Issue 23 Spring 1997 Children and IT in Public Libraries: A Research Project Debbie Denham, Clare Nankivell and Judith Elkin	Collections under which this       article appears:       Management Related Articles or Resources Other Articles by Debbie Denham Other Articles by Judth Elkin

This article presents some key findings of a one year research project which examined the provision of IT facilities for children made by public libraries in England and Wales. The project was undertaken by staff in the Centre for Information Research and Training (CIRT) and the School of Information at the University of Central England in Birmingham and funded by the British Library Research and Innovation Centre (BLRIC).

This article details some of the key findings of a questionnaire survey of all heads of children's services in England and Wales. This survey identified the current levels and the range of IT provision made for children in public libraries and examined management issues involved in providing IT services in this context. Key findings from detailed case studies undertaken in eight library authorities in England and Wales which demonstrated good practice in this area of service provision for children are also summarised. The article presents the research findings which have relevance both for authorities planning to maintain or develop current services and those intending to initiate new areas of IT service provision for children.

The research team constructed an example of best practice from the research findings and a series of guidelines of IT for children in public libraries. These are all to be found in the final report which is about to be deposited with the British Library with the findings from a review of relevant literature, the questionnaire survey and the case study interviews.

The research focused on various factors affecting IT provision for children posing a number of questions, including:

• what level of adult support/tuition is available?
• are hardware and software resources geared mainly towards leisure activities or do they
• aim to support the education process?
• how are resources used to support educational needs?
• what criteria are used for selection of IT resources?
• is there an IT policy or has provision developed in a piecemeal fashion?

Co-operation between different agencies was also explored, including existing co-operative initiatives and possible future developments. The project also considered management implications such as training, security, access and budget decisions.

Various parameters were agreed to define the scope of the project:

• the term 'children' was taken to include all children from birth to 16 years old
• IT provision was defined broadly to include wider issues such as staff training, support mechanisms and documentation as well as specific IT resources and services available for the use of children in the public library
• IT resources and services were taken to include the full range of hardware and software resources and services offered by a public library authority for the use of children, including computer based games and programmes, CD-ROMs, Internet access, and OPACs.

Background

In an increasingly technological world children need to grow up with a knowledge of what IT based resources are available and how to use them to best effect. Since microcomputers began to be introduced in UK and US schools and public libraries, from the early 1980s onwards, the experience of numerous researchers has suggested that children can benefit educationally and socially, from a very early age, from having well-managed access to various forms of IT.

The demands of the National Curriculum, increased use of IT in schools, growing home ownership of computers and the increasingly sophisticated range of IT available, raise important issues about the role of the public library. How do public libraries fit into the national picture? Are steps being taken to ensure adequate provision or are resources being concentrated in other areas? The arrival of the Internet and World Wide Web (WWW) have brought new challenges to public libraries, which will have an impact on their services to children and young people as on public library services generally. Public libraries are seen as having a key role in providing IT facilities for sectors of the community whose access is otherwise limited; children frequently form one such group. It is particularly important that public library access to IT for the young should be as free as possible of restrictions, which prevent children having truly open access.

The importance of IT has been recognised, through research funding granted to investigate or improve the provision of IT in schools and school libraries. Despite the clear importance of helping children to gain computer literacy skills which will be significant for their future lives, and the potential role of public libraries in this process, to date very little research has been carried out in the UK into public libraries' overall provision of IT to children or into the management of these services. Since the only reasonably comprehensive survey by Lonsdale and Wheatley 1 in 1989-90, technology has developed rapidly and the situation of public libraries with regard to electronic information, particularly networking, has moved on considerably. Until this research project, therefore, very little recent attention had been paid to IT in public libraries or research conducted into the use of IT by children outside of schools.

