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GOOD PRACTICE GUIDELINES

Access to the Internet
Many libraries are providing access to digital resources via their library network, which may or may not be part of a larger Library or Local Authority Local Area Network (LAN). Libraries should consider higher bandwidth and moving to broadband connections of some sort. The ability to move large ‘data blocks’ quickly, including images, movies, graphics and software programs depends on access to broad bandwidth infrastructure. Future methods of connecting users to digitised resources will undoubtedly use broadband and there are various ways of delivering this service even to remote areas.

Broadband
A pressing issue across Europe remains the extent to which public libraries and other local cultural institutions can access network infrastructure of adequate bandwidth to meet the strategic service delivery needs required by key national, regional and local policies and initiatives.

• Virtually all home use of the Internet and that of many businesses is through dial-up modem access at speeds of up to 56Kbits/sec.

• Dial-up Internet access is predicted to peak during 2003. Meanwhile, telecommunications providers such as cable, mobile, satellite, laser and fibre optic companies are competing to provide consumers with fast data connections and services.

• Dial-up connections are acceptable for general web surfing and email transmission for individuals and small businesses, but for larger organisations significantly higher speed, broadband services are required which are ‘always on’.

• As new on-line services and activities develop, more and more libraries and cultural organisations should acquire these higher speed services.

Satellite Internet
Satellite Internet access may be worth considering for library systems serving largely rural communities as it is the best way of providing access. Satellite Internet uses a satellite dish for two-way (upload and download) data communications. Upload speed is about one-tenth of the 500 kbps download speed. Cable and DSL have higher download speeds, but satellite systems are about 10 times faster than a normal modem. Two-way satellite Internet uses Internet Protocol (IP) multicasting technology, which means up to 5,000 channels of communication can simultaneously be served by a single satellite which sends data from one point to many points, simultaneously, in compressed format. Compression reduces the size of the data and the bandwidth. Dial-up land-based terrestrial systems have bandwidth limitations that prevent multicasting of this magnitude.

Satellite Internet represents the best opportunity for schools, libraries, communities, and individuals in remote areas to gain access to worldwide communications. It is not subject to local control over access or content. It has the ability to reach people no other communications medium can at a practical cost. It is currently being used on the mobile libraries of the Isle of Wight Library service UK, see Links

Wireless networks
These connect computers to computer networks but without the need for physical wire connections. The lack of a physical connection means that users are able to roam or work wherever they wish and still have access. Assuming that uninterrupted sight lines are possible and that sufficient repeaters can be provided wireless networks can be an extremely cost effect means of bringing broadband facilities to rural areas (this is particularly important because rural areas are often very poorly served by existing telecommunications or cable companies who find the costs of installing physical links in these areas uneconomic). Although wireless connection has the possibility of 11Mbps, this can be as low as 1Mbps as the distance increases. However, this is still almost 30 times faster than a 56k modem.

• Some library services already have started to make use of wireless networks. The transfer of information is normally faster and the computers can be mobile relative to one another, although there are concerns at this stage about security.

• Wireless connectivity may be the cheapest way to network library buildings, especially smaller local libraries and provide flexibility in services, allowing users to sit where they wish when accessing the Internet or library OPAC. Users can either access the wireless LAN using their own PCs (having borrowed or purchased a wireless network card from the library), or libraries could loan out networked-enabled laptops for use within the library.

• Wireless networking also provides the opportunity to offer access to library services in alternative locations such as village halls, schools or homes as well as though mobile libraries. (See EARL issue papers. , - the paper on wireless networks includes examples of good practice in mainly UK libraries.)

• Wireless networking opens up the potential for exciting and innovative projects. Once connection is not linked to a physical place services can be accessed wherever people need information. More users can be reached and more services offered, with obvious advantages for housebound and disabled people, those living in isolated locations, and those who lead mobile lifestyles
• New ways of delivering traditional services might include messaging users via laptops and mobile phones.
• There are potential uses also for staff working within the building, searching for and relocating stock for example.

WWANs, WLANs and PANS

• A Wireless WAN (WWAN) connects geographically disparate sites using satellite or radio transmitters within a range of up to 38 kilometres.

• A Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) has the same function as a standard Local Area Network but without the need for physical connections between the computers and the network. Computers on, say, a mobile library vehicle can connect to the network via a transmitter in the laptop, to the receiver/aerial on the building. Wireless ‘hot spots’ let handheld and laptop users connect to the Internet from public places such as libraries.

• A Personal Area Network (PAN) allows electronic devices within a few metres of each other to communicate and synchronise information. Bluetooth, a short-range radio technology simplifies communication between different devices fitted with a single chip but has a slower data rate and more limited range than that of a WLAN. WiFi (Wireless Fidelity), a rival technology. WiFi (Wireless Fidelity), a rival technology, sends Internet signals through the air using radio waves. To make it work you need a transmitting antenna, which is usually linked to a land-based Internet connection. A second antenna, usually part of a laptop, receives the signal.

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