When I worked for the Metropolitan Library Service Agency in 2001 I treid to
interest the public library systems in the region in starting wireless
networking pilot projects. The Hennepin County Library, with their better
technical resources, had already started planning their own wireless
network. Indeed, Hennipin County Library's public wireless network has
been up for a couple years now and works great. I often find myself driving
past Washburn Library all the way to Southdale so I can work on my laptop in
the Southdale Library. If we had forward-thinking, tech-savvy library board
members back then maybe we wouldn't be lagging THREE YEARS behind our
Hennepin county neighbors in offering this service to the city's residents.
Jae Bryson was on the right track in his recent post when he suggested the
city's wireless network should be closely aligned with the library's
electronic collections. The city of Minneapolis needs to offer more than
just access: they need to offer content, too. The Minneapolis Public
Library subscribes to many electronic resources that are, in my opinion,
underused. Making it easy to get to these resources through a city-wide wifi
network should be a priority as plans for this service go forward.
Eric Hinsdale
Kingfield
www.erichinsdale.com
From: "Krueger, Rodney" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <mpls@mnforum.org>
Subject: [Mpls] Library and Wi Fi
Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 11:32:50 -0500
Public and academic libraries across the country are moving quickly to step
up their high-tech offerings with Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) technology.
An added benefit of the Wi-Fi service is that it frees up the library's
computers for those who don't have a computer or Internet access at home.
Many major library systems throughout the Twin Cities area are adding
wireless Internet connections so patrons can use their personal laptop
computers at the library
The new Central Library in Minneapolis will have wireless connections and
the branch/community libraries are to follow.
The number of computers in the new Central Library has increased from the
original plan of 180 to now more than 300 public access computers.
The new Central Library is about eight months from the grand opening
(Saturday, May 20, 2006) and the project remains both on budget and on
schedule.
Thank you,
Rod Krueger
Library Board member / Nokomis East
[Mpls] Library and Wi Fi
Theresa Smith
Tue, 04 Oct 2005 09:35:41 -0700
I ran for library board and didn't make it out of the
primary (great people, great field of candidates) and
I really hope one of my talking points gets broader
discussion: find a way to draw operations funding out
of the Minneapolis Wi-Fi network that is being put out
for bid. Certainly, the revenue streams have not yet
been established and the network hasn't been built,
but if the Wi-Fi network is connected with the library
system in some way (content-wise and financially), it
is pretty nice leg up into the 21st Century.
Jae Bryson
Tangletown
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