The Boundary Street Bridge [4] crosses Panther Hollow just in back of The Carnegie, a complex of museums, galleries and libraries. On one side of this bridge are Carnegie Mellon University, Schenley Park and the elegant homes of Murdock Farms. On the other side are the University of Pittsburgh, the Board of Public Education, the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center and the bustling multi-ethnic Oakland neighborhood.
The present proposal will build a bridge from the schools and communities of Western Pennsylvania to the vast resources of The Carnegie. 1995 marks the institution's 100th anniversary, and the present project will establish an online exhibit to commemorate this event. The Pennsylvania Room of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (CLP) will be connected to the Internet through an existing link which will be upgraded to meet the demands of high-speed image delivery.
Coincident with this activity the Library will independently [5] undertake the development of a network which connects 18 branch libraries and 45 independent libraries to the CLP Main Library in Oakland. This represents a set of bridges spanning communities across Western Pennsylvania. By means of these bridges, students, parents and community members will be able to access the resources of Common Knowledge: Pittsburgh and the global Internet. Also under development by the Carnegie Library is the Three Rivers Freenet, which will provide another bridge to the community, offering host access to people not served through the facilities of CK:P.