Other
Internet and computers in public libraries : pilot study in eastern Croatia
Sanjica Faletar Tanacković
orcid.org/0000-0001-7387-6458
; Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku, Filozofski fakultet, Odsjek za informacijske znanosti
Darko Lacović
orcid.org/0000-0001-7276-9757
; rossmayera u Osijeku, Filozofski fakultet, Odsjek za informacijske znanosti
Ivana Čadovska
; rossmayera u Osijeku, Filozofski fakultet, Odsjek za informacijske znanosti
Maja Horvat
; rossmayera u Osijeku, Filozofski fakultet, Odsjek za informacijske znanosti
Abstract
The paper presents and analyses the results of the study whose aim was to establish how Croatian public libraries organize public access to computers and Internet. In the survey which was carried out from November 2011 to February 2012 twenty-five library managers in the region of eastern Croatia filled out a questionnaire. The results of the study confirmed hypotheses from which the authors set off. It was shown that Croatian public libraries are aware of their important role in providing free public access to computers and the Internet. Also, although respondents agree that public libraries should offer information and computer literacy training for their users, less than 20% of respondents trains their users for responsible use of computers and Internet. Surprisingly, it was also found that about a third of analysed libraries has introduced a fee for computer/Internet use. Moreover, in almost half of the libraries which responded to the study access to computers is reserved only for library members. Results of the study can help public libraries in the evaluation and improvement of these services to their users and the methodology can serve as a starting point and incentive for similar future research which should aim to expand the sample.
Keywords
public libraries, computers, Internet, eastern Croatia
Hrčak ID:
239692
URI
Publication date:
9.6.2013.
Visits: 1.184 *