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Summary
SCOPE
This guideline covers emerging methods which libraries will use
to provide access to digital resources.
POLICY ISSUES
Use of the Internet and digital television is steadily
increasing but more quickly in some areas than in others. Rural
populations and some populations in Europe are being left behind
to some extent. The expectations of those who do use the
Internet are, however, rising and librarians will have to find
ways of matching those expectations and have a social duty to
try to make sure that sections of the European population are
not left out of these developments.
There are an increasing number of ways in which libraries and
the general public will be able to access the internet using
broadband, a method of downloading data from the Internet which
is faster than the current dial-up modem currently in common
use. Libraries have complex decisions of policy to make about
which methods will most effectively serve the public in their
areas.
GOOD PRACTICE GUIDELINES
Many of the methods listed in the guideline are very recent
development either not yet exploited by libraries or only just
being used experimentally in a few places. They include:
The effect of these
technologies will be to give much freer access to people
everywhere to digital services. For the first time it will be
practical to provide the populations of remote rural areas with
rapid and high quality Internet access.
Computers will no longer need to be connected to telephone lines
but can be mobile and positioned anywhere and still interact
with one another.
FUTURE AGENDA
Delivery of services through a range of household and personal
devices represented s a first step on the way to the ‘ambient
environment’ foreseen in Framework 6 the EC’s research programme
and to the ‘semantic web’. The impact of access through these
delivery channels and possibly others not yet being made
available is as yet unclear. The potential of access through
handheld mobile devices and digital TV appears to be very
significant.
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