Toward Universal Broadband in Rural Alaska

The TERRA-Southwest project is extending broadband service to 65 communities in the Bristol Bay, Bethel and Yukon-Kuskokwim regions. A stimulus project funded by a combination of grants and loans from the Rural Utilities Service (RUS), TERRA-Southwest has installed a middle-mile network using optical fiber and terrestrial microwave. Last-mile service will be through fixed wireless or interconnection with local telephone networks. The State of Alaska, through its designee Connect Alaska, also received federal stimulus funding from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for tasks that include support for an Alaska Broadband Task Force “to both formalize a strategic broadband plan for the state of Alaska and coordinate broadband activities across relevant agencies and organizations.” Thus, a study of the impact of the TERRA project in southwest Alaska is both relevant and timely. This first phase provides baseline data on current access to and use of ICTs and Internet connectivity in rural Alaska, and some insights about perceived benefits and potential barriers to adoption of broadband. It is also intended to provide guidance to the State Broadband Task Force in determining how the extension of broadband throughout the state could contribute to education, social services, and economic activities that would enhance Alaska’s future. Results of the research could also be used proactively to develop strategies to encourage broadband adoption, and to identify applications and support needed by users with limited ICT skills.Connect Alaska. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration. General Communications Incorporated.Part 1: An Analysis of Internet Use in Southwest Alaska / Introduction / Previous Studies / Current Connectivity / Analytical Framework and Research Methodology / Demographics / Mobile Phones: Access and Use / Access to the Internet / Internet Useage / Considerations about Internet Service / Interest in Broadband / Sources of News / Comparison with National Data / Internet Use by Businesses and Organizations / What Difference may Broadband make in the Region? / Conclusiongs / Part 2 Literature Review / Reference

The Role of Mentorship in Shaping Public Library Leaders

published or submitted for publicatio

Special Libraries, September 1976

Volume 67, Issue 9https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1976/1007/thumbnail.jp

Using Technology to Connect Public Libraries and Teens

Today’s teens use technology in most aspects of their lives: 95% of teens go online; 80% of online teens use social media (Lenhart et al., 2011); and 87% of older teens have a mobile phone (Lenhart, 2012). This article explores how public libraries can use technology to effectively connect with and serve their young adult patrons. A review of current literature suggests that librarians begin by involving teens in the planning of young adult services and teen library spaces. These services should include librarians trained in working with teens as well as access to technology and gaming. Libraries must understand how and why teens use technology and the Internet. They should then use this knowledge to plan and develop an online presence. Today’s librarians should use library websites and social networking sites to connect with teens. In addition, libraries must address other technologies that interest teens such as mobile devices and e-reading. Technology changes rapidly, and librarians must stay current on best practices for reaching out to and serving today’s teens

Huddersfield Open Access Publishing

This paper presents the findings of the Huddersfield Open Access Publishing Project, a JISC funded project to develop a low cost, sustainable Open Access (OA) journal publishing platform using EPrints Institutional Repository software

Innovate Magazine / Annual Review 2008-2009

https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/innovate/1003/thumbnail.jp

Continuing Professional Development and Workplace Learning

Reviews trends in the continuing professional development (CPD) of library and information staff in relation to contemporary university library practice in the digital world, highlighting the impact of technology on content and delivery. Discusses current drivers of CPD, multiple routes to professional development, technological impacts on work and learning, mentoring and reflection as professional meta-competencies, leadership institutes and organisational development programmes, and practitioner doctorates as advanced professional development. Concludes that CPD is particularly important because of continuing rapid technology-driven change and that education, research and development activities should be seen as a continuum informing, enhancing and advancing university library practice

Webliography of African-American Champaign-Urbana

This Lab Note reflects one part of a year-long project called eBlackChampaign-Urbana. Our interest here is to provide better access to the dispersed documentation of local African-American history and culture in ChampaignUrbana, using digital technology to aggregate and enliven historical and contemporary information. Although this webliography focuses primarily on substantial, in-depth texts documenting local African-American life, we are also aggregating into the eBlackCU.net website URLs for local African-American websites, facebook pages, photographs, newspaper clippings, flyers, posters and other ephemeral documentation of Champaign-Urbana's Black heritage.published or submitted for publicationnot peer reviewe

Youth and Digital Media: From Credibility to Information Quality

Building upon a process-and context-oriented information quality framework, this paper seeks to map and explore what we know about the ways in which young users of age 18 and under search for information online, how they evaluate information, and how their related practices of content creation, levels of new literacies, general digital media usage, and social patterns affect these activities. A review of selected literature at the intersection of digital media, youth, and information quality -- primarily works from library and information science, sociology, education, and selected ethnographic studies -- reveals patterns in youth's information-seeking behavior, but also highlights the importance of contextual and demographic factors both for search and evaluation. Looking at the phenomenon from an information-learning and educational perspective, the literature shows that youth develop competencies for personal goals that sometimes do not transfer to school, and are sometimes not appropriate for school. Thus far, educational initiatives to educate youth about search, evaluation, or creation have depended greatly on the local circumstances for their success or failure