• Approved by the Gustavus Public Library Board 1/20/2004

• Drafted 12/14/03 by LTAC 

• See also: FY 2001-2003 Technology Plan

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
   • Mission
   • Technology Vision
   • Our Library
     • Technology Projects Completed
     • Technology Services We Provide
2. Technology Goals
   • Goal A: Provide public access to the Internet and basic productivity applications
   • Goal B: Enable and encourage patron use of technology
   • Goal C: Improve library efficiency and effectiveness
3. Itemized Technology Budget
4. Evaluation
5. Materials and Internet Use Policy
6. Appendices
   • A. Technology Inventory

1. Introduction

Mission

To provide the community of Gustavus-Glacier Bay with a broad choice in library materials and information using both traditional media and new technology to enable full access to information for all citizens regardless of age, education, ethnicity, economic status, or geographical disadvantage.

Technology Vision

We envision becoming the educational and informational hub of the Icy Strait region. By using current technology and continuing to form local partnerships we can establish our position as a regional information center. This exchange will not only give our patrons access to information but will provide the world community valuable knowledge and expertise from our area. The library will continue to provide a variety of library programs, training sessions, and Internet access so that all patrons can take full advantage of these many educational opportunities.

Our Library

The Gustavus Public Library has undergone dramatic and positive growth in the last few years. We now occupy a spacious, attractive new building and offer a range of traditional and technical services usually associated with much larger communities. Patron use of all library materials continues to grow and there is great enthusiasm about the new services we have introduced and are planning. In our new location adjacent to the public school we see growing numbers of students in the library. Volunteerism remains strong, with more open hours, fund raising, and technology projects carried out than ever before. The Gustavus Public Library is a source of great pride, learning, and enjoyment for the community.

This technology plan is a major component of the library's plans to continue providing traditional and technological access to information for our community. Our plan is twofold: we will support and improve the services we now offer while seeking resources to add new materials and services that enhance our library. Previous technology plans focused on building new technology infrastructure where we had none. Now we must maintain that infrastructure in order to support what we have and continue to use and refine it more effectively. We will also undertake select new projects and services that we know will strengthen our offerings as more staffing and funding sources become available.

Technology Projects Completed

Objective: Upgrade library building to provide network wiring and space to work.

Six years of planning, fundraising, negotiating, and securing various sources of financing have led to the completion of our new 2,700 square foot library facility. The new facility is engineered from the ground up to support current and future technology needs. An electrical engineer designed the electrical supply. Computer and telecommunications consultants designed and installed the local area network wiring. All but one room at the library is fully wired with phone and data jacks. In addition, the conference room has a video circuit. All wiring is CAT5 in conduit with modular jacks for maximum flexibility in the face of changing technology. There is conduit laid to the outside of the building, allowing for the possibility of laying a circuit to the nearby Gustavus School for a high-speed link.

Objective: Install local area network and connect to Internet

Local Area Network

Installed Local Area Network with jacks throughout the building for easy connection of workstations, servers, and other network devices such as printers. The wiring, jacks, hub and router are all in place.

Server

Installed Windows NT server and software suitable for providing both basic file and printer sharing and Internet services including web server and e-mail for librarians.

Internet Connection

Installed dedicated circuit to the local, community internet service provider, Gustavus Community Network, so that all the machines on the network are connected to the Internet.

Technology Services We Provide

Public Access Workstations

Internet Access

Printers and Photocopier

Scanner

Flat bed scanner for capturing local historical information and producing multi-media products for library programming.

Meeting Room with Phone, Internet Access, and Computer/Video Projection

Inter Library Loan via WLN LaserCat, WorldCat, and other on-line catalogs.

Technology Training

2.Technology Goals

Goal A: Provide public access to electronic materials

The library's mission is "To provide the community of Gustavus-Glacier Bay with a broad choice in library materials and information..." An increasing proportion of materials and information is electronic. The Gustavus Public Library treats electronic materials like other materials such as printed matter. This means adding electronic materials to its collection and providing access to others' collections of electronic materials, such as the world-wide web and databases for Alaskans.

Goal B: Foster staff and patron use of technology

Electronic materials are inaccessible to those who do not have basic computer skills, just as printed materials are not accessible to those who cannot read. The Gustavus Public Library supports its patrons and staff in their pursuit of knowledge by lowering the barrier of technological illiteracy.

