CD‐ROMs in public libraries: a survey

Abstract

This article summarizes the main findings of a survey, undertaken in early 1994, of open access CD‐ROM in British public libraries. The survey examined how well Public Library Authorities (PLAs) were implementing CD‐ROM technology for public use and how well the general public were fairing with CD‐ROMs. The survey was both quantitative and qualitative in nature: current national statistics for CD‐ROM distribution in PLAs were sought, case studies of 13 PLAs who provided open access CD‐ROM were conducted and finally an end‐user survey of 4 of these libraries was undertaken. The principal findings of the survey are as follows. In 1992 only 5% of PLAs provided CD‐ROMs for public use, but by 1994 this figure had risen to 12%. London and English County PLAs had the highest proportion of CD‐ROMs for public use. PLAs with CD‐ROM services were not necessarily the big spending authorities. National newspapers accounted for the majority of CD‐ROMs in use. The main management concerns were lack of adequate user training and documentation. All PLAs wanted to update and expand their CD‐ROM services. This matched one of the main demands from users, which was for more facilities, but PLAs failed to address the users' other main demand ‐ the provision of greater assistance. The predominant user group was young students. Educational institutions played a significant role in training users in the use of CD‐ROMs. Most users searched newspaper and business titles. Finally, there was a high level of user satisfaction with CD‐ROM searching.

Citation

Batterbee, C. and Nicholas, D. (1995), "CD‐ROMs in public libraries: a survey", Aslib Proceedings, Vol. 47 No. 3, pp. 63-72. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb051382