CAMDEN COUNTY LIBRARY (page 5 of 11)
C CASE STUDY:
CAMDEN COUNTY LIBRARY |
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The Camden County Library Homepage |
World Wide Web Site The Camden County Library homepage (http://www.camden.lib.nj.us/) is a key resource for CamNet members and county residents. It ties together some of the library's disparate information resources and provides links to reference sources on the Internet selected by the library staff to meet community needs. On the homepage these resources appear under useful headings and are arranged in a matrix, which allows the library to perform some of its traditional functions: selecting information and making access possible by directing users to the best and most useful sources available. |
Internet: Step 1 CamNet Hardware and software requirements for PCs |
Public Access to the Internet The library offers
the public access to the Internet, the World Wide Web, and the library's
home page at five workstations in the main library. This service is
intended to encourage patrons to browse, get a sense of the capabilities
of Internet resources, and, possibly, inspire them to acquire their
own Internet accounts though a private Internet provider. The Camden
County Library does not offer e-mail accounts to the public, deferring
to local commercial Internet providers who do. The library charges
no fees for using the Internet workstations because it has no mechanism
for collecting them. Instead, as with all library services, staff provides
what services they can for free. The library offers free
Internet awareness and training classes to the public. Users may
browse or download information at the public access Internet workstations,
but printing is not yet offered.
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Technical Infrastructure The following technical infrastructure makes all of these services possible. The CamNet network is an Ethernet wide area network. As the network hub, the library's Digital Alpha 2100 computer supports at least 600 workstations and terminals in 71 sites (with eight more planned). CamNet member institutions connect to the library via a Garden State Cable TV broadband network. A leased T1 line provided by KAPS, Inc., a commercial Internet provider, connects the library to the Internet. |
 THE INCOMING T1 LINE AND OTHER CONNECTIONS |
Within the Camden County Library System 19 (29 by the
end of 1996) PC work stations and 40 terminals are available for general
use in public service areas. On the high end, five of the workstations
are Pentium-class PCs which offer full graphical capabilities (to the
World Wide Web, etc.). The library offers access to reference sources
on CD-ROM at four stand-alone workstations, which will be upgraded
later in 1996 to a reference area local area network offering 21 CD-ROM
titles at eight work stations. Two PCs in the children's area are networked.
There is no formal computer laboratory.
The library's catalog is maintained locally on a DRA system, and the electronic text of journals is acquired online directly from EBSCO. The online catalog, the EBSCO journals database, and other reference sources online at DRA may be viewed in the main library, and, through Internet and CamNet connections, they may be viewed in the three branches and any CamNet institution. Four modems enable other institutions and members of the public to dial in to the library's catalog. Four percent of the library's collection development budget is spent on materials in electronic form (leased, licensed, or purchased). |
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