Passage of the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) in 2000 established requirements for public libraries and schools to adopt Internet filters on their computers in order to receive federal funding. That has firmly, if unintentionally, established the World Wide Web as a no man's land in public education, where few are allowed to tread…

Over the past decade, policy discussions about public access computing in libraries have focused on the role that these institutions play in bridging the digital divide. In these discussions, public access computing services are generally targeted at individuals who either cannot afford a computer and Internet access, or have never received formal…

No matter how many car washes or bake sales schools host to raise money, adding funds to their coffers is a recurring problem. This perpetual financial difficulty makes expansive technology purchases or changes seem like a pipe dream for school CIOs and has education technologists searching for ways to stretch money. In 2005, state K-12 school…

Text messaging is an ideal communications method for libraries, which often want to send short, concise messages to their patrons near and far. Uses for text messaging in libraries include reminders about items' due dates, hold pickup notices, program reminders, and even short messages of content. Some libraries are already using text messaging…

In most middle- and upper-income homes across the United States, children, youth, and their families have access to the world's information-technology resources at their fingertips, while in low-income communities, access to technology and the opportunities it provides are often limited to brief periods of computer use and Internet access at…

In an effort to address concerns in the educational community related to the use and costs of information and communications technology, the Technology for Educational Achievement in Wisconsin (TEACH) Board was created in 1997. The TEACH Board administers the distribution of grants under the technology block grant and technology training and…

Recognizing the potential benefits information technology can bring to education and, ultimately, California's economy, Senate Bill 600 (Rosenthal) created a task force to address and report on the exigent need for technology in all public schools and public libraries. After 18 months of research and regular meetings, the task force compiled this…

Topics of the Proceedings of the 15th Annual Computers in Libraries Conference (March 15-17, 2000) include: Linux and open source software in an academic library; a Master Trainer Program; what educators need to know about multimedia and copyright; how super searchers find business information online; managing print costs; new technologies in wide…

The Public Libraries and Adult Independent Learners (PLAIL) Project was conducted in the United Kingdom, Portugal, and Spain to identify the following: needs of adult independent learners; services required to meet those needs; extent to which those services rely on existing and new technology; and skills and competencies required to provide the…