A COMPARISON OF PUBLIC LIBRARY INTERNET CONNECTIVITY IN THE USA AND UK

BY

Sarah Ormes, UKOLN

Charles R. McClure, Syracuse University

In late 1995/early 1996 comprehensive surveys of public library Internet connectivity took place in the UK and USA. The data produced from these surveys gives the first opportunity to develop a transatlantic picture of Internet activity in public libraries. It is now possible to see whether the same patterns of usage or non usage are appearing in both countries, whether there are similar trends or differences in the development of services and whether both library services are encountering the same barriers which are preventing or limiting public library Internet connectivity. It will be an interesting opportunity to draw conclusions about public library Internet connectivity across the different cultures in which they operate.

BACKGROUND TO THE USA SURVEY

The 1996 American survey (Bertot, McClure and Zweizig, 1996) was the second national survey of public library connectivity. (The full text of the report on the results on the survey can be found on the WWW at http://istweb.syr.edu/Project/Faculty/McClure-NSPL96/NSPL96_T.html). It built on the 1994 National Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS) survey entitled Public Libraries and the Internet: Study Results, Policy Issues, and Recommendations (McClure, Bertot and Zweizig, 1994). This survey was undertaken to provide the sort of data without which 'policy makers cannot begin to assess the potential roles for public libraries in the electronic networked environment' (McClure, Bertot and Zweizig, 1994). At this time policy for the National Information Infrastructure (NII) was being developed and librarians were keen to ensure that public libraries were included in its creation.

The NII aims to be a network of information systems which will encompass all types of media and communication. It will be 'a seamless web of communications networks, computers, databases, and consumer electronics that will put vast amounts of information at users' fingertips' (Agenda for Action, 1993). This is a stated policy aim of the American Government which created a special task force to encourage public and private institutions to take part. The Government is not funding the creation of the Infrastructure, this it believes should be left to the machinations of the free market and commercial enterprise, but it is guiding and encouraging its development. There has been Governmental emphasis on public institutions being included in the development of the infrastructure. The survey was therefore commissioned by NCLIS in order to help inform the debate that was taking place and to help librarians develop and identify roles which they could undertake as part of the NII.

The 1996 survey updated and expanded the 1994 survey and provided an even more accurate and comprehensive picture of public library Internet activity. The aim of the new survey was both to provide data which would inform policy makers and now also indicate the changes in Internet services and connectivity which had taken place over the last two years. There was also an emphasis on identifying the costs involved with such services.

Key questions from the 1994 survey were still included in order to provide longitudinal data for 1994-1996 public library Internet involvement changes. A questionnaire was posted to participating public libraries during the second week of 1996 with a request for response by January 31, 1996. A survey announcement postcard preceded the survey mail out by one week. In addition, respondents with graphical access to the World Wide Web could complete the survey on-line through a Web site (Bertot and McClure, 1996). A second mailing of 250 surveys was distributed on February 26, 1996 to selected non-responding libraries to increase the response rate within certain Census Region and population of legal service area strata. The study team halted data collection activities on March 15, 1996. In all, 1,495 surveys were distributed (not counting the second mailing to non responding libraries). A total of 1,059 surveys were returned for a 70.8% response rate.

BACKGROUND TO THE BRITISH SURVEY

The UK survey was the first survey to explore the level of Internet activity in UK public libraries. (The full text of the report on the results of the survey can be found on the WWW at http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/publib/lic.html). The survey was commissioned by the Library and Information Commission as it needed data on this topic in order to be able to effectively advise the Government on the issue of public library Internet connectivity. The survey was undertaken by the UK Office for Library and Information Networking (UKOLN) on behalf of the Commission and was managed by the (as then) British Library Research and Development Department (BLR&DD).

UKOLN agreed to complete the survey within a very tight schedule as the Commission required the information as soon as possible to feed into developing policy and planning decisions. The questionnaire therefore had to be brief and kept reasonably simple. The 167 questionnaires were sent out on the 21st November 1995 to the 167 library authorities in the UK. One week later (over a period of three days) the responses to the questionnaires were collected by telephone. A 100% response rate was achieved which ensured that the results represented a complete picture of the UK situation. The statistics were collated and the resulting 'Library and Information Commission public library Internet survey' (Ormes, Dempsey, 1995) report was written. The survey was intended to be a quick snapshot of the state of public library Internet connectivity. In comparison the USA survey was designed to provide a in-depth picture of the USA situation. This difference can be seen in the more detailed statistics that the USA survey team were able to produce.

