Subject: RE: Question - 9/27/00.....Native American View
Tom,
Thank you for taking over the lead today.
I've read and read the comments, complaints, and suggestions resulting from this dialogue. It is a very interesting dialogue and I wish that more registrants would get involved.
>From a Native American (minority) point of view, we have all of these problems. For example:
1 - Internet access and few computers (due to $ and/or location);
2 - Familiarity with computer/internet use (students-good, elders-lacking/resistant);
3 - Few and/or distant libraries for internet access or just collections access;
4 - Trust in the information obtained via the internet (students are learning which sites are good/not so good);
5 - Lack of experienced/trained persons to help with searches and information gathering.
Assumptions for Native Americans like 'there is a library nearby' or 'there's a computer at home' just may not be true.
But ignoring the above items, I believe that EPA has made a valiant effort and will improve over the coming years. Sure many things aren't available either there or on the web at all. But I have found many, many helpful things on the internet that were unexpected and realize that finding the data, databases, sources, etc. is a challenge. It will remain so as the whole internet is a dynamic item which is growing and changing as we speak. Can we impose a classification system on the internet, No! However, for seeking info from a single website (EPA?) this or a search system might be possible. Sites with a list of links are of enormous importance to my info searches. I would be happy to forward my list of sites to anyone who might be interested.
I just wanted to add a few thoughts to your dialogue today. Thank you for the opportunity.
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