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Computer Tutors Put Vets on the Net! Introduction "Computer Tutors Put Vets on the Net!", an LSCA project funded by the office of the Secretary of State/Illinois State Library, was completed in 1997. The evaluation process consisted of using a written survey, personal interviews and a group meeting. All the stakeholders felt it was a tremendous success and generated goodwill among a variety of constituencies. The project is easily replicated and holds enormous potential for all types of libraries in Illinois. It involves intergenerational programming, new library users and a group of citizens at opposite ends of the age spectrum (the adolescent and the veteran). Project Overview With more than 1 million veterans in Illinois, libraries have a large potential pool of people they can target in programming, collection development and community support. Most communities have a local veterans organization and, yet, traditionally the libraries and the veterans have not worked together. Veterans typically are not large library users. The project, "Computer Tutors Put Vets on the Net," tapped into this veteran group with much success. This project, was sponsored by the Alliance Library System, Valerie Wilford, director and Lori Bell, project director. The project began October 1,1996, and ended June 30,1997. Participants included: Eureka Public Library District, Nancy Scott, director; Ashland Public Library District, Debra Aggertt, director; Peoria Heights Public Library, Marsha Westfall, director; Lillie M. Evans Library District (Princeville), Joanne Cox, director, and Illinois Veteran's Home Library in Quincy, Lynn Fleming, Director. There were two trainers with this project. Bill Erbes from Bensenville Community Library and Shawn Edwards of Alliance Library System. The five participating libraries were each to have five student tutors and five veterans for a total of 50 participants. There were actually 48 participants, 23 veterans and 25 students. The evaluation surveys were returned by 56 percent of the participants. The project consisted of two large group workshops (one on the Internet and the other on Web page construction), nine online lessons (Internet, e-mail, usenet, gophers, telnet, chat rooms, and the Web), listserv participation, personal instruction within the libraries, which included tutoring of the veterans by the students, Web page construction and Internet searching. The "Vets on the Net" Web page at www.rsa.lib.il.us/~sedward/vets/resource.htm had 455 hits from March 1997 through June 1997. It is an excellent site, full of valuable information for veterans. Intergenerational Evaluation By any indicator of success, this project was successful. It sparked curiosity in widely disparate age groups. It brought new users into the library. It helped to make connections between groups in local communities. It fostered community pride and positive public relations. It introduced technology to different age groups, certainly debunking the myth that seniors can't or don't want to learn anything new. It utilized group learning, individual learning and distance learning. The project was an example of intergenerational programming that breaks down barriers. The students were able to develop personal relationships with older participants. They realized they could be mentors to people their own age and to other older adults. They were able to share skills and life experiences and perhaps see the commonalities between their two age groups. The evaluations provided some wonderful examples of student attitudes and how they changed:
*Arlis Dittmer, Director of Library Services, Blessing Health Professions Library, Quincy. 32
The veterans who participated had an opportunity to increase their contact with younger individuals. They reminisced and shared skills and information that will live on long after they do. By the statements above, it is obvious that behaviors, attitudes and knowledge about other groups (namely veterans) has changed. The same change of attitude was also apparent from the veteran's viewpoint:
The third participant group within the evaluation process was the library. These libraries were in a win/win situation. They were meeting the needs of disparate age groups. They were improving communication between community constituencies, developing community spirit, preserving local history/culture and increasing media and political attention. They were developing partnerships, new library users and a potential source of library volunteers. Perhaps they were even developing a new method for delivering library services (online). Expectations vs. Realities The question the grant posed was how to use Internet access to meet patron needs, and how would that access enhance the library's role in the community. The assumption was that the Internet had a built in lure for adolescents because of their computer skills, interest in speed and new technologies. Because of school programs, their keyboarding skill level is higher than most adults. The students could then transfer their knowledge to the veterans, who had lower skill levels but with the time available to devote to a project directed at their interests (resources available for veterans). Both groups would be experiencing new technologies, such as listservs, interactive software and home pages.