It should be noted that the UK and USA statistics often cannot be directly compared without some qualification. The USA survey explored Internet connectivity in terms of individual libraries. The UK survey team however, looked at Internet connectivity in terms of library authorities. Library authorities are the organisational bodies for public libraries based in a specific geographical area (usually counties) and can be responsible for anywhere up to 100 individual libraries. This means that some of the UK statistics are less specific then the USA statistics as one statistic may refer to an authority as a whole, that is 100 separate libraries, instead of an individual service point. In some cases it was possible to produce statistics in terms of individual libraries in the UK but not always. Where this has been the case it will be highlighted. However, a comparison of the two country's results still provides a considerable amount of interesting information about the development of Internet services on both sides of the Atlantic.

RESULTS OF THE SURVEYS

HOW MANY LIBRARIES ARE CONNECTED?

Figure One : Percentage of Individual Public Libraries with Internet Connections in the USA and UK.

Figure One shows the great difference in the number of libraries with Internet connections in the USA and the UK. Nearly 45% of all American public libraries have access to the Internet whereas only 3% of all UK public libraries have similar access. In America a member of the public has a one in four chance of walking into a public library and being able to get access to the Internet , in the UK it is a less than one in a hundred chance. This great difference in connectivity indicates that the UK public library service is far behind its American equivalent in terms of Internet service development. This is not surprising as public libraries in the USA have been exploring the opportunities that the Internet offers to them since the early 1990s. Most UK public library Internet activity has only taken place within the last two years.

There are a number of reasons for this discrepancy between the two countries. Generally America takes advantage of new technology before the UK. The Internet developed more rapidly in America and although UK academics were involved with the Internet quite quickly it took more time for public librarians to become aware of its relevance to them. This lack of awareness may be due to a lack of a concerted government policy to exploit the developing potential of the new telecommunications and computer technologies. There was, in other words, no one guiding public libraries towards an involvement with the Internet. In American this situation was different due to the Clinton administration's development of the National Information Infrastructure (NII). This commitment could be seen in President Clinton's 1994 State of the Union Address when he stated

We must work with the private sector to connect every classroom, every clinic, every library, and every hospital in American to a national information superhighway by the year 2000.

(Clinton, 1994)

So although the Government itself was not providing a free infrastructure for public libraries to plug into, it specifically encouraged private companies to undertake this task. More importantly the administration defined a vision which both librarians and private enterprise could aim to fulfil. It not only made private companies consider connecting libraries but it also brought to the attention of librarians themselves that the Internet was something that concerned them. This high profile, high status emphasis by the Government helped develop awareness about the need for Internet services in public libraries.

In the UK there was no similar policy or taskforce and the development of Internet services outside of academic institutions has consequently been slower and lower in profile. The UK Government, like its USA equivalent, has stated that the development of broadband superhighway should be done by private enterprise. However, the main aim of the UK policy has been to ensure that the regulatory framework is open to the private sector and not dominated by the ex-state owned monopoly of British Telecom. There has been no political vision which acknowledges the importance of the civil role of public libraries when it comes to the Internet. There has also been no encouragement for private enterprise to connect libraries to the Internet, consequently development has been slower and awareness lower.

Another factor which has been slowing the development of UK public library Internet connectivity has been funding shortages. This issue will be discussed later in the paper.

Consequently, even when the current state of UK public library Internet connectiveness is compared with the results of the 1994 NCLIS survey UK public libraries are still well behind their American counterparts. In 1994 21% of all American public libraries had some kind of Internet connection, in 1994 in the UK it is doubtful that even 0.1% of public libraries had an Internet connection.

