Lately I’ve been combing the biblioblogosphere for posts specifically about free access to computers and the internet in libraries– of which there are surprisingly few. In fact, many of the blogs I looked at didn’t even have a tag or category remotely related to this topic. I wonder why this is? Perhaps using a free computer at the library seems rather pedestrian in comparison to the latest buzz about social networking technology and library 2.0?

Providing free access to computers and the internet in libraries doesn’t tend to be a point of much controversy. It can, however, be the source of many headaches, as discussed in this post I came across from Gather No Dust about the public access computer problem:

Since the 1990s, public libraries have provided computers with Internet access. The introduction of this new service has brought more people into the library and more people using all of the library’s services. It is a great and vital service for communities around the world. One problem that libraries have is that they don’t keep up with these machines, neither in replacing old machines, providing critical software, or providing adequate bandwidth. Bandwidth is something I have written extensively. Fast reliable Internet is one of the most important services a library can provide. Furthermore, the web 2.0 revolution has resulted in more patrons using bandwidth hogging services like watching and uploading video and photos.

Anyone who’s worked in public libraries can relate to these problems. Computers, after all, are not one-time initial investments. They’re actually pretty high maintenance. In addition the issue of bandwidth and repairing/replacing old machines, there is the question of what kinds of applications should be installed and how frequently these need to be updated. I was also intrigued by the post he linked to on switching browsers from Internet Explorer to Firefox. I’ve long wondered myself why the computers at my public library only run IE, given that Firefox is free, and in the words of the Swiss Army Librarian, “just cooler.”

One possible reason librarian bloggers don’t write all that much about the computers their patrons use every day is simply that they rarely ever use them themselves (staff computers usually have fewer restrictions, more software, and in some cases are even faster). As Aaron Schmidt challenged us in his excellent lecture at UW this spring, all librarians should try doing their work on the computers available to the public. This is the only way to fully understand the patron’s experience, and identify strategies for improving it.