The project identified patron needs in six areas: The project also linked to participating libraries' long range plans and to the State Library's Long Range Plan
The library links are: Realities vs. Expectations The project began with a workshop for the students explaining the Internet. They were then given online lessons to complete (one per week) and were encouraged to talk to one another on the listserv set up for the project. They stuck with the lessons and were very enthusiastic participants on the listserv. They were encouraged to ask questions of Bill Erbes, who designed the online lessons. He felt he didn't get enough feedback, but the students were definitely satisfied users. The second workshop also was well attended. It was presented by Shawn Edwards, who taught the students how to design a Web page. Both the participating librarians and the students felt these workshops and lessons were the most interesting and positive part of the project. The process hit a few snags when the veterans were recruited. The state veteran leadership wished to be involved with getting the veterans interested in participating, but their list of volunteers did not coordinate with the location of the participating libraries. 33 Much time was lost while the librarians recruited local vets. The veterans were enthusiastic and willing to learn but the lessons were not as structured (one per week) and the students and vets had difficulty finding time to work together each week. Once again, librarians became more involved in the process as they were in the library when the veterans needed help. Many of the participants in the project realized that the veterans could have used the benefits of training alongside the students. The vets needed to know that the students had to learn how things work just as they now did. Many of the veterans wished they had been involved earlier in the project to take the same structured lessons as the students. This segment of the grant, training the veterans, should be reexamined in any future projects or before any libraries try to replicate the activities. Perhaps more attention needed to be paid to how adults learn. They have a different style, motivation and pace from the students. The students did not intuitively know how to teach. In adults learning the training is often secondary to the goal, not the goal. The students saw the "need" to make sure the veterans learned everything they did about the Internet and how to use the computers. The veterans' goal was more likely just being part of the process and getting their feet wet, so to speak, on the Internet. As non-traditional library users, they had further to go on the learning curve than the students. The training difficulties were the major downside to the project, and, yet, both the students and veterans had mostly praise for the entire process. Now, there are 48 new Internet users who are familiar with the Web and not afraid of technology. The most striking information to come out of the evaluation process was the mutual respect and understanding both groups had for the other. What examples of community goodwill were built up in each of the libraries! Both the students and the veterans were very excited about the world of information that opened up to them from their home town library. A student from Eureka said "... [they] were in touch with the world." And a veteran from Ashland was amazed at the... "wealth of information available." If we consider the recruiting and training of the veterans to be a negative, then an unexpected plus would have the ripple effect of veterans telling and showing others what they were doing while in the library. This was an unexpected gain. The Web is such a new medium to them. The first need was to explore the variety of sites available and to put their own community on the Net. It will be easier for the vets to come in now and put their stories up for all to see or to have their student tutor do it for them. Tremendously strong bridges were built across the generations! The evaluations showed an enormous amount of "pride in community" from each library. They are excited to be able to put information about their home town on the Web, available to the world, or as one student said, "make people aware of Eureka." Conclusion The evaluations from the facilitators, veterans, students and the librarians all show a high level of enthusiasm for the project, for each other and for their library. There are similarities among the libraries and yet each did the project a little differently. Some used younger students; some used older students. Some libraries used mixers with food to get their veterans and students together. Some are further along in the process of building the Web page. The goodwill is clear among the group of libraries. The librarians, of course, wanted to do more and have things better for their participants. The participants perceive the librarians as very helpful and the library as a wonderful place. The libraries want to continue beyond the grant period. They are discussing ways to further help and integrate the veteran community into their libraries. They are pursuing second-year funding with the hope of focusing on Korean veterans to commemorate the anniversary of that conflict. Another truly unexpected result to come from this project is probably best expressed by a student from Princeville. The question posed was: Did this project change your attitude or knowledge about _____? The answer was, "Yes, [Internet], I hear so many stories about how bad the Internet is, but it isn't much worse than TV, or books. I think the Internet is a very useful tool." And also, probably equally important was this quote from an Ashland veteran. His answer to the same question was, "This project changed my knowledge about many subjects, too much to list." The Illinois Veteran's Home, as an institutional library, learned some valuable things that perhaps were not as noticeable to the other participating libraries. They needed hardware that could travel to the veteran. They also needed hardware that was adaptable for the visually impaired (bigger screens) and for the more severely disabled veteran. Their Web surfers were just as enthusiastic about the world that opened up to them from their own library as were the community veterans, but equipment portability is really an issue in this institution for the future. "Computer Tutors Put Vets on the Net!" was a success for all the stakeholders. The funding agency got tremendous dollar value, the participants got fun, knowledge, friendships, equipment, publicity and community goodwill, 34 and the trainer/coordinators got to see a job well done. The four major "wins" from this project were:
References 1. Rubin, RJ., Intergenerational programming: a how-to-do-it manual for librarians. New York, NY: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc., 1993. 2. Wood, JM., Interagency cooperation: benefits of intergenerational programming. Journal of Youth Services in Illinois, 1996; 9:233-241. 3. Zweizig, D., The TELL IT! manual: the complete program for evaluating library performances. Chicago, IL: American Library Association, 1996. 35 |
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