Abstract:

This proposal is to present a current research project with a mixed methods questionnaire that discovers how e-government has influenced the usage of public access computers in 1,485 U.S. public libraries that serve populations of 25,000 to 99,999 (Chute, et al., 2006; Hennen, 2008; U.S. Census Bureau, 2000). This particular population, according to research done previously, has approximately 10 public access computers and has been affected by the e-government movement (Bertot, McClure, & Jaeger, 2006). According to previous research, this size of library tends to have approximately 8-10 full-time employees and 10-20 part-time employees (Velasquez, 2007). In the United States, there are 1485 main libraries (with no branches) that serve the identified population and the entire group have been sent a survey to see if there are any marked differences between libraries in different geographic locations (by state or by being in either a rural, urban, or suburban area).

The survey includes quantitative research questions that address public access computers (PACs) and U.S. federal e-government and the relationship to library usage, training, patrons, staff time, and software loaded on PACs, and other statistically significant information. The qualitative survey questions ask some specific questions regarding the number of public access computers. There is a place in the survey where the respondents are able to make any comments they choose about e-government and public access computers. The survey has been sent to U.S. mail to library directors in libraries that serve the aforementioned populations during June 2009. The directors will have the option of either answering the surveys via U.S. mail or online using Survey Monkey. The survey will also ask some basic demographic information about the library and the person answering the survey. The results will come in during July and August 2009. The quantitative data will be analyzed using SPSS. This research is the natural extension of original qualitative research regarding public access computers (PACs) completed in March 2007 (Velasquez, 2007).

The impetus for this project comes from the U.S. E-Government Act of 2002, which mandates the use of e-government for the dissemination of government information. How has this change in policy affected public libraries? Federal government agencies now direct citizens to the public library for forms and other information because the civil servants know there are free public access computers available there for the patron’s use. The public library, however, is not being funded by the federal government for this new role. The literature supports this new role and the lack of funding by the federal and state government (Jaeger & Fleischmann, 2007; Jaeger, Bertot, McClure, & Langa, 2006).

Keywords:

e-government, public libraries, internet, public access computers, survey, mixed.