In comparison the USA picture of public library Internet connectivity appears to be reasonably bright. Nearly half of all public libraries have some kind of connection and the numbers are increasing rapidly. However, when the statistics were analysed in terms of the legal service area population each library serves (which gives a good indication of the size of the library and whether it serves a rural or urban area) a worrying trend became clear.

Figure Two : Public Library Internet Connectivity by Population Served 1994-1996 in the USA

Figure two shows the percentage of Internet connectivity by public library depending upon their legal service area population. This figure also shows the results of the 1994 survey and the consequence increase in the number of libraries connected.

By looking at the connectivity in this way the statistics reveal discrepancies in the extent of public library Internet connectivity based on population size. Despite an 18% increase in Internet connectivity for public libraries serving population areas under 5,000 between 1994 and 1996, public libraries serving populations of under 5,000 in 1996 were significantly (58.6%) less likely to be connected to the Internet than those libraries serving larger populations from 100,000 to 1 million +.

This discrepancy in the rate of public library Internet connectivity between smaller and larger population areas represents a 4% increase over 1994. The Internet-connectivity gap between public libraries serving larger and smaller communities appears to have increased between 1994 and 1996, despite significant overall increases in public library Internet connectivity. It may be that variations in telecommunication and information service rates for different size population groupings contribute to different levels of public library connectivity to the Internet.

Although the UK survey could identify the number of individual libraries with Internet connectivity it was not possible to produce statistics in terms of the legal service area population each of these libraries served. The only population figures that were collected had been for the authority as a whole. However, as most authorities have only one or two Internet connections and they tended to be held at the central library (the library that aims to serve the whole county) it still seemed useful to look at these statistics.

Figure Three :Public Library Authority Internet connectivity by population served in the UK

The general trend is similar to the USA. The larger the population served by the authority the greater the likelihood that the authority will have some kind of Internet connection. This pattern is slightly broken by the authorities in the 10,000-24,999 category where 50% have an Internet connection. In the whole of the UK there are only two authorities which serve this level of population and hence the 50% represents one authority out of two. As this is such a small data sample it is difficult to draw any meaningful conclusions.

Figure Four - A Comparison of UK and USA public library Internet connectivity by legal service area population.

Figure Four shows these statistics in graph form and clearly indicates how the percentage of libraries/authorities with Internet connections increases as the population served also increases.

As more public libraries establish Internet connections and as public libraries are increasingly involved with electronic information services that require high-speed broadband telecommunication services, access to affordable advanced information and telecommunication services will become increasingly important for public libraries to extend new electronic network service access to wider communities. At present it is obvious that this type of network saturation is only existent in high population areas. The smaller and rural communities are in danger of being both missed out and missing out.

HOW ARE THEY CONNECTED?

There are several different methods libraries use to connect to the Internet. The main two types are leased lines and dial up connections. Dial up connections are the more limited form as they involve dialling into an Internet service over a normal analogue telephone line. Data is downloaded to a PC through a modem and this process is often slow and unreliable. Leased lines in comparison are dedicated to Internet use only and are able to carry more data and at a greater speed. Increasingly, the WWW is incorporating animation, graphics and sound which are data hungry applications. Analogue phone lines simply do have enough bandwidth to be able to effectively cope with this increase in data usage. Leased lines are therefore becoming essential in order to access the whole potential of the Internet. However, leased lines are more expensive to set up.

Both surveys explored the type of connection that libraries were using and the statistics showed a more developed level of connection in the USA than in the UK. However, again libraries in the USA which served smaller population were disadvantaged compared to urban libraries.

Figure Five : 1994-1996 Public Library Leased-Line Connections by Population of Legal Service Area and Region in the USA

Figure five shows the percentage of USA libraries with Internet connections that use leased lines. The statistics show that the larger the library the greater likelihood that is connected to the Internet using a leased line. As the level of service that can be offered depends upon the bandwidth which is available it would appear that libraries in urban locations are generally able to offer higher levels of services than those in rural areas.

Despite this discrepancy overall there has been a great increase in the number of libraries using leased lines. Thirty three percent more libraries now connect to the Internet in the USA using leased lines than in 1994. This suggests that either as libraries begin to develop their Internet services they upgrade to leased lines or as new libraries connect to the Internet they are immediately using leased lines. In both cases it indicates a much more developed and high level Internet connection strategy.

