Small Town USA to Cyber-Town International

INTRODUCTION

Five years ago in the village of Gridley, local dial tone access to the Internet was introduced to the community through an LSCA grant from the Illinois State Library to the Gridley Public Library. At the time, a web was still something that annoyed you in the corners of your ceiling, gophers were animals that dug up your yard, and server was the waitress at the local diner and information was facilitated by a human "net" faster than any Tl line. Thanks to the LSCA grant, today in this small town of 1,300 not only our vocabulary, but our community has been expanded to include a much broader perspective of the world.

Through Gridnet (the name we gave to our local Internet access) community members can now do things as varied as transferring computer graphics to clients, playing virtual bridge with Italians, selling antiques from their home and researching dolphins for a school project. It is amazing that individuals who in the very recent past were still talking on telephone party lines are now communicating with the entire world through their home computers - and loving it. In fact, most Gridnet members now view their Internet access not as a luxury, but a necessity and are panic stricken when their e-mail is inaccessible or they can't surf the Web.

PURPOSE

I was fortunate enough to be a part of the beginnings of Gridnet as a resident of Gridley and project manager for the LSCA grant. At the time of the grant, many small and rural libraries across the country were being connected to the Internet through grant funding but had no training or knowledge of how to use its resources. In addition, most people in rural areas, including Gridley, were paying exorbitant long distance fees to access the Internet through nodes in nearby cities. These fees were in addition to the usual monthly access fees that most Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were charging.

At the same time of this financial inequity and lack of training for rural librarians, there was an increased awareness and interest in local Internet access due in part to a steady migration of people from metropolitan areas to small town life. Many of these migrating individuals (including myself) had already experienced easy and affordable Internet access in metropolitan areas. This factor, along with the media hype of the "information superhighway," had encouraged rural Americans to view Internet access as a necessity for quality of life.

These combined circumstances led to the original purpose behind the grant proposal: to provide a more equitable means of access to the Internet for rural areas; to document a model for networking and automating a rural community through local, regional and state cooperation; and to provide a tool through the creation of a pathfinder for rural librarians to use in meeting the information needs of their patrons.

METHODOLOGY

Because of the high interest in Internet access, a group of Gridley residents had already met before the grant proposal was even written to discuss the possibility for local dial tone access. Included in this group were a local telephone company representative, library trustees, business men and women, high school students, senior citizens, the superintendent of the Gridley schools, teachers, village board trustees, a school board representative and a software engineer. After receiving the grant from the Illinois State Library, this group, along with the Gridley Public Library and Gridley schools, became the beta test group for Gridley Internet access. I believe that the cross section of Gridley residents and institutions in this group provided a spirit of local cooperation as well as helped us to address the variety of needs and issues that arose as we attempted to automate and network the community.

Through the grant, we provided everyone in the beta test group with browser software, log sheets and free local Internet access during the grant period. In exchange, the test group met once a month to report their use of the Internet. This data was then used to create the "Rural Resources on the Internet" pathfinder that was published as a result of the grant. These beta test group meetings were also used to exchange ideas and useful

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Internet sites, receive training and address access problems that occurred. Make no mistake, there were many problems that occurred during those first months of Gridnet. Some were due in part to the instability of Internet access and telecommunications in general at the time; others were simply the result of the normal process of shake down in any new system. However, since we had limited the initial access to beta test members only, this provided a more reasonable environment to address these problems.

Throughout the entire grant period we attempted to utilize creative alliances between local, regional and state resources whenever possible. At different times various organizations, such as the Illinois State University Library, Heartland Community College, Dave's World (a regional ISP), GTE, the Alliance Library System, Illinois Cooperative Extension Service and the Illinois State Library provided support to our local effort. In addition, we tried at all times to encourage a cooperative and mutually productive environment between the local telephone service, businesses, the library, the school and residents by keeping everyone informed and involved in the process.

However, much of the initial success of the creation of Gridley local Internet access was due to the tremendous spirit of volunteerism that seems to always prevail in small towns. This spirit manifested itself in the way the beta test group members mentored one another in installing software and troubleshooting computer problems, in the cooperative brainstorming that enabled us to creatively approach access and hardware issues, and in the eventual creation of a Gridley home page to serve as a resource for the community. It is this same spirit of volunteerism that would be hard to duplicated in another setting, but should be capitalized on if it exists.

REALITIES

There were some realities that we as a community and I as the project manager were unprepared for at the initiation of the grant. Although we should have expected it, a major portion of our time and resources during the grant period were eaten up by technical issues, such as the purchase of hardware and software, placement of equipment, negotiation of bandwidth and identification and contracting of a cooperative ISP. On top of these challenges, many aspects of Internet telecommunications, hardware and software were changing almost daily as the Internet hit a growth spurt during this time. This made it difficult to keep ahead of what the current and most advisable configuration would be for Gridnet.

For those who might be interested in duplicating this model, I cannot stress enough the importance of identifying the appropriate and available technical expertise for this type of project. The local software engineer who was part of our beta test group from the beginning quickly became our technical guru. Without his expertise it would have been impossible to purchase the necessary equipment, identify the appropriate bandwidth and ISP, set up and maintain the server, or even navigate through the sea of technical jargon that is so much a part of the computer and Internet world. Who knew that we would have to talk a different language to negotiate a contract with the Internet Service Provider?

In addition, I would strongly suggest that you include in your beta test group, as we did, someone with expertise in telecommunications. Fortunately for us, Gridley telephone service is provided by a locally owned and operated private company. The president of this company was also a part of the beta test group and provided invaluable advice, expertise and service throughout the creation of our local node. This helped tremendously at times when we needed prompt and personalized service for local connections and in negotiating contracts with other telecommunications providers for bandwidth to the ISP, which was 30 miles away.

