Montana State Library and the BTOP project are excited to be able to offer WebJunction Montana.

What is WebJunction Montana?

WebJunction is a learning community designed exclusively for libraries. Through WebJunction, Montana library staff will have direct access to technology training offered by the Montana State Library. Due to the fact that our funding for this project is one-time-only and limited in scope, initial WebJunction Montana content and resources will focus on technology-related subjects that assist library staff in supporting their public access computers. Library staff will also be able to access training and informational materials from numerous BTOP community partners including the Supreme Court of Montana Self-Help Law Program, the Montana Department of Labor & Industry and more.

Managed by the BTOP Technology Trainer, Jennifer Birnel, WebJunction Montana will include resources identified in our published Public Computer Center Learning Targets. These learning targets are Montana-specific, and include topics ranging from basic computer set-up, to more advanced network management topics such as filtering, to accessing e-government resources such as Montana legal forms. If a patron needs assistance locating information on tenants’ rights, your library staff will know how to efficiently and accurately assist her.

Many of the tools you will find here are created locally by subject matter experts from Montana State Library, public libraries, and community partners across the state. The targets are thoughtfully organized by a person’s role within their library, ranging from trustee to network administrator.

Finally, librarians who become “premier” Montana sponsored members can enroll in WebJunction’s online, self-paced courses on a wide range of subjects impacting Montana libraries.

WebJunction Montana is a sharing community; the content is not limited to what is posted by State Library staff. We welcome and encourage our members to participate by posting comments, training resources, handouts, helpful links, and sample workshop curricula. The usefulness and value of WebJunction Montana will be in great part, dependent upon your participation.

Read more about WJ-Montana on WebJunction.org.

In Tuesday’s webinar, It Takes a Community to Bridge the Digital Divide, we heard the perspectives of three key “communities”—libraries, public administrators, and community non-profits. They each have a role to play in the implementation of the digital inclusion vision.

Mary Chute, deputy director for libraries at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), identified digital inclusion as a major policy area in the same way that transportation and highways are. IMLS is in the process of defining a Framework for Building Digital Communities, which defines the vision, the principles, goals and strategies that will help community leaders take action to foster digital inclusion.

Ron Carlee, chief operating officer, International City/County Management Association (ICMA), has been deeply involved in the development of the Framework guidelines, bringing the public administration perspective to the planning table. Ron acknowledged that digital inclusion is a large and complex challenge, that “no entity can do this alone, but any entity can be the catalyst.” He described the development process as a road map and a product of the best thinking by people from all over the country and from many different sectors.

David Keyes, community technology program manager, City of Seattle, added a more detailed layer from the perspective of a large city and a statewide community technology non-profit organization. At the ground level of implementation, David said that people get the concept but don’t necessarily know what steps to take to get there. Fostering collaboration and partnerships is one important strategy for building capacity and focusing the energy of the numerous organizations already in existence to help the disadvantaged.

An hour is so often too short. Although some participant questions were answered related to funding and the unique needs of rural communities, we ran out of time. If you have any responses to the following questions, please add your comments to this post.

1. What specific examples or case studies can you provide about digital inclusion projects, including what has not worked?
   [The WebJunction/ICMA/TechSoup project will be creating a repository of digital inclusion resources and case studies. Watch for an announcement in the next month or so.]
2. Is anyone tracking or mapping digital literacy programs systematically throughout the US?

Visit the archive page to:

• Listen to the 1-hour presentation.
• View the slides, closed caption transcript, and chat log.
• Get links to data sources, funding resources, community tools and more information shared by presenters and participants (an engaged community in action!).

As you plan your schedule, please note that the Edge coalition will host an update session on the development of public access technology benchmarks to help libraries improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of computer and Internet services (read our December post to learn more about this work). This forum will give you an opportunity to ask questions and provide input on the “beta” benchmarks – the first version that will be tested in the coming months – as well as the tools that libraries will need to use the benchmarks. 

The informational session will take place on Saturday, March 17th at 10:15 a.m. in Room 116 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

We hope to see you there, and safe travels to Philadelphia!