In the UK the survey found that 71% of libraries connected to the Internet are using Dial Up and only 15% are using leased lines. This could again be indicative of UK libraries being at an early stage of Internet service development. Dial up involves the least initial outlay in terms of resources and consequently is ideal for experimentation. Libraries in the UK were initially cautious about the Internet and its relevance to their services and consequently were unwilling to commit large amount of resources to it, hence the reliance on dial up connections. It is to be expected, providing funding is available, that UK libraries will follow the American pattern and use leased lines more often.

HOW MUCH PUBLIC ACCESS IS AVAILABLE?

Offering public access to the Internet is a natural continuation of the role of the public library as the gateway for any member of society to information. As more and more information is held solely in electronic form it will be of increasing importance that anyone, no matter how disadvantaged, should be able to gain access to this information. If this access is not possible there is a strong danger that an information rich/information poor dichotomy may develop in society. Public libraries are therefore the means by which to prevent this situation from happening. Librarians identified this as a role of great importance for public libraries and already public access Internet services are in existence. However, as both surveys showed this is still a very limited service and in the USA varies depending upon the size of the local library.

Figure six : Public Access Internet Services Provided by Internet-Connected Public Libraries by Population Served in the USA

The American survey looked at public access in terms of the type of service offered. Figure six shows that there is still a heavy reliance on text only WWW services (e.g. lynx) but those libraries serving larger populations are more likely to provide public Internet access services using graphical interfaces (WWW) than those public libraries serving smaller communities. Public libraries which provide public access to the Internet and serve the smallest legal service area populations (less than 5,000) are 40.7%% less likely to offer advanced WWW graphical services than Internet-connected public libraries serving populations of one million +. Internet-connected public libraries serving smaller communities are more likely to provide public access to text-based Internet services than to the more advanced multimedia graphical WWW Internet services.

Text-based Internet services are now limited as they do not allow access to the full range of interactive multimedia services which are now available. At present USA residents of smaller communities are not being afforded the same range of public Internet access capabilities as those who use the services of public libraries serving larger populations.

A comparison between the two surveys can only be done with qualification as similar statistics were not collected. The UK survey did not request details about the type of public Internet services being offered. However, the authors have a strong knowledge of these services from other research and awareness activities and so it seemed suitable to include some analysis here.

The UK survey found that 28 public libraries in the whole of the UK offered public access to the Internet. This represents 0.7% of all UK public libraries. This therefore again is an area where the UK is far behind the USA. However, almost all public access is in the form of graphical WWW. As Internet service development is taking place now (rather than two years ago as for American libraries) the graphical WWW has been for many people their only experience of the Internet. Whereas many USA libraries started to offer Internet access when the Internet was mainly text dominated and consequently have chosen not to or have been unable to upgrade to graphical services. In the UK text only services are very rare as they are already considered as outmoded and outdated. There are one or two exceptions to this rule but for most UK libraries the Internet equates to the graphical WWW. By being slower in development UK libraries have, odd though it seems, developed more up to date services (though in smaller numbers).

However, although UK public libraries may be proportionately more likely to offer access to the graphical WWW they are also more likely to charge for this service. The American survey revealed that in general USA public libraries do not charge for Internet services. Of all public libraries providing public access to Internet services, 3.6% have some type of fee for their graphical Web services, 3.3% have some type of fee for their e-mail account services, 3.1% have some type of fee for their text-based services, 1.7% have some type of fee for their gopher-based services, and 1.2% have some type of fee for their newsgroup services.

Although the UK survey also examined the percentage of public libraries who were charging for Internet access it was not broken down into service type. However, as already mentioned most libraries providing access to the Internet will give access to the graphical WWW. Therefore the most suitable figure for comparison with the USA will be the 3.6% of graphical WWW access - this therefore is not an exact comparison. The UK survey showed that 43% of UK public libraries who offer public access to the Internet are charging for this service, compared to 3.6% in the USA.