Goal C: Improve library efficiency and effectiveness

Labor is in very short supply in our under-funded institution, so administration and operation must be as efficient as possible in order to maximize our organizational effectiveness. The Library uses appropriate technology to leverage scant volunteer and staff time, thereby providing the best possible service to our patrons. 

3. Itemized Technology Budget

As noted in the Introduction, the Gustavus Public Library is primarily staffed and advised by a group of dedicated volunteers who possess varying degrees of technological expertise. With help from a state library ILC grant, capital grant, and the e-rate, our basic technology infrastructure is now complete and our core volunteers have received initial technology training. Since we must be cautious not to overtax our volunteer resources, and with ever dwindling operational funds, this budget reflects a modest approach to maintaining and upgrading our network over the next three years. We already have state-of-the-art technology infrastructure and provide excellent technology services. Note that while we may choose to take on other projects or provide a major training component as human and financial resources become available, we will only commit to funding and evaluating goals and objectives that we can realistically afford and which are priorities as described in this plan. We have not entered any costs for goals B and C since we anticipate volunteers will continue to fill that role. We expect to continue to receive donated and excess equipment from local and state sources suitable to our technology needs.

"We who have done so much with so little for so long have reached a plateau where we can now accomplish almost anything with almost nothing."

The Our Cost rows reflect academic and/or e-rate discounts for which the library is eligible.

4. Evaluation

The Library Technology Advisory Committee ( LTAC) will meet at least once a year to evaluate the results of each action in the Technology Goals section of this plan and draft an annual technology work plan.

In evaluating results, the committee will consider

• Use statistics for the public workstations from sign-up sheets,
• Library web site use statistics from the server log
• Public and staff comments and suggestions for improvements to these services
• Training course attendance and evaluations
• Their own direct knowledge and informal feedback they have received

The committee's evaluation report will consist of a short description of the results for each action and whether or not the objective was achieved as planned. 

5. Materials and Internet Use Policy

The Gustavus Public Library offers free access to their collections and to the world wide web for all community residents without regard to race, citizenship, age, educational level, economic status, or any other qualification or condition. The choice of library materials, including use of technology, is an individual matter. Responsibility for restriction of access for children rests with their guardians and not with the library. While the library recognizes the power of visual images as compared to print, it also supports intellectual freedom in relation to all print and non-print media.

Illegal or abusive use of library materials may result in having library privileges revoked.

[Approved by Gustavus Public Library Board, April 24, 2000. Signed by board president Lynne Jensen.]

6. Appendices

A. Technology Inventory

For future planned acquisitions see the Budget in Section 3 above.

Equipment

Six public-use computers: Three are slower Pentium-class computers (90-200MHz) used as terminals. Three are faster stand-alone workstations. All but one are directly connected to the library's network and the Internet. All have Microsoft Office 2000 and all but the non-networked computer have LaserCat installed.

Server: A Pentium 1 GHz machine with 1 GB RAM running a wide array of services including file and print sharing services, web server, and communications server.

Four printers: One Lexmark laser printer in the back room for printing cards, one color inkjet/fax machine in the administrator's office, one high-quality color inkjet for public use, and one LaserJet 4200 for public use.

Local Area Network (LAN): A 100Mbps Ethernet network professionally wired with drops in most rooms, connected together by a Cisco 10/100 switch.

Direct Internet connection: The library has a direct Ethernet connection to the local Internet Service Provider's router. That gives the library a shared satellite connection to the Internet at 384 Kbps uploads and 1.5 Mbps downloads.

Three telephone lines: The library has two voice lines and one fax line.

Communications Software: We use Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, and Internet Explorer.  The library mail server runs Microsoft Exchange Server to provide mailboxes for librarians and public electronic mailing lists and forums. Also installed is Mailman, which allows patrons and librarians to check their POP3 accounts using a web browser.

Staff

Gustavus Public Library relies on a dedicated and highly motivated volunteer staff. We have sponsored more than two years of ongoing computer classes in partnership with the local Gustavus Community Network group. We encourage our staff to attend this training and provide library specific training sessions. Our computer volunteers include:

• Library Technology Advisory Committee (LTAC): oversight group advising the library board on technology issues.
• Nathan Borson, NPS IT Specialist
• Kathy Leary, Staff Librarian
• Patrick Chipley, NPS IT Specialist
• Bruce Paige, GCN Administrator
• Jeff Williams, Jeffus and Williams telecommunications professional
• Craig Wilson, Computer Consultant, (LTAC chairperson)
• Computer literate librarians and student interns staff the library.