People's Network Frequently Asked Questions
Questions and answers are divided into the following sections:
General policy
What is the People's Network project?
Lottery-funded by the Big Lottery Fund and managed by MLA, the
People's Network project is part of the Government's commitment
to give everyone in the UK the opportunity to use computers and
access the internet.
More than 4,000 public libraries across the UK now provide
Information and Computer Technologies (ICTs) thanks to the
People's Network project.
What is the People's Network Service?
The People's Network Service is building upon the success of the
People's Network project by delivering new national web-based
public library services to members of the public. It launched in
October 2005, offering the first national consumer-facing online
presence of public library services in England. The first phase
of the service is being funded by the Big Lottery Fund and is
managed by MLA.
Why public libraries?
The Government is committed to providing internet access to all
those who would like it by 2005 as part of getting the UK
online. The People's Network is a key part of making this happen
because public libraries are popular and pervasive public
services found in every community, thereby substantially
widening access to the internet right across the country.
What kinds of resources do public libraries provide through the
People's Network?
Public libraries offer access to a range of equipment and online
resources such as:
- the internet and email facilities
- local community information
- Government services
- learning materials
- a range of office software applications
- additional hardware and software facilities (such as
printing and scanning equipment)
- specially created resources which libraries and other
organisations have digitised from their collections and made
freely available on the web
How does the People's Network benefit people?
Public library services are one of the few public services on
offer to anyone, regardless of their individual circumstances.
Because of this people are using the People's Network in many
different ways such as to support studies in school, college or
university or simply learn for fun; they use it to acquire new
skills to improve job prospects or professional development; to
find out what's going on locally in their communities; to plan
activities and shop online; or to keep in touch with family and
friends. Feedback from people have been overwhelmingly positive
about the initiative and continues to make a real difference to
people's lives.
Is internet access in public libraries free?
Neither the Big Lottery Fund nor MLA is in a position to dictate
charging policies to library authorities because these decisions
are made locally. However, the original aims of the People's
Network project required libraries to demonstrate their
commitment to meeting government commitments to social
inclusion. The vast majority of libraries (more than 90%) are
providing free internet access.
Are there any websites which show if my library provides
internet access?
There are currently several ways you can search for this
information online:
What are the roles of MLA, the Big Lottery Fund and the devolved
Library and Information Commissions?
The People's Network project is managed as a partnership between
MLA, the Big Lottery Fund and Library and Information
Commissions of the devolved administrations.
MLA is responsible for coordinating and managing the planning,
implementation and future development of the project across
England. The Library and Information Commissions in the devolved
administrations undertake the same role in Scotland, Wales and
Northern Ireland. The Big Lottery Fund has administered the
funding for the project.
Will the People's Network extend to the rest of the sector as
well as public libraries (i.e. museums and archival institutions)?
MLA is committed to lobbying Government for the extension of the
People's Network in an appropriate form to museums and archival institutions.
How do I find out more?
If you do not find the answers to your questions then please get
in touch at peoplesnetwork@mla.gov.uk
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Funding for the project
How much funding was made available for the People's Network project?
In total £120 million of lottery funding made the People's
Network project possible. £100 million of this was reserved for
the People's Network infrastructure programme and £20 million
supported the staff training programme. An additional £50
million funded a related programme open to libraries and other
community organisations for the creation of digital content.
The project has also benefited from a gift of over $4 million
(£2.6 million) from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for
the provision of information technology learning centres in
public libraries in some of the most deprived communities in the
UK. Further details about funding
for the project.
Wasn't it restrictive to allocate People's Network funding on a
local authority basis?
Funding was allocated to individual library authorities but many
decided to pool resources as part of broader regional networking
initiatives. Indeed MLA and The Fund actively encouraged this to
take place as a way of achieving economies of scale.
How is the People's Network being sustained once the lottery
funding runs out?
The longer term sustainability of the People's Network is a
complex and long term issue. MLA continues to lobby for
additional central funding to sustain and develop the People's
Network on behalf of the public library community in England,
and library services are hard at work making the same case
locally and regionally.
How much funding is available for the development of the
People's Network Service?
For the first phase of the People's Network Service project which
runs from 2004/05 through to 2005/06, a grant of £500K has been
given to MLA from the Big Lottery Fund.
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Infrastructure programme
Is there broadband (2MB+) connectivity in every public library?
Where possible yes. However, a small minority of library services
may provide narrowband solutions where broadband solutions are
not practicable.