This high level of cost recovery by UK libraries may be another reason for their willingness to offer access to the graphical WWW. They may simply have no choice but to offer graphical WWW access as they must offer top level services in order to be able to attract customers. Charged Internet services may be being seen as a means to generate income and support other more tradition services. Funding and the cost of Internet services is perhaps the most crucial issue for UK libraries as the service as a whole is in severe financial straits.

Although, sadly no doubt, American public libraries are also suffering from similar financial troubles the situation is more critical in the UK when it comes to the cost of public access Internet services. As seen in the survey the majority of UK public libraries are connecting to the Internet using a dial up connection. Whereas in America most local calls are free (apart from a fixed and low monthly tariff) in the UK every phone call is charged for individually. Consequently for the American librarian as long as the POP is within the local area then the library will not be charged for the phone call no matter how long it is. For the British librarian even if the POP is in the local area the library will be charged for every second of the call. This charging method has presented somewhat of a barrier to UK libraries as it means that the more extensive and developed service that they offer the greater the cost will be to the library. Any free access services that are offered are likely to be inhibited as it will benefit the library if the patron spends as little time as possible on the connection in order to keep costs down. Alternatively Internet access will be made available only at times when the phone charges are at low rates.

One interesting development in the UK has been the partnership between some private companies and libraries in order to offer Internet services. Private companies have approached libraries with an offer to set up, fund and staff a commercial computer centre in the library. The library simply gives the company floor space and receives a percentage of the profits in return. By this method libraries are able to give their readers access to computer equipment e.g. word-processing facilities, DTP, spreadsheets and Internet access without having to invest any of their own resources. The companies do of course charge the public for these services. This then, is a compromise between lack of resources and the ideal of offering free access to these services. For many librarians it is better to be able to provide charged access than no access at all. Interestingly one of these companies, Input/Output, has stated that it sees the Internet as a service that libraries will offer for free and consequently sees no point in competing. It is now beginning to experiment with offering free Internet access in its computer centres. It will be interesting to see if this develops into a common pattern. These commercial centres are growing at a rapid rate and look to become a familiar site in the larger of the UK's public libraries. However, smaller libraries will probably not be approached as they will not be profitable enough for the commercial companies.

CONCLUSIONS

By comparing the two surveys it becomes clear that at present the UK is generally far behind in the development of Internet services and levels of connectivity in comparison with the USA. There are similarities for the UK with the situation of American libraries when the 1994 survey was undertaken. There is a high reliance on dial up as a connection method, limited amounts of public access and general low connectivity. However, when UKOLN was collecting responses to the survey the survey team was aware that there was a noticeable amount of enthusiasm about the Internet from the respondents and lots of planning taking place. It is to be hoped that the UK will follow the American pattern and the number of libraries connected to the Internet and offering public access to it will increase rapidly in the near future.

However, although comparatively the USA does have a much higher level of public library Internet connectivity this does necessarily mean that all connected American libraries are offering high level Internet services to the public. In terms of services and resources provision a number of levels of service should be considered:

• No Services or Resources Provided. In this situation, the public library simply provides access to the Internet. Patrons use a library workstation to access resources and services provided by others on the Internet.
• Resources Provision. The library makes available information resources such as databases, electronic newsletters, local government information, etc. In effect, the library transfers patron access from print sources to electronic sources.
• Self-Assisted Services. This type of networked services allows the user to access resources, and without the assistance of another, put a hold on a book, make a reservation to attend a library program, or manipulate data.
• Interactive Services. In this type of service the patron may engage in interactive video reference services with library staff, participate in a discussion about a best seller, or collaborate with other users in the use of particular library resources.
• Knowledge-based Services. In this situation, the library provides on-demand, customized information services: for example, the library automatically informs the user electronically that, based on her previous reading habits, a new book has arrived or a certain Web site may be of interest to her, etc.

Sadly, most American public libraries and no UK public libraries have yet to proceed much beyond resources provision and some self-assisted services. For example, the American survey showed that 31% of public libraries with connectivity to the Internet have such connectivity via a 28.8 baud dial-up modem. While such connectivity is better than nothing, it does not enable the access to and delivery of advanced and high quality services. Acceptable and high quality resource provision, self-assisted, interactive, and knowledge-based services require high-bandwidth at the T1 level and beyond.

