Why Have WiFi in Public Libraries?
Answer – people use both for information!
Most libraries today have more than just books and printed reference materials for patron use. Granted, printed materials still comprise a great deal of information contained in today’s libraries but more and more libraries are expanding the resources available to the patrons. Libraries are starting to embrace technology as a method of increasing the library experience and resources available to patrons and guests at the library location. Most libraries today use some form of an electronic cataloging system or an ILS system which integrates most all of the libraries functions into electronic form to perform such tasks as tracking books loaned out, where books are located in multi-library systems, patron information and library Card barcodes, overdue books and the fees and fines levied against the patrons account and a great deal more. In using an ILS system with the book catalog in electronic form library patrons are able to perform searches on the libraries book collection much faster than could be done using the old card catalog method.
Not only are books (both fiction and non-fiction) available but now there are also different sources such as DVDs and Cassette Tape books, DVD movies, electronic books on-line and access to on-line databases and the Internet as well. Most all but the smallest libraries offer some form of Internet access, mostly as Public Access computers setup within the library location that patrons can use to access both internal information resources (databases and online card catalogs) as well as Internet resources for information and research. Some libraries choose to “filter” the content of websites patrons and guests can access for many different reasons, mostly due to the “type” of content contained in some “types” of websites and protecting younger library patrons from some of the forms of information on the Internet. We all know what I mean by “type” of content. Other libraries choose to not filter any content and leave it to the discretion of the patron and/or guest to do the right thing. I am not going into a debate over which is the best method here as that is not the reason for this article. I only bring it up as it is a “sticky” point in discussions on Internet access in libraries and other public locations.
What are some of the reasons for libraries to embrace technologies??
Why would libraries want to offer Internet access to their patrons? One would think that libraries, repositories of information and reference materials, would use their limited funds to purchase more printed materials for patrons to use. Well – that is not as cost effective as providing a mix of local reference materials and access to the Internet. There is a tremendous amount of information on the Internet – something along the lines of over 9.4-Billion websites at current count! If you don’t believe this just do a search on Google for the word “www”, which is the first part of most website URL addresses. This number does NOT include any Webpages contained within the websites! Needless to say that is a pretty large number of website covering all sorts of information!
The Internet, being a vast network of computers interconnected together world-wide, contains so much information that if you were to start looking at web pages you would never reach all of them in a life-time, probably not in three life-times! What better reason would a library have for offering access to the Internet! Think of all that information a patron would have access to and can search for using today’s current search engines (Google being one such search engine). If you were to build a library large enough to contain all the information on the Internet you had better have very deep pockets! I suspect the library at Alexandria would not have been anywhere near big enough to contain all the information!
Of course to access the Internet you need an Internet connection, a local network to connect the computers together with each other and to the Internet connection and computers for the patrons and guests to use. All of this hardware and connection to the Internet costs money but there are some Government programs, at least in the United States and I suspect other countries as well, that can help out with the costs and there are some private corporations that offer grant funding or hardware (The Bill Gates Foundation is one such entity). There are even some Internet providers out there who will offer free access for educational institutions. Most of the time libraries fall into the educational institution category.
Barring any outside funding a library will find itself limited in resources so how do you get the most ‘Bang for the Buck’???
If you have an Internet connection, either a cable modem connection, DSL connection or a T-1 circuit and you offer patrons access through Public Access computers you can increase the capabilities to allow more patrons access to the Internet through a method I like to refer to as “Virtual Public Access Computers”. What I mean by “Virtual Public Access Computers” is just a way of describing a method where a patron or guest of the library can use their own laptop as a personal public access computer by way of WiFi Hotspot technology! At first glace some people will say that does not help in allowing the general patron population with access but stop and think about it for a moment. If a patron or guest has their own laptop with wireless capability then it is one less Public Access Computer required to allow them access to the libraries electronic resources and the Internet at large.
WiFi technology brings the ability to allow more patrons access at the same time than would be possible with just wired Public Access Computers. A WiFi system actually increases the ability to allow patrons and guests greater access to the libraries electronic resource that would otherwise not be available in a timely manner. Case in point – if a patron wants to do some research on the Internet at the library because there is some printed material contained within the library the patron or guest will have to wait until a Public Access computer is available for their use. If the library has WiFi capabilities and the patron has their own laptop with wireless capability they would not have to wait for a wired Public Access Computer to become available – they just open their laptop, turn it on and use the WiFi system as their access to the libraries electronic resources!
WiFi technology is a Win-Win situation for both the patrons and the library. The library gets more foot traffic and utilization which usually translates into budget increases to meet the patron demand and the patrons can use their own laptop or wireless PDA to access the libraries electronic resources. The existence of a WiFi connection also brings in a younger, technology savvy demographic group which may not normally frequent a library. Some of the younger generation tend to view a library as a “Quieter than Death” location and shy away not realizing the great wealth of information residing on the other side of the door! Another very good reason is that not only can a patron access the electronic resources offered by the library but can also store the information they find into their laptop for further use when not at the library! Most Public Access Computers are either configured so the patron has to print the material on a printer (at an additional cost) or store the information on limited space floppy disk or on thumb-drives if the technology is allowed at the library. Since the patron or guest is using their own computer they can save the results of searches and webpage content directly on their computer for later review or use in research or reports. This ability is very helpful for individuals attending higher education institutions and need to create reports and perform research for their field of endeavor. By having the ability to create a copy of the information on their laptop they are able to use the information where ever they may be working on their reports or research and have the information available for reference material to back up their presentations.
Hmm – you are probably wondering how I know about this subject…
Just a little about myself – I am the Network Administrator for the Brevard County Libraries system in Brevard County, Florida. I started researching the use of WiFi technologies within the library system around the summer of 2004 and implemented a WiFi Hotspot system based on the PublicIP system (www.publicip.net) which went live on Feb. 15, 2005. The system has been live for about 11 months now (at the time of this writing) and on average we have 300 – 350 patrons and guests total using the system each week! With seventeen library locations throughout Brevard County, Florida (we are on the Space Coast for those who are wondering) that translates to about 17 – 20 people per week per location using the system. In actuality the different library locations have different WiFi utilization; some libraries have very little use while others have much greater use. As the math worked out we were able to support the additional electronic resource utilization in the library system by the patrons and guests with only an expenditure of less than $800.00 per library location! Now – I have a very diverse background in computers and networking along with a strong background in software design so I was able to build most of the system for implementation and that translated into a fair cost savings in implementation but you get the idea – a WiFi system is not as expensive as some vendors would have you believe! We had been quoted prices of $2000 to $3500 per library location which I think is just too much money! I started this website and have the electronics needed to setup and configure a WiFi Hotspot predicated on a need I see in the area of libraries.
If you would like further information or have questions drop me a line:
gmckinney@brev.org is my work email address
I hope you have found this article helpful!