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This article explores the policy developments relating to open government during the administration of President Barack Obama, with a particular emphasis on "big data" initiatives. As a presidential candidate and as president, Obama has been particularly attuned to issues of information and technology, both as tools of communication and as means of governance. Issues of openness, access, and transparency have been particularly important in his approach to governing. Focusing specifically on the policies, initiatives, and challenges of big data in the Obama years, this article begins by placing big data initiatives within the broader context of the administration's open government policies. After presenting a discussion of the open data policies and programs that serve as a foundation for big data initiatives, we explore the opportunities and challenges created by these policies and programs, including the impacts on libraries. The article concludes with a set of recommendations for improving the effectiveness of big data policies and initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1994, the Public Libraries and the Internet and Public Library Funding and Technology Access national surveys have charted the involvement with and use of the Internet by US public libraries. During that time, thirteen national studies have provided longitudinal data that track trends in the public-access computing and Internet access provided by public libraries to the communities that they serve. This chapter of The Transforming Public Library Technology Infrastructure provides an overview and review of selected data from these national studies; identifies key trends and changes in Internet-enabled services and resources provided by public libraries to their communities over the course of the seventeen years of conducting the national surveys; examines key issues that emerge from the data regarding public library Internet use and involvement; and considers selected future issues regarding public library Internet-enabled services, particularly as the public access that libraries provide their communities takes on increasing importance in supporting a range of services such as e-government, jobs and employment, health information, and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the public libraries' proposed more balanced approach to computer training for older adults in the U.S. According to the author, public libraries are an ideal site for offering computer access and training for older adults with both formal and informal benefits. The training to use computers and the Internet is one of the largest impacts of libraries on the communities. The most common types of computer training offered by the libraries include offering information literacy and general technology skills. Moreover, it suggests that the specific issues that public libraries should need to consider in working toward offering more comprehensive computer training for older adults include restructuring computer training and stressing informal aspects.

The concept of social capital has become a popular area of research in many social science fields, including public policy, political science, economics, community development, sociology, anthropology, and education. Increasingly, it has been used as the conceptual framework for research in the area of information studies including such topics as knowledge integration Bhandar, Pan & Tan, 2007, knowledge sharing Huysman & Wulf, 2006, access to information by the homeless Hersberger, 2003, community informatics Williams and Durrance, in press, and information seeking behavior Johnson, in press. The concept has an ideological foundation in the theories of Pierre Bourdieu 1980, with two divergent approaches to its study emerging during the last two decades: one focusing on social capital as a collective asset and the other regarding it as an individual asset. The main proponent of the first approach is political scientist Robert Putnam who defines social capital as inhering in the “dense networks of social interaction” which foster “sturdy norms of generalized reciprocity and encourage the emergence of social trust” Putnam, 1995, p. 66. Social network analysts, on the other hand, view social capital as resources to which individuals have access through their social relationships. Nan Lin, who is the main proponent of this approach, defines social capital as “resources embedded in a social structure which are accessed andor mobilized in purposive actions” Lin, 2001a, p. 12. While the concept of social capital may be operationalized differently depending on the point of view of the researcher, its value to information science research is in providing a framework within which to understand the relationship between social structure and information access.Participants in this panel will discuss social capital from various vantage points, including the role of social capital in solidifying power relationships, the effect of recent government policies on reducing social capital, and the relationship between social capital and the use of libraries and information technology. The intent of the panel is to clarify the meanings of social capital and to demonstrate how the concept may be used in information science research.

This article ponders on the implementation of the requirements for the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) in the U.S. Public libraries traditionally take pride themselves on being places that foster the free exchange of ideas and that provide means to access a diverse array of information that meets the needs of all patrons regardless of age, education, culture or beliefs. However, a recently applied law places libraries in the position of having to create restrictions on online content in order to receive certain federal funds. If a library receives universal service discounts (E-rate) or Library Services and Technology Act funds (LSTA), the library must comply with requirements of the CIPA which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003. As of June 2004, a public library or public school library must install technology protection measures if it receives federal subsidies. If a library decides that it does not wish to install filters to meet CIPA requirements, the library must forgo receipt of these types of E-rate or LSTA funds. The American Library Association (ALA) with support of many librarians was very active in the fight against CIPA. Now that CIPA has been upheld, ALA offers several forms of practical guidance to assist public libraries in the initial applications of filters under this law.

The panel will examine civic engagement and communitylocal, transnational, and virtual, and its impact on political participation of young people. Discussion will highlight the role of information, education, technology in reshaping the boundary between personal and public information space. Panelists will redefine civic engagement in this changing landscape as it affects our understanding of place and of political participation of young people, including the role of higher education, public policy, and the presentation of government information in building an informed and active citizenry.As new information channels emerge in civic and political discourse, issues of trust and authority in egovernment and nongovernmental sources arise for the public and for providers of access to government information. The panel will address credibility in government information sources and examine voter use of the Internet and its impact on their decisionmaking processes.The interplay of new technology in the political process and the public information space will inform the presentations, including how digital tools have created new networks for political discourse; changed participation by voters, candidates, and campaigns; and enabled the use of participatory Web 2.0 technologies in the design of government and library websites. Finally, the panel will assess current digital tools, highlight the design tension between universal access and digital environments, and stress the importance of meeting human needs through participatory design in the future development of digital environments.

An excerpt from the book "Digital Literacy and Digital Inclusion: Information Policy and the Public Library" is presented.

Usability, functionality, and accessibility testing of digital library information services and products are essential for providing high quality services to users. This paper details a long‐term, evolving effort to develop meaningful evaluations for assessing digital libraries. The authors of this paper have been engaged in a multi‐year study to determine appropriate evaluation techniques, tools, and methodologies for the Florida Electronic Library (FEL) and other digital libraries. The evaluation protocols and approaches have been designed over time and iteratively through assessment efforts of the research team of other digital library initiatives and with multiple versions of the FEL. As such, this paper examines the process of developing, applying, and refining appropriate evaluation methodologies for the networked environment of libraries, as well as the implications of these methodologies.The approach taken in the research described herein relies on a combination of evaluation strategies applied iteratively to assess libraries from the perspective of patron needs. A number of specific methods, as shown in this paper, can be readily developed to provide such evaluations. The following goals guide the presentation in this paper of the development through time of the methods and instruments created, tested, refined, and operationalized in functionality, usability, and accessibility testing by the researchers. The goals of this paper are to: 1) demonstrate the potential roles of multiple, iterative evaluation strategies in the development and refinement of digital libraries; 2) detail the methodologies that focus on how the services meet the needs of users; and 3) encourage further discussion of the uses of these multiple evaluation approaches in assessing these libraries.