Universal Confusion
By Karen G. Schneider
American Libraries Columnist
Author of A Practical Guide to Internet Filters (Neal-Schuman, 1997)
Column for December 1997
Our frustration with the telecommunications discounts is that we're investing a lot of labor in an unknown. We don't know if and when we'll actually get the discounts, confusion still exists about who is eligible, and meanwhile we're writing technology plans, filling out applications, and developing budgets that may or may not include discounted services, while the rules seem to change daily or are complex beyond belief. Let's see--Any telecommunications contract signed after November 8, 1996, and before the program was up and running must terminate December 31, 1998. . . . File that under "bewildering."
Meditations for Santa
Let's take a tip from Michael Gorman's "Meditations for Librarians" (American Libraries, Sept., p. 40–44) and focus on making this process as calm as possible. The secret is to get what we can out of the process, and relax about the results.
Quite a few intelligent people are still baffled about the entire discounting issue. You can start with the Web site from ALA's Office for Information Technology Policy. For serious advice from the trenches—which is what you're after, anyway—try some of the state-developed pages. Janice Painter, manager of automated and technical services at Princeton (N.J.) Public Library, directed me to the e-rate information provided by the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative. This Web site includes clear, brief explanations and a terrific Powerpoint presentation you can download, created by Bob Pikovsky of the state's Educational Information and Resource Center. Rand Simmons, networking consultant for Idaho State Libraries, has also put together a lucid Web site with e-rate information, including a good discussion of what services can and cannot be discounted.
Put a technology plan in your stocking
Let's get real: We don't actually know what the future will bring. Look back at 1992—Were you able to predict the next five years? Furthermore, no one is quite sure if you really need a technology plan for the discount; and if you do, it needs to be reviewed by the higher-ups in your state library network, who may have their own ideas what it should look like.
Nevertheless, there are many good reasons why you should have a technology plan, even if it's scribbled on the back of an old envelope and you don't show it to anyone beyond the nice lady who comes in to search Yahoo every day. Forget the FCC, and forget about discounts. The main reason to have a technology plan is that creating it will help you map out your technology goals. This holiday season, it's the best present you can give your library.
Don't worry about reinventing the wheel. Several of the best plans on the Web are based on one particularly nice plan developed for the Dayton and Montgomery Public County (Ohio) Library by Technology Coordinator Tim Kambitsch. Its executive summary is deliciously jargon-free: "The Library cannot achieve its goal of being the most comprehensive source of information in our community if the computer systems in place are inadequate for the task." Tim warned me that the cost models, from 1995, are outdated; but you need to price everything you list in your plan anyway, forcing you to talk to other librarians and vendors, which will build your knowledge base.
Need more? Kick off your heels, pour some eggnog, and start surfing. David Simmons, technology librarian at Wayne County Public Library in Wooster, Ohio, has a Web page devoted to writing technology plans. Rushton Brandis, network development consultant for Oregon State Library, sent several excellent URLs, including a sample technology plan for "Acme County District Library." (I'm afraid I wasted a few minutes trying to figure out where this library was.) He also recommended Technology Planning Made Easy, from the Florida State Library, and another great resource from the Idaho State Library.
Send your application to Santa
Is the application a waste of time if you don't know whether you're getting a discount? The worst that will happen is you'll spend a few hours filling out an application that happens to gather a lot of information you need for the aforementioned technology plan (and the best, of course, is that you get a discount and have more money for Good Stuff). Among state-supported Web sites, the Merit site really steals the fruitcake with its downloadable applications in Adobe Acrobat, complete with instructions.
The Grinch who stole discounts
If you're really psyched about discounts at this point, ask yourself if you live in one of the states where phone carriers (reach out and sue someone?) are bringing legal action to stop discounts for libraries (American Libraries, Oct., p. 13). ALA's Second Report on USF, linked from its OITP Web site, discusses which carriers these are. Whip out your pen and paper and write them a letter!
My magic eight-ball isn't that helpful when it comes to the discounts; but I do know that with a plan in hand, you're ready to approach funding authorities, the public, and anyone else who will listen as you describe where you want your library to be. To get a little more Gormanesque, if you know where you are, you know where you can go. Good luck, and I hope you get there.
Web sites in this article
ALA's Universal Service Page
ALA's list of state telecommunications plans
Michigan's Merit Network USF Page
South Jersey Regional Cooperative E-Rate Info
Dayton & Montgomery Co. Public Library Technology Plan