Pettigrew, K.E.; Durrance, J.C.; Unruh, K.T.: Facilitating community information seeking using the Internet : findings from three public library-community network systems (2002)
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- Abstract
- Pettigrew, Durrance, and Unruh report on data collected by survey, interview, field observation and focus groups concerning three communities recognized for community information networks in which the local public library played a leading role. The survey was posted for 73 days on the website of each network and yielded 197 responses providing insights on how the public uses CI systems, barriers encountered, and resulting benefits to users and communities. Responding users were diverse demographically, and sought a wide variety of information types. The information types were broader than previous CI studies with a strong emphasis on employment, volunteerism, social services, local history and genealogy, sale, exchange and donation of goods, news, and technical information. Barriers identified were technological, economic, geographic, search skill related, cognitive, and psychological, as well as a large class of information related barriers concerning the quality of the information provided, its accessibility, and security. Users are identified who browse the CI system with particular interest in discovering material of potential value to others. The systems are valued and used by the adult population and seem to strengthen existing communities while stimulating the formation of information communities.