The recent DNH Review of the Public Library Service in England and Wales 2 and the LISC Report Investing in Children 3 both highlighted the need for adequate IT provision. However, how and why this should be provided has not been considered at any length and literature on the subject is sparse. Few books have been written about children's libraries and librarianship since the 1970s when there was little IT available. Even in more recent publications there is scant mention of IT resources and little to actually help library authorities wishing to enter this arena or up-date their resources and services. The Library Association (LA) Guidelines for Public Library Services (Children and Young People) 4 published in 1991 mentioned the importance of providing computers and computer based resources but did not specifically mention why or how IT might be important to a child's development. Despite this, public libraries have been providing IT resources and services for children over a number of years. The level and quality of provision is extremely varied across England and Wales. There is little information available which gives a national picture or considers the quality of IT provision. The annual LISU 5 statistics provide some statistical data on national IT provision for children in public libraries. This data, although useful, does not provide a complete picture of IT provision exclusively for children and does not consider the quality of that provision. This research project aimed to fill this gap in current knowledge by concentrating on the qualitative elements of IT provision for children in public libraries.

Questionnaire Survey

All 138 heads of library services for children and young people in England and Wales were surveyed by questionnaire. The high response rate achieved (70.3%), particularly in comparison to recent public library surveys, suggests that public libraries are particularly concerned about IT provision for children.

Provision of Public Access IT

Most of the authorities who responded (88.7%) offered IT facilities for public use. Nine authorities did not offer IT facilities for public use and two did not respond to this question. Of the nine authorities who did not offer IT facilities for public use three had no plans to do so and indicated that the main reason for this was limited funding. Two of these respondents were particularly concerned that they had very low bookfunds and increasing these was seen as a priority area. One respondent expressed particular concern about the non-provision of IT by libraries in the authority. Staff were aware that they were not meeting the needs and expectations of children in this service area.

The six respondents whose authorities planned to introduce IT facilities for public use described their plans, which included:

• ongoing plans with no definite dates
• a New Unitary authority was at the formative stage in all areas of service provision development
• public access to IT would be part of library automation projects
• the availability of funding was a major factor determining when provision would be implemented.

Of the 86 authorities which did provide public access IT facilities, the length of time they had provided the service varied considerably. Some authorities included automated library housekeeping systems in their response. The majority of authorities (57%) had provided IT facilities for public use for less than six years. Only a small proportion (12.8%) had provided IT facilities for 10 years or longer. Only five of these 86 authorities had an IT policy and of these, three had an IT policy specifically for children.

The rest of this section only includes data from the 86 respondents who stated that they currently provided public access to IT.

Facilities and Software Provided for Children

Figure 1 demonstrates the proportion of authorities which provided various IT facilities for children. In addition to the facilities listed a few authorities provided e-mail facilities (4.6%) or interactive CD-ROM (2.3%).

Table 1 shows that the majority of authorities (66.3%) did not lend software for public use and only one loaned software to children. None of the authorities loaned hardware to any library users, adults or children.

Networking Arrangements

In total 31.4% of the respondents' authorities had a network system for use by children. Respondents were also asked to detail the kinds of network provided by their authorities _ whether for use by children, adults or all users. The most common network was a Local Area Network (LAN) within the library service used by 32.6% of respondents. Very few authorities (7%) provided a networked service which linked access to the Internet.

Restrictions on Children's Use of IT

As already stated, most authorities allowed children to access all public access IT facilities. However, slightly more authorities (52.3%) placed restrictions on children's use of IT facilities than those which did not (43.0%). Metropolitan and London authorities were more likely than other types of authority to restrict children's use of IT facilities.

The following list indicates the number of authorities who placed specific restrictions on children's use of IT, many authorities using a variety of restrictions, sometimes the same for all IT facilities and sometimes different restrictions for different facilities.

• time limit (23)
• age (13)
• ibrary members (13)
• presence of an adult (12)
• product (5)
• site (5)
• certain times (3)

Comments were also received by some authorities about individual facilities to which children's access was limited. The most common of these was limited access to the Internet with three authorities indicating that they operated restrictions on its use by children. In a number of authorities children were not allowed to use open learning facilities and other services which were specifically aimed at adults.

Monitoring Use of Facilities

The majority of authorities (68.6%) did not monitor use of their IT facilities. Information provided through booking forms was the main monitoring method used. Other methods used included:

• questionnaires
• page accesses to viewdata
• PIN numbers
• systems
• informal staff observation

Some authorities stated that they monitored particular elements of their IT service provision such as: popularity of individual CD-ROMs; formal supervision of specific initiatives; and monitoring pilot projects.