So although the statistics that show that 93% of American public libraries serving a population of between 500,000 and 999,999 are connected to the Internet sound impressive they can also be misleading. For example, a library that has one Internet dial-up connection and serves a legal population of about 200,000 would provide relatively poor Internet-based connectivity, and possibly offers no services as described above; whereas there can be another public library also serving a population of about 200,000 with 28 public access workstations, with T1 connectivity, managing its own Website, and offering a range of networked services. Both public libraries, for purposes of these statistics, provide their population with Internet connectivity.

Thus, the sound bite that by March 1997 one can project 76% of American public libraries to be connected to the Internet can be extremely misleading until further analysis determines the type, extent, and impact of connectivity that the library has, and the degree and quality to which networked electronic resources and services are also being provided by the library. It is important to recognize that for the public library services in both countries being connected to the Internet is only a first, albeit important, step as they make the transition to the global networked environment. Many additional steps are required - some of which we may not now know - for the library to be a successful and effective provider of networked information resources and services. Certainly American libraries have taken more steps along this path then UK libraries but they too still have a long way to go before they are uniformly offering high level Internet services to the public.

Although UK libraries are generally following the same pattern of development as American libraries in the development of Internet services there is one worrying area of divergence. As the comparison of the two surveys has shown UK libraries are far more likely to charge for public access to the Internet than their American contemporaries. The funding crisis is making it extremely difficult for UK libraries to be able to afford to offer free access. However, by charging for services the libraries are creating a barrier for usage for many of their more disadvantaged readers. But given the state of public library finances it is difficult to see how this situation can be avoided. There is therefore a real need for additional outside funding in UK public libraries if they are to effectively operate as the citizen's gateway to the Internet.

The USA survey, although identifying general rapid growth in Internet connectivity and services, also clearly showed that there are big discrepancies between libraries of different sizes in the type of service they offer and the way in which they are connected. Fewer smaller and more rural libraries provide Internet access, use the more effective connection method of leased line Internet access and offer public access services than larger and more urban libraries. These discrepancies threaten the ability of the public libraries and their communities to receive the benefits available through advanced information and telecommunication services. There are also indications that a similar uneven playing field is developing in the UK. This is an area where libraries on both sides of the Atlantic need help from outside. There is a need for Government policy mechanisms for discounted services to be made available for eligible libraries. Mechanisms are needed which will level the advanced information and telecommunications playing field for all libraries. Universal service mechanisms must ensure that discrepancies in public library Internet connectivity -types, costs and levels are eliminated in the future.

Betty Turock, the American Library Association's President 1995-96 stated that

Nothing is more important to the future of our democracy than ensuring public access to information …….that is why we need our nation's public, school, college and university libraries online.

(Turock, 1996)

Melvyn Barnes, the UK Library Association President 1995-96 stated that

Surely there can be no doubt that these technological advances must be the major development for public libraries as we move from the twentieth to the twenty-first century, and probably the most significant since public libraries were established.

(Barnes, 1995)

These two quotes from the respective Library Association's presidents indicate that on both sides of the Atlantic there is real commitment in the profession to the ideal that public libraries should offer free and equal access to the Internet. Without a doubt public libraries in the UK are currently finding this ideal harder to reach than their American counterparts as they are having to cope with more demanding pressures on resources, a lack of a Government driven policy and a general greater cost of connection. In both countries there is a developing trend of rural and smaller libraries being left behind. If the two president's visions are to be met not only metropolitan and comparatively rich libraries that have full Internet access but also the smaller, less well funded and even less well used libraries. Considering that this pattern has been identified on both sides of the Atlantic it indicates that special attention should be paid to ensure that these libraries do not get left behind. Access to the information superhighway will soon be essential for all citizens, not just those who live in the cities or who can afford it.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors of this paper would like to thank the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science and the Library and Information Commission for funding and supporting respectively the USA and the UK surveys. The authors would also like to acknowledge the assistance of John Carlo Bertot and Douglas L. Zweizig, the co-authors of both the 1994 and 1996 NCLIS public library surveys.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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