Who's in the Queue? A Demographic Analysis of Public Access Computer Users and Uses in U.S. Public Libraries. Research Brief Number 4

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 computer instruction and lack the basic computing skills necessary for full digital citizenship. This brief takes a closer look at the demographic characteristics of the public access users. In the first part of the analysis, the authors compare data collected for the U.S. Impact Study with data from the "Current Population Survey" (CPS) collected in the same year. The purpose of this analysis is to identify who uses public access computers and determine whether or not they differ systematically from the general population. The next section examines how people are using computer resources in libraries and explores how demographic characteristics affect the type of information they access. The final section summarizes the findings in light of national information policy initiatives. (Contains 5 figures, 2 tables and 11 footnotes.)