US/ND-3: Re: Bona Fide Request Process

Re: Bona Fide Request Process

Betty Dawn Hamilton (bhamilt@tenet.edu)
Mon, 9 Sep 1996 19:30:36 -0500 (CDT) 

On Mon, 9 Sep 1996, Marty Tennant wrote:

> Would the current county librarians on SCIway respond and make them-
> selves known?  I believe you have an important calling before you.
> Also, does anyone keep up with email addresses for librarians
> in the State?

Marty, one of the problems with our county librarian's participation on
the internet and this discussion is access. Until one month ago,
everywhere we called was long distance.  (My husband and I are *still*
trying to figure out our personal $130 charge from AOL for June 24 to July
24 when we opted to use the 800 number at $4.95 per hour).  However, we
now have a direct dial-up to Lubbock for $3.50 per line in the county, so
at least the long distance problem has been alleviated for future billing. 

The next problem is that our county library is *very* poor.  They have 2 
Apple II+s (one is *my* former computer from 6 or 8 years ago), one PC 
for interlibrary loan, and a new PC purchased by Friends of the Library 
last month.  I don't think they have figured out how to pay for another 
telephone line yet.  The head librarian is a wonderful, accommodating, 
service-oriented lady, but she is not a degreed librarian.  She is, in 
school terms, a paraprofessional.  I don't know how much training she has 
had in telecomputing.

If it were not for people who were visionary enough to provide TENET 
(Texas Education NETwork), I doubt very seriously that I would have been 
on the internet for the past 4 years. I probably would just *now* be 
attempting to learn about it since we have just gained access via a local 
dial up.  TENET provided the initiative for getting educators in Texas 
online and even with that, it has been slow going in rural areas.

With that little story.....you can see what public libraries may be up 
against.  I agree that public library connectivity is a logical first 
step, but it may not be the best one in every case. If we can gain GUI 
connectivity at school, I will be *happy* to demonstrate and provide 
hands-on sessions at times for the community.  I happen to enjoy 
text-only because I find it efficient for mail management and moderating 
educational discussion groups on Tenet. I also understand that text-only 
is not *glamourous* enough to get much attention from beginners.

I hope my personal experience sheds some light on what communities are 
experiencing.

Betty
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Betty Hamilton, LRS             |    |                701 Cub Drive
bhamilt@tenet.edu           ____|*    ~~~~~~.         Brownfield TX 79316
Brownfield High School      \               |         (806) 637-4523
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