  
how library staff and technology resources support community  
employment, e-government, and education services; the challenges  
libraries face in funding their services and resources; and the need  
for libraries, as community anchor institutions, to have access to  
robust high speed Internet connectivity as part of the recent  
broadband stimulus component of the American Recovery and Reinvestment  
Act (ARRA), also known as the Stimulus Bill.

Your participation in the survey is extremely important, and directly  
impacts the ability of ALA and others to advocate on behalf of public  
libraries and the tremendous contribution public libraries make to  
their communities through their public access Internet services and  
resources. Data from the study appeared most recently in USA Today (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/2009-09-01-library-computers-internet_N.htm 
) in a discussion of how public libraries help job seekers. Other  
articles have appeared in recent months regarding how public libraries  
help patrons with e-government, education, and a number of Internet- 
dependent services -- all possible through your participation in the  
survey.

To complete the survey, go to http://www.plinternetsurvey.org.  You  
will need an ID number, which you may look up on the website.  Thank  
you for your time and willingness to participate.  Questions regarding  
the survey should be directed to support at plinternetsurvey.org or  
301.405.9445.

Additional information regarding the survey and previous survey  
results is available at http://www.liicenter.org/plinternet. The full  
Public Library Funding & Technology Access Study can be found online  
at www.ala.org/plinternetfunding.


*************************************************************************
John Carlo Bertot, Ph.D.
Professor and Director
Center for Library & Information Innovation
College of Information Studies
University of Maryland
4105 Hornbake Building, South Wing
College Park, MD 20742
Email: jbertot at umd.edu
Web (Bertot): http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~jbertot/
Web (Center): http://www.liicenter.org/
Phone: 301.405.3267
Fax: 301.314.9145

Editor, Library Quarterly (http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/lq/current 
)
Editor, Government Information Quarterly (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/govinf/ 
)
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