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 An extremely interesting
article in the New York Times examines the changing role of public libraries,
specifically their development into public Internet portals and access
points for digital information.
For the library, supplying patrons with
access to the Internet and the Web
has
become
central to its mission, an updating of its long tradition
of providing information free to the public.
The transition has come quickly. In 1996, 28 percent of all libraries
had PC’s for public access to the Internet. Now, 95 percent of libraries
offer
Internet access. The Gates foundation accelerated the trend. There are
now more than 120,000 Internet-connected PC’s for public use in municipal
libraries nationwide. Since 1998, the foundation has installed or paid
for more than 47,000 PC’s.
And Internet-connected computers are clearly bringing more people into
libraries. A year after computers are put in libraries that do not have
them, visits rise 30 percent on the average and attendance typically
remains higher.
This inarguably important sea change in the role of libraries has
both positive and negative ramifications. On the positive side, libraries
as portals to the digital world offer access and platforms to people
without computers or internet access in their homes – in some cases
to people who may not even have homes. They allow any member of our society the opportunity to participate in the digital revolution, to
communicate with family and friends wherever they may be, to make their
voices heard in online discussions and debates, to learn and teach
and share their knowledge and experiences, to access public services,
buy and sell, complain and comment. Computers in libraries can
open new worlds and ways of looking at them to people who would otherwise
not have that opportunity.
On the negative side, this anonymous access can also be a powerful
tool for those who wish to disrupt or destroy the social fabric, from
pornographers to terrorists, flamers to rumor-mongers. They can be
used to perpetrate a gamut of cyber-crimes, identify theft, slander
and foment
hatred. Cases have come to light of public terminals being used
to hide Trojan horses and keystroke recorders, to capture personal
information and facilitate access to private and personal digital information,
to entice and ensnare innocents and children for nefarious ends.
It seems to the Dowbrigade that the overriding question is how to
facilitate the former while protecting the legitimate interests of
society from the latter, while avoiding the evolution of a "big brother"
mentality on the part of the forces of public order. How this can be
done is one of the most important conundrums facing our emerging digital
society today.
from the New York Times
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