Web technology in public libraries: findings from research Available to Purchase

Public libraries are an integral part of North American communities. With the wide perception that all information people want is freely available, questions arise about the ways in which public libraries are using Web technology. This article assesses public library accessibility via the Web based on a simple random sample of 189 entries coded as “public library type” in the American Library Directory. An e‐mail survey to the heads of public libraries in Winter 2002 augmented the data we collected from an examination of Web sites of the sampled libraries.