Opportunity for All: American Public Benefits from Library Internet

2010-05-21T21:06:07Z

Archive and associated resources for May 18, 2010, webinar with Mike Crandall, Karen Fisher and Samantha Becker on the Opportunity for All research project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and IMLS.

Opportunity for All: The American Public Benefits from Library Internet Access

Originally presented May 18, 2010.

The University of Washington recently completed a nationwide study of public access computing in public libraries across the United States. The results of this study are available to all libraries, and can provide a powerful supplement to locally collected data to show community impact from these services. One of the outcomes from the study are a set of indicators that libraries can use to track their own impact from public access technology and also to evaluate policy changes overtime and as part of systematic evaluation of public access technology services.

This Webinar will explore some of the ways that data collected about public access computer use can demonstrate the value of your services in the community and provide valuable information about the needs of your constituents. We will also examine approaches that have worked in using the data to influence funding and support for public access computing. Every public library has something to say about this, no matter how small; using the increasingly rich sources of data to support your public access efforts is especially critical in times of short budgets to ensure continued funding and support by the local community.

Archive viewing options:

View full Archive (combined archive of audio, slides, Q&A and chat)

View the slides (pdf)

View Chat log (xls)

Captioner's Transcript (txt)

Threads for Ongoing Discussions (feel free to start new threads...just make sure you're logged in)

Resources and Links:

Group: Does Your PAC Have Impact?
- The report: Opportunity for All: How the American Public Benefits from Internet Access at U.S. Libraries
- The project site: cis.washington.edu/usimpact/
- Questions to Gather Performance Indicators
- U.S. IMPACT Toolbox
- Common Indicators Project at http://www.urban.org/publications/411404.html
Other WebJunction related topics:
- Demonstrating Impact
- Public Access Computing
- Libraries providing Workforce Resources
- How Libraries Stack Up 2010
- Government Information in the 21st Century
Other resources via chat:
- http://www.whatworks.org/ benchmarking for non-profits
- Common Indicators Project at http://www.urban.org/publications/411404.html

WebJunction - Does Your PAC Have Impact?

Opportunity for All: American Public Benefits from Library Internet