THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 25, 1996 TAG: 9607230128
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 59 lines
If all goes as planned, by September patrons at all of the Norfolk public library's 11 branches will be able to jump on the information superhighway and click on to all sorts of text, pictures and charts for free, thanks to a gift from Cox Communications.
The local cable company has donated 22 Pentium-equipped computers, worth about $66,000, to help the library's efforts to provide more sophisticated access to the Internet and other automated reference materials.
Library patrons currently have free access to the Internet at several branches but can call up text material only. The more powerful Pentium-equipped computers provided by Cox will be able to handle graphics software.
``With the graphical browser, you will be able to see magazine articles on the Internet, for example, just like you would if you opened up the actual magazine in front of you,'' explained Lois Radford, automation librarian.
The city of Norfolk also is kicking in some funds toward the effort. Approximately $40,000 of the $89,000 need to pay for wiring, telecommunications, computer peripherals, operating software and support staff will come from city funds. The money also will go toward creating the infrastructure necessary to connect the computers to the Internet and, eventually, to a network of CD-ROM reference materials at Kirn Memorial, the library's main branch.
It is hoped that the remaining $49,000 will come from grants. Library officials have submitted grant requests to state and federal agencies to help get the local system up and running. They're also pursuing private sources of revenue, Radford noted.
``We're trying all sorts of different angles,'' she said.
In addition to locating terminals and printers at each branch, the new computers will allow library officials to upgrade the General Reference computer center at Kirn and the computer lab at Blyden Branch.
Last year, through a partnership between the library and the local public broadcasting station, WHRO, two computer terminals with free access to the Internet were installed - one at Kirn and the other at Blyden. This was the first time in the area that the public had free access to the Internet.
In addition, Community Link established a home page on the World Wide Web that provided users with electronic communications and local information services. The initial project came through a $110,000 community networking initiative grant from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting and another $50,000 from Bell Atlantic.
This latest grant from Cox Communications will give more patrons at branches throughout the city more sophisticated Internet access. The next step in the library's automation future will be establishing a computer lab that would offer classes and support services to patrons. Within the next year, library officials also plan to create a Local Area Network at Kirn, and then a Wide Area Network within the entire library system, so that all branches would have access to the same reference software.
``Literacy has taken on new meaning in the information age,'' said Sally Reed, Norfolk's library director. ``While reading is still absolutely fundamental for success ... we must also ensure that all our citizens, young and old alike, become competent in finding the almost limitless information that is now available through the Internet and in other digital formats.'' by CNB