Library To Show Off High-Tech Services

Library to show off high-tech services

By JUDSON BRANAM

NEWS STAFF REPORTER

The Ann Arbor District Library will unveil new high-tech services ranging from public access to the World Wide Web to new computer networks in the youth department during “Log on @ the Library Day” programs Tuesday.

Library patrons can get a feel for the wide range of electronic resources now available at the Main Library, 343 S. Fifth Ave., between 6-9 p.m. Stops will include the first-floor youth department, the electronic resource stations at the second-floor reference department, and World Wide Web stations open to the public on the third floor.

The vast resources of the Internet will be displayed in a large-screen World Wide Web demonstration at 7 p.m. in the library’s lower level by University of Michigan Internet expert Sue Davidsen.

“There’s a whole lot of new material, both educational and entertainment, for people to see,” said Lana Straight, the library’s associate administrator who oversees the new computer networks and offerings. “We’ll have a whole lot of demonstrations of our programs and cooperative programs that we’re involved with, like the University of Michigan’s Digital Library and the Huron Valley Community Network.”

The library has spent more than $200,000 on networks and computers to increase its electronic resources.

“We’re doing it incrementally,” Straight said. “We’re doing public service things first and phasing it in gradually.”

Staff members at the library’s Loving, Northeast and West branches will offer demonstrations of electronic resources from noon-4 p.m., including electronic catalog searches, CD-ROM products, the ProQuest Direct publications archive and the World Wide Web.

Unlike past services that were tied to dedicated machines, “sitting down at one computer will provide access to all the products,” Straight said. “The network brings it all together.”

Admission to the program is free, and no preregistration is required. Refreshments and prize drawings will be supplied by the Friends of the Library.

The log-on day, part of National Library Week, has been targeted for months by library staffers planning and installing inter- and intra-building networks and links to the Internet.

Information on Log On @ the Library Day and other programs is available at the Ann Arbor District Library's home page on the World Wide Web or by calling 994-2333. The library's home page is at http://www.hvcn.org/info/aapl/

LIBRARY EVENTS

Events scheduled for National Library Week at the Ann Arbor District Library:

Monday: Trickster Tales with Barbara Schultz-Gruber, Main Library, 7-8:30 p.m.; Origami Fun with Don Shall, West Branch, 7-8 p.m (preregistration required by calling 994-1674).

Tuesday: Log on @ The Library Day, branches, noon-4 p.m.; Main Library, 6-9 p.m.; Trickster Tales, Loving Branch, 7-8:30 p.m.

Wednesday: Origami Fun, Main Library, 7-8 p.m. (preregistration required by calling 996-3180); Young Adult Short Story Awards Ceremony, Main Library, 7:30-9 p.m.

Thursday: Trickster Tales, West Branch, 7-8:30 p.m.; Origami Fun, Loving Branch, 7-8 p.m. (preregistration required by calling 994-2353).

Friday: Downtown Sounds Special Edition - Digital Music, Main Library, 12:10-1 p.m. and 6:30-7:30 p.m.; Trickster Tales, Northeast Branch, 7-8:30 p.m.

Saturday: Michigan Opera Theatre - Aesop’s Fables, Main Library, 10 a.m.-noon.