Internet use via the local public library

Citation

Edwards, S., Bruce, H. and Coombs, M. (1998), "Internet use via the local public library", Internet Research, Vol. 8 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/intr.1998.17208eaf.003

Internet use via the local public library

Internet use via the local public library

Researchers: Susan Edwards, Harry Bruce and Merolyn CoombsDepartment of Information Studies, University of Technology, SydneyNoel Neeson and Sue Parkinson, State Library of NSWContact: Susan Edwards, Susan.Edwards@uts.edu.au

Australia is presently the fifth-highest user of the Internet but there are many Australians who are denied access to the network for socioeconomic, cultural or geographic reasons. The issue of equity is most apparent in the context of political empowerment. Increasingly, Government reports and information helpful to citizens are being published on the Internet. This effectively disempowers those who have no access to the network. Market forces alone will not resolve this equity issue. Political intervention in the form of government policy is required to develop an infrastructure that provides access to the Internet for all Australians. Both major political parties in Australia agree that this is an important initiative but a difficult one to achieve in a country as diverse as Australia.

One proposal, widely supported, is to use the public library system as a community access point to the Internet. This proposal envisages the public library serving as a place of first resort or community Internet resource centre. It also aims to establish the public library as a place of last resort or safety net, where those who would otherwise not have access to the Internet are provided with an opportunity to access the resources and services of the network (McClure, 1994).

On the surface, this idea seems reasonable. The public library is an institution long associated with maintaining equity where issues of public access to information are concerned, but there is very little research about use of the Internet in public libraries and findings from these studies are inconclusive. Indeed, there is evidence that those who are drawn to the library to use the Internet are current library users, are male, and already have access to the Internet either at home or at work (e.g. Harvey and Horne, 1995; Rogers et al., 1994). There is also a large body of research and experience which shows that attempts to provide innovative information services for new client groups have not always been successful. So, in general, the characteristics of library users today are still those of an "élite", as they were in 1949 (Berelson, 1949; Mercer, 1995). In spite of this, there is some evidence that a "healthy minority" of new users can be drawn to a library offering Internet access (Harvey and Horne, 1995). The Public Electronic Network Project in California, for example, led to the development of communication networks among the homeless and women (Rogers et al., 1994).

In short, the critical question is ­ will the provision of Internet access in the public library further the equity and access goals of policy initiatives? Will it attract the non-affiliated user; particularly those who have been thought of as the "information poor", for example the economically poor, senior citizens, the illiterate and those, like women, who have been identified as low users of the new communication technologies?

Theoretical frameworkTo answer this question, the research described in this report, is using current work on information poverty combined with the Theory of Planned Behaviour (Figure 1). The Theory of Planned Behaviour posits that beliefs, or what a person holds to be true about an action, influences intentions to engage in that action. Intentions, by embodying these beliefs, influence subsequent behaviours. The theory postulates that motivations to act depend on beliefs about:

1. 1.

   consequences of acting;

2. 2.

   values placed on these consequences;

3. 3.

   the social pressures being exerted by significant others to engage in the action; and

4. 4.

   motivation to comply with these social pressures.

It also assumes that volitional control is not absolute and that people hold influential beliefs about "self-efficacy" and "perceived behavioural control" (Terry and O'Leary, 1995 (Figure 1).

Figure 1 The Theory of Planned Behaviour incorporating modifications

Research plan, methods and techniques

The project is being conducted in four stages using a combination of quantitative and empirical qualitative methods. Present funding from the State Library of NSW and the Department of Information Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney is sufficient to cover the costs of a pilot for each stage of the research. Further funding is being sought to initiate a full scale investigation which will involve three different types of local government areas (LGA) in New South Wales:

1. 1.

   an advantaged LGA in Metropolitan Sydney;

2. 2.

   a disadvantaged LGA in Metropolitan Sydney; and

3. 3.

   a country shire which includes a town and rural area.

Stage 1 ­ eliciting actionsThe purpose of stage 1 is to:

1. 1.

   understand the actions people associate with "using the Internet in the local public library"; and

2. 2.

   identify the specific behaviours and forms of expression used by participants.

"Using the Internet" is regarded as a behavioural concept rather than a specific behaviour. It is necessary, therefore, to elicit the specific actions ­ for example, accessing a bulletin board on WWW ­ which comprise this category and select those most fruitful. Work on this stage of the study is under way with interviews being conducted at Lane Cove, an advantaged LGA in Metropolitan Sydney. Respondents have been asked about their use of the Internet and its use by people important to them ­ what they think of when someone says to them that they are using the Internet at the local public library.

Results from this stage of the research are indicating that people see use of the Internet at the public library relating to getting information about everyday matters, researching specific topics, finding information about products and purchasing and communicating with friends and family. These results are tentative. Analysis of the data is ongoing at this time.

Stage 2 ­ eliciting salient beliefsWhen analysis of the data for stage 1 is complete, open-ended, semi-structured interviews will be conducted to elicit what people believe about each of the activities identified. Specific beliefs for all the categories shown in Figure 1 (i.e. behavioural, normative, self-efficacy and control) will be identified. It is anticipated that these beliefs will reflect not only how people see the library and the Internet (e.g. it would be hard to use), but the personal needs, emotions and consequences which they perceive would result (e.g. using the WWW will help me know about the world, or will help me make contact with other people like me).

Stage 3 ­ applying the theory of planned behaviourA structured interview schedule based on the findings of stages 1 and 2 will then be developed. The content will include all components of the model except for behaviour. In addition to the Internet actions, several traditional library actions will be included to distinguish those who intend to engage in one or more of the Internet actions only. Participants will be asked if they are willing to take part in a follow-up face to face interview.

Stage 4 ­ linking beliefs with behaviourThe purpose of this stage of the research is to ascertain the extent to which intentions to perform the actions studied in stage 2 predict actual behaviours. All participants who agreed to take part in the follow up study will be contacted by telephone, if possible, six months after their initial interview. We will then find out which, if any, of the actions they engaged in at the local public library. The data will be used to complete the analyses of the model. Respondents who engaged in an activity will be asked about the situation which brought them to the library, what other information seeking they did, what other people were involved in the situation and how they were involved and whether their beliefs were confirmed or disconfirmed. Respondents who intended to engage in an Internet action, but did not, will be asked their reason for not doing so. In framing these questions "reasons theory", which provides a conceptual approach and set of techniques for asking motive questions, will be used.

References and further readingAjzen, I. (1991), "The theory of planned behavior", Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, Vol. 50, pp. 179-211.Berelson, B. (1949), The Library's Public: A Report of the Public Library Inquiry, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT.Harvey, K. and Horne, T. (1995), "Surfing in Seattle: what cyber-patrons want", American Libraries, November, pp.1028-30.McClure, C. (1994), Public Access to the Information Superhighway through the Nation's Libraries, US Congress, House of Representatives Committee on Science Space and Technology Subcommittee on Science, 4 October.Mercer, C. (1995), Navigating the Economy of Knowledge: A National Survey of State and Public Libraries, Griffith, University, Brisbane.Rogers, E. Collins-Jarvis, L. and Schmitz, J. (1994), "The PEN project in Santa Monica: interactive communication, equality, and political action", Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Vol. 6, pp. 401-10.Terry, D. and O'Leary, J. (1995), "The theory of planned behaviour: the effects of perceived behavioural control and self-efficacy", British Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 34, pp. 199-220.