Does People's Network infrastructure simply provide access to
the internet?
No, many library services are delivering additional hardware and
software facilities as well as access to networked and online
services, such as journals or newspapers. The exact
configuration will vary from one authority to another depending
on local priorities and needs.
What is the scale of the People's Network?
The project led to the installation of 30,000 computer terminals
being installed in more than 4000 public libraries across the
UK. 20,000 of these can be accessed in public libraries in
England (more than 3000 in 149 library authorities).
How do I find out more information on BT's LearningStream offer?
A summary of the BT's LearningStream offer
(Word 23KB)
 to the MLA sector can be downloaded from this site.
Alternatively you can contact your Regional BT Office (numbers
below). If you are unsure which number to call, the National
Team will be able to help on: 0800 672 655.
Regional Offices:
NW & Scotland - 0800 085 0172
E Mids./Yorks./NE - 0800
085 0173
South East - 0800 085 0174
London & East
- 0800 085 0175
W Mids./Wales/SW - 0800 085 0176
Northern Ireland - 0800 783 3869
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Training programme
How many staff undertook ICT training as part of the project?
Approximately 40,000 public library staff have received ICT
training as part of the People's Network project.
What training was mandatory for all staff to have undertaken as
part of the People's Network training programme?
A number of broad training aims were defined (8 in total) as
basic training outcomes which all library staff were required to
meet. These were:
- A grounding in core ICT fundamentals
- Understanding how ICT can support library staff in their
work
- Health and safety and legal issues in the context of ICT
- Knowing how to find things out on behalf of users
- Using ICT to support reader development activities
- Using ICT to support users to ensure effective learning
- Ensuring effective management of ICT resources in libraries
- Knowing how to use ICT to improve their own professional
efficiency and to reduce administrative an bureaucratic
burdens
Full details are set out in the Training Programme Guidance
document (Word 101KB)
Can you clarify the level of training required by staff to meet
the Programme's training outcomes?
The training outcomes were a designed to be a guide rather than a
fixed predefined syllabus which library services could use to
apply to local circumstances and needs. This gave libraries
flexibility in determining appropriate levels of training
according to identified training needs of staff.
What were the advanced training outcomes and who received this training?
Advanced roles encompassed the five roles set out in the Library
and Information Commission's report called Building the New
Library Network, which were:
- Net navigator - in-depth searching skills; validating
websites; and using alerting services;
- Information technology gatekeeper - web design skills;
mounting and updating information; setting up and managing
email databases; designing specialist interfaces; and
setting up digital links;
- Information consultant - analysis and diagnosis of users
needs; awareness of information sources; building
partnerships with other information providers; and
information design and presentation;
- Information manager - strategic planning; understanding
regulatory and legislative requirements; content creation
skills; and
- Educator - training other staff and users to use ICT
effectively and designing learning materials and programmes.
Library services determined which staff undertook this training
according to identified local needs and training strategies.
A wide range of questions and answers were collated to support
library services during the implementation of the Programme.
These supplementary FAQs about
the training programme (Word 26KB)
can be downloaded as a Word document.
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nof-digitise programme (content creation)
There are a great number of questions and answers relating solely
to the nof-digitise digital content creation programme. Due to
their size these have been divided into two downloadable Word documents:
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Impact of the project
What evidence of impact is available in relation to the People's
Network project?
Refer to the impact section for a summary
of the formal evaluation of the project and the findings from
this research. A number of other useful sources are also
provided.
What structured approaches are there to measuring and evaluating
e-access to public library services?
The short answer is that there is lot under development and
numerous organisations are involved, though it is still an area
which must evolve further before public libraries have the
necessary methodologies and tools at their disposal to approach
this in a standardised way.
Currently local level approaches to monitoring and evaluating use
vary considerably according to the kinds of software they use to
track online/electronic usage, and the kinds of policies they
have in place to undertake these kinds of activities.
In the medium to longer terms, approaches will be informed by
wider developments including research activities in the area of
measuring value and impact of ICT on public libraries (such as
the Longitude Toolkit), the outcomes of the evaluation work
being undertaken by the Big Lottery Fund and MLA, and work being
carried out by the IPF on creating appropriate statistical
measures in the CIPFA surveys as well as developing appropriate
user surveys through ePLUS. Examples of research activities that
have looked at impact and evaluation of ICT in public libraries
are provided in the useful links section.
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