Field Experience - Independent Study

Table 1. Urban Metropolitan New York Public Library Branches Participating in Study

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Public Total City Participating Population Public

Library Branches District Branches Served Internet

System __________ ______ Terminals

Brooklyn 59² 2,465,326² 959²

Public Library

Bushwick 104,358⁶ 6³

Kings Bay 160,319⁶ 14³

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New York 87² 3,313,573² 2,328²

Public Library

Bronx Bronx Library Center 141,411⁵

Manhattan Jefferson Market 93,119⁵

Manhattan Seward Park 164,407⁵

Staten Island New Dorp 127,071⁵ -

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Queens 62² 2,229,379² 970²

Public Library

Central Library 52,879⁴ 100⁴

Corona 43,927⁴ 35⁴

Flushing 80,347⁴ 60⁴

Forest Hills 49,884⁴ 11⁴

Jackson Heights 117,253⁴25⁴

Laurelton 28,339⁴39⁴

McGoldrick 36,621⁴ 11⁴

Richmond Hill 45,612⁴9⁴

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¹ ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates: 2006. U.S. Census Bureau: American FactFinder. Retrieved December 4, 2008 from: http://factfinder.cnsus.gov

² LSP Library Statistics Program. IES National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Science. Retrieved January 13, 2009 from:http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/libraries/

³Brooklyn Public Library Website. Retrieved February 3, 2009, from: http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/

⁴ Queens Public Library Website. Retrieved February 3, 2009, from: http://www.queenslibrary.org/pub/

⁵New York Public Library Website. Retrieved February 3, 2009, from: http://www.nypl.org/branch/local/govt/

⁶ New York City Department of City Planning. Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin New York City Community Districts, 2000, District 4 and 15. Retrieved February 6, 2009, from: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/census/plp101a.pdf

Table 2. Digital Resources at Metropolitan New York Public Libraries Participating in Study

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Library System Brooklyn Public New York Public Queens Borough

Library¹ Library² Public Library³

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Online Catalog yes yes yes

Digital media catalog yes yes

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Online Reference yes yes yes

Email yes yes yes

Real-time yes yes yes

Foreign Language yes yes

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Subscription Databases yes yes yes

Subscription articles yes yes yes

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Online E-Books yes yes yes

Foreign Language yes

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Online Audio Books yes yes yes

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Online Audio Music yes yes yes

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Online Video yes yes yes

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Web-casts yes yes

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Podcasts yes

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Online Collections (photos, etc.) yes yes

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Online Homework Assistance yes yes yes

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Social Networks

Facebook yes

YouTube Channel yes

Flickr Stream yes

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E-Newsletter yes yes yes

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Wireless Availability yes yes yes

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Note. Digital resources and services information available on individual library websites during winter 2009.

¹http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/

²http://www.nypl.org/

³http://www.queenslibrary.org/

Table 3. Survey Respondents Rating of Public Library Digital Resource Factors

Survey Question 17 results: Rating of factors on scale of 1 to 5 (1 as least important to 5 as most important)

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Brooklyn Public New York Public Queens Public CumulativeTotal

#/avg response #/avg response #/avg. response #/avg. response

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Connection

Reliability 74 4.29 96 4.45 150 4.37 320 4.38

Connection

Speed 74 4.21 97 4.38 153 4.28 324 4.29

Time Limits 74 4.31 98 4.42 148 4.27 320 4.33

Availability/

Waiting Time 75 4.20 97 4.30 147 4.29 319 4.27

Librarian’s

Help 76 4.05 95 4.24 148 4.08 319 4.15

Organization of resources

74 4.18 90 4.16 145 3.88 309 4.04

Use of Printer 74 3.95 96 4.15 154 4.07 324 4.07

Ability to Save

and Download 71 3.77 95 4.09 148 3.80 314 3.88

Subscriptions/

Database Access 74 3.71 90 3.75 142 3.79 306 3.76

Online

Instruction 75 3.68 83 3.56 145 3.60 303 3.61

Multimedia

Interface Design 73 3.65 90 3.47 143 3.45 306 3.50

Wireless

Connection 73 3.82 93 3.84 152 3.71 318 3.77

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