Public libraries provide high quality community online servicesANN ARBOR—Public libraries across America are distributing community information to the public online, and patrons believe they are getting high-quality information as a result. These are the results of a national study conducted jointly by the University of Michigan and the University of Washington.

Library users increasingly rely on the online resources of public libraries for community information about employment, volunteerism, social service availability, local history and genealogy, local news, computer and technical information, and about other people.

The findings are part of a study on “Help-Seeking in an Electronic World: The Role of the Public Library in Helping Citizens Obtain Community Information Over the Internet.” The Institute of Museum and Library Services in Washington, D.C., funded the study.

Prof. Joan C. Durrance of the U-M School of Information and Assistant Professor Karen Pettigrew of the University of Washington Information School distributed national surveys and did case studies of three public library-community networking systems in northeastern Illinois, Pittsburgh, and Portland, Ore., for the report.

The researchers also found that the Internet has not replaced the role of social ties in citizens’ information behavior but is instead supplementing their information-seeking behavior. People believe, the report noted, that they are accessing hard-to-get and higher-quality information more easily with decreased costs in time and money.

“Community networks have a multiplier effect—they provide benefits to community organizations, to individuals, to their families and their neighborhoods, as well as to the larger community,” Durrance noted. “Community networks overcome a variety of barriers, including those associated with geography and the digital divide, they mobilize community organizations as information providers, and they contribute to community building.”

Overall, this study shows that while networked community information services are strengthening American communities and enhancing the roles of public libraries, most librarians indicated that they lack the tools needed to show this. The next phase of this ongoing research project focuses on creating tools designed to help librarians demonstrate the impact of public library community information services.

The full report is available in .PDF file format at http://www.si.umich.edu/libhelp.

Institute of Museum and Library ServicesJoan C. Durrancehttp://www.si.umich.edu/libhelp