Libraries: ensuring information equity in the digital age

摘要

The true dawn of the Information Age was in the 1930s when Congress passed the Communications Act of 1934, calling for universal service to ensure equitable access to communications technologies. Libraries were busier than ever; many were open seven days a week, including holidays. We are now seeing the dawn of a digital age. And, just as they did in the 1930s, libraries still need to provide equal opportunity to all Americans. Librarians have a unique role in leveling the playing field and bridging the widening gap between the information haves and have-nots. Libraries are more essential than ever. They are essential to our economic well-being, to the advancement of learning, to coping with information overload, and to closing the digital divide. With the development of the Internet, there is new hope for rekindling the democratic principles put forth by our founding fathers in the Constitution--new hope that everyone will have the opportunity to participate in our information society. Even if a household cannot afford or chooses not to connect to the Internet from home, people can log on at their local library. Thanks to the universal service provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, nearly every community is now connected, thus ensuring everyone an on-ramp to the information superhighway. ALA PRIORITY ACTION AREA Nevertheless, the latest research indicates that many low-income, minority, disabled, rural, and inner-city groups are falling behind in their ownership of computers and access to telecommunications networks. No matter whose data is used to describe the "digital divide" between rich and poor, between black and white, between urban and rural, between English- and Spanish-speaking, between old and young, between immigrants and Native Americans, we can be certain that there is and promises to remain differential access to the Internet.