Users

There is little use of IT facilities by children in groups from schools, youth clubs or under fives groups. Only 38.4% of authorities indicated that they had school classes visiting libraries to use IT whilst only 8.1% had under fives groups, only 16.3% of authorities had after-school or youth clubs which brought children to the library to use IT facilities.

Promotion

Less than half of respondents' authorities (47.8%) promoted their IT services specifically to children as illustrated in Table 2.

Several means of promotion were well used by authorities including: talks (27.9%); leaflets (26.7%); press publicity (23.2%); and posters (22.1%).

Charges

Figure 2 shows the proportion of authorities who charged adults for the use of specific IT facilities. The most common item to be charged for was computer printouts. Charges for these varied between 1 and 30 pence each for a black and white sheet and 15 and 40 pence each for a colour sheet. Other charges, also, varied considerably from authority to authority. Charges included:

• use of computers (1-3 per hour)
• software (70 pence to 3 per week or from 25 pence to 1 per disc)
• floppy discs (50 pence to 2 per disc)
• Internet access (2 to 6 per hour).

Those authorities which charged for online database access indicated that charges were either variable or negotiable.

The majority of authorities charged children the same amount as adults for IT facilities. A number of authorities did not charge children for printouts or charged them a cheaper rate than adults. Other authorities provided a variety of concessions for children including half price for computer discs or for the use of software and no charge for the use of computers.

IT Specialists

The majority of authorities (67.4%) had an IT specialist available with specific responsibilities for public access IT but only 10.5% had one specifically to support children's use of IT.

Support Mechanisms

A variety of mechanisms were used by authorities to support children's use of IT. These included staff training (29.1%), user education (12.8%) and informal support for children (86%).

All 25 authorities who provided staff training offered it to all members of staff irrespective of their position and the majority ran the courses internally. Where user education programmes were run, a range of staff were involved, including children's librarians and team librarians. Respondents indicated a variety of ways in which user education programmes were run including: part of class visits; in homework clubs; by SLS staff to children and teachers in schools.

Future Plans

The majority of respondents' authorities had plans to either develop existing or introduce new IT services for children, although many respondents stated that their future plans were dependent on securing funding. Funding was particularly uncertain at the moment and this meant that plans for expansion were often postponed. Restructuring also had a considerable impact on a number of authorities. Local Government reorganisation had caused uncertainty in many local authorities and had delayed plans to develop IT provision until the future picture became clear. This lack of certainty about the future had led to development plans being implemented piecemeal, with several authorities indicating that they would expand IT facilities as and when money became available. The diversity of plans for future IT developments ranged from one authority who had no plans to start any IT provision, to one with a three year plan for the installation of multimedia computers in all libraries. Two authorities indicated that they were currently seeking external funding for IT projects.

Planned developments for existing IT services included providing more CD-ROMs (5) and more CD-ROM computers (20). Other enhancements to current provision included: up-grading a viewdata system to a web interface; improving marketing and promotion of IT services (3); providing more documentation and self help guides; and increased security systems. Many IT developments for children were to be included in homework club initiatives.

Table 3 shows the proportion of respondents' authorities which planned to initiate new services.

Other planned new initiatives included:

• an IT working group
• a children's catalogue
• a Family Learning project
• user education for IT and information skills
• development of games based on IT
• liaison with SLS and schools
• a children's charter to include IT provision.

Summary of Research Findings

The questionnaire and case study surveys produced the following key findings:

• IT provision is valuable and plays an important role in children's lives and development. IT can enhance children's self confidence, academic attainment and computer skills
• public libraries have a role to play in making this provision available to all children and children have an expectation that public libraries will provide IT
• the majority of authorities made all IT facilities available to both adults and children, although provision tended to be concentrated in a selection of libraries.
• the majority of authorities provided IT services for children. Authorities who were not providing IT facilities were generally not doing so because of low levels of funding
• the number of computers made available for public use was overall very low, resulting in difficulties for all children too gain equal access to facilities
• the level of IT provision for children varied considerably from authority to authority in both amount and range of resources. The majority of authorities had provided IT for a relatively short time
• most authorities providing IT for children provided CD-ROMs for reference
• CD-ROMs provided for children tended to have an educational and informational focus rather than a recreational one
• children did not always gain access to computers in adult libraries, either because they did not feel comfortable doing so or because staff discouraged them
• the majority of authorities did not loan software but where offered this proved to be a popular service
• few authorities allowed downloading of information or programmes to disc, mainly because of security and copyright implications
• although networked computer systems were fairly common very few computers were linked to the Internet
• few authorities allowed children to have access to the Internet
• there is considerable potential for libraries to explore new and innovative areas of provision including making use of e-mail facilities and community information systems
• there was a general awareness of the need for IT security systems but few authorities had systems in operation and staff were often unaware of the range of systems available
• very few authorities had policies on IT provision and even fewer had policies directly relating to IT provision for children
• the majority of authorities did not monitor use of IT services. Effective monitoring was seen as time consuming but sound policy decisions need to be based on firm evidence, rather than on staff perceptions
• the majority of child users of IT were in the 8-12 age group
• children tended to use the facilities in small groups or as individuals rather than as part of institutional groups
• more males than females used IT facilities
• peak times of use were Saturday evenings and school holidays
• children were generally charged the same fees as adult users for IT services
• there was a lack of adequate bibliographical material to support selection and acquisition of CD-ROMs and software
• the most common source used for acquisition of CD-ROMs was the general library supplier
• funding for IT initiatives came from a variety of sources. Most authorities used internal library budgets to pay for at least part of the service. Few authorities received external funding for projects
• frontline staff did not consider it appropriate to fund IT provision from book funds although the majority of authorities used this source to fund some part of their IT provision
• adequate training of library staff was seen as essential to provide them with the confidence to meet the needs of users
• low levels of staff knowledge on IT proved frustrating both for staff and for users
• little promotion of current services was carried out. This was often a deliberate response to the concern that the increased demand promotion would engender could not be met
• the majority of authorities planned to either enhance current IT provision or introduce new services. The main constraints on these developments were the uncertainty caused by local government reorganisation and the expectations of reduced budgets in the next financial year.

Conclusions

The research findings show that most library authorities are providing a public access IT service accessible by children. There is enormous variety in the resources offered, extent of the service within each authority and funding mechanisms for the service.

This research demonstrates 11 key lessons:

• 1. A public access IT service for children in public libraries is a valuable resource to support children's educational and leisure needs.
• 2. Such a service helps to balance the increasingly large disparity between the opportunities for children who are 'information rich' and those who are 'information poor'.
• 3. CD ROM reference facilities are the essential resource for children, particularly to support their educational needs. Other facilities, such as Internet access, word processing and graphics software are useful but not essential.
• 4. CD ROM reference facilities should be free of charge to children. Print charges should be kept to a minimum. Other services should carry concessionary rates for children, if they are not provided free.
• 5. A loan service for CD-ROMs may be a popular service but is not essential. CD-ROMs for loan generate income which may cover purchasing costs and thus help to support the IT reference service.
• 6. A public access IT service for children is viable for public libraries. Initial costs of an IT service may be very high but it is possible to fund the service. Funding will probably come from a variety of sources. External funding sources need to be investigated as well as library budgets and wider council sources.
• 7. IT services for children should be offered separately to those for adults wherever possible. CD-ROMs to support children's educational needs are likely to be specific to children and little used by adults. Children do not always fell comfortable using resources sited in the adult library and often are unaware that they can use such resources. Conversely, children should not be denied access to adult IT facilities particularly when there is no equivalent facility available in the children's library.
• 8. A public access IT service is costly in terms of staff time and needs considerable funding to ensure it is always of a high quality. It is often difficult for library managers to ensure adequate levels of staffing to meet the needs of children in their use of IT.
• 9. Staff need to be well trained so they have appropriate knowledge, skills and confidence to fully support children's use of IT. Training in awareness of the full range of resources and services available should be provided for all staff including those in libraries without IT resources. Library staff should have access to support from IT specialists.
• 10. There is no one source of information about new CD-ROMs and software but a range of bibliographical sources is available. General library suppliers are now providing CD-ROMs for purchase but these are not always competitively priced. There are a number of other sources which should be investigated, such as high street stores and educational IT suppliers.
• 11. The necessity of a policy concerning public access IT provision was not demonstrated by the research. The development of such a policy may provide a more structured approach to the development of IT services rather than the common pattern of ad hoc or piecemeal development.