c. 1993 Jean Armour Polly
Manager of Network Development and User Training
NYSERNet, Inc.
jpolly@nysernet.org
This was originally published in the February 1, 1993 issue of
Library Journal (volume 118, n. 2, pp 38-41).
It may be freely reprinted for educational use, please let me know if you
are redistributing it, I like to know if it's useful and where it's been.
Please do not sell it, and keep this message intact.
When Senator Al Gore was evangelizing support for his visionary
National Research and Education Network bill, he often pointed to
the many benefits of a high-speed, multi-lane, multi-level data
superhighway. Some of these included:
-- collaborating research teams, physically distant from each other,
working on shared projects via high speed computer networks.
Some of these "grand challenges" might model global environmental
change, or new therapeutic drug research, or the design of a new
airplane for inexpensive consumer air travel.
-- a scientist or engineer might design a product, which could be
instantly communicated to a manufacturing plant, whose robotic
machine could turn the drawing-board product into reality. One example
of this is the capability to digitally measure a new recruit for an
army uniform, transmit the information to a clothing manufacturer,
and take delivery of a custom-tailored uniform the next day.
-- access to digital libraries of information, both textual and graphic.
Besides hundreds of online public access catalogs, and full text
documents, color illustrations of photographic quality, full motion
videos and digital audio will also be available over the network.
In his many articles and speeches touting the bill, Gore often used
an example of a little girl, living in a rural area, at work on a school
project. Was she information-poor due to her physical location, far
from the resources of large cities? No-- the National Research and
Education Network would give her the capability to dial into the
Library of Congress-- to collect information on dinosaurs.
Now that the NREN bill has been signed into law (12/91), and
committees are being formed, and policies are being made, I'm still
thinking about that little girl, and her parents, for that matter. In
fact I've got some "Grand Questions" to pose.
1- How will we get access?
The Internet has been called the "Interim NREN", since it's what we
have in place now.
I'm wondering how the family is going to get to the Internet "dial tone",
let alone the NREN, especially since they live in a rural area.
The information superhighway may be miles from their home, and
it may be an expensive long-distance call to the "entrance ramp".
Or, the superhighway may run right through their front yard, but
they can't make use of it because they have no computer, no modem,
and no phone line to make the connection. What good is a superhighway
if all you've got is a tricycle?
2- What will they be able to gain access to,
and will their privacy be protected?
Beyond the infrastructure issues, I'm concerned about what kind of
things will be available for them once they do get connected,
how the resources will be arranged, and how they will learn to use
these tools to advantage. Beyond that, how authoritative is the
information in the digital collection, and how do we know for sure
it came from a legitimate source? How confidential will their
information searches be, and how will it be safeguarded?
3- Who will get access?
I'm concerned that even if the infrastructure and resource problems
are resolved, that little girl still won't be allowed access, because a
lot of folks don't think the Internet is a safe place for
unaccompanied minors.
4- Does the family have any electronic rights?
Electronic responsibilities?
Are dinosaurs and a grade-school project too trivial for NREN?
Some people think the NREN should be reserved for scientists
working on "Grand Challenges", not ordinary ones. Who will
decide what constitutes "acceptable use"?
5- What is the future of the local public library?
Worse yet, I'm worried that the reason they are phoning the Library
of Congress in the first place is that their local public library has
shut its doors, sold off the book stock, and dismissed the librarian.
What can public libraries do to avoid that future?