Another discouraging reality we had to face fairly quickly had to do with our initial idea for shared bandwidth to Bloomington where our ISP provided was located. Because an ITV project was already in existence at the Gridley schools, we had determined that it would make more sense to share bandwidth with them because it seemed unreasonable to pay for two separate 56K lines to Bloomington. However, due to technical and political issues beyond our control, we were unable to negotiate such an alliance, which later proved to be fortunate because the ITV project is no longer in existence in Gridley.

One of the more challenging realities that we had to face in the formation of Gridnet was the public perception of the Internet (both good and bad) that had been created primarily by the media. On the one hand, because the media in general was touting the Internet as the most powerful and comprehensive information tool since the encyclopedia, many people had unrealistic expectations for how it could be used. These people were at first somewhat disappointed when they discovered that the Internet was not the answer to their every information needs, but usually readjusted their expectations accordingly.

On the other hand, the media was also continually reporting on the typical Internet horror stories of child

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exploitation and pornography that convinced many people that we would have "trouble with a capital T" (as in the Music Man) if we were to allow our children or community to have access to this dreaded resource. I'm happy to say that, for the most part, these people were easily convinced otherwise when they were educated to the possibilities of child software filters and the necessity for parental responsibility.

As an interesting aside, the September issue of Yahoo Internet Life reports that perhaps contrary to popular perception, according to the NEC Research Institute, the total share of pornography represented on the 800 million pages of the Web is actually only 1.5 percent.¹ Obviously that 1.5 percent gets a lot of press and attention and plays a major part in the image of the Internet as the "bad guy."

TRANSITION

As the grant period drew to a close, the challenge for me as a project manager, and for the beta test group as a whole, was to facilitate a smooth transition from grant funding to a community supported Internet access. Our goal for the transition was threefold: to inform the community about the Internet and what it could do for them, to provide a stable and affordable alternative to the long distance access many had been using, and to secure enough ongoing membership to make Gridnet viable using primarily volunteer staff locally. We calculated that if we could secure 50 members at $20 per month for unlimited access we would be able to continue to offer Internet service to the community.

As a part of this transition process we planned a town meeting billed as "The Internet in Gridley," which would introduce Gridley residents to the Internet and its possibilities, as well as gauge the interest level for local support. Flyers advertising the meeting were sent to all residents by Gridley Telephone Company. We also provided a means for those who could not attend to request additional information on Gridnet.

To pique the interest of this primarily farming community, we invited two speakers with Internet experience in the agricultural area - one from the Illinois Cooperative Extension Service and the other from the McLean County Farm Bureau. Before and after their presentations, beta test group members made themselves available as "experts" to answer questions concerning their personal experience with the Internet during the grant period. Also because grant funds had purchased a number of Internet print resources for the library, these were made available for viewing at the meeting. After the meeting the library remained open so that interested Gridley residents could surf the Net with the help of an experienced Internet user.

During this meeting nearly 130 people (10% of the Gridley population) saw a live demonstration of the Gridley Internet access and heard experts discuss the resources and opportunities available to the agricultural community online. Finally, the meeting provided the opportunity to introduce the Gridley home page www.gridley.org, which had been developed as a part of the grant and to discuss the future possibilities for this page as a community resource.

As a result of this introduction, many Gridley residents made an initial three-month commitment to Gridnet membership, which allowed us the freedom not only to continue but to upgrade the equipment and bandwidth for Gridnet.

To provide support for these new users, we established a Gridnet "hotline" (voice mail), which was staffed by experienced volunteers who responded to questions. Free training on the Internet also was provided at the Gridley Library to orient new users to Internet software and resources.

As a way to maintain community input, a Gridnet Advisory Committee was formed from an appropriate cross-section of the beta test group. The committee, which includes representatives from the school, village and library board, telephone company and local businesses, assists the Gridley Library board in making decisions about Gridnet as well as provides volunteer technical expertise to Gridnet users.

Finally as a part of the transitions, Gridley Telephone Company volunteered to handle Gridnet billing in exchange for free Gridnet accounts for their staff. As Gridley residents join Gridnet their Gridnet fees are simply added to their monthly telephone bill. This partnership works well because the Gridley Library does not have the staff resources to run Gridnet.

GRIDNET TODAY

I am happy to report that today Gridnet is not only still in existence, but is thriving with more than 20 percent of the Gridley population in membership and more joining each day. In response to extensive community use and because of continued volunteer staffing, we also have been able to upgrade and keep our server and software current and on the cutting edge as we outgrow each configuration. Recently, our bandwidth was increased to a T-1, and we currently have 48 lines available for local dial access. Believe it or not, there have actually been times when even those 48 lines have all been busy at once.

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I would like to say that the access inequities between rural and metropolitan areas that prompted the proposal of this grant are no longer an issue. However, according to a recent study by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration called "Falling Through the Net II," "those living in rural areas at the lowest income levels are among the least connected" to the Internet.² That means there are still many more communities that could benefit from the type of grant that the community of Gridley received through the Gridley Library.

Because of the success of the grant, Gridnet has been able to offer Internet access to the Gridley Schools at a lower rate than they had previously been paying for access. The library has two computers for free Internet access. Anyone who is a Gridnet member can register a domain name and store a personal or business home page on the Gridnet server free of charge, and local residents can participate in the "high tech" world of e-commerce from the "low touch" environment of a small town.

As a part of my preparation for this article I asked Gridnet members to e-mail me about their use of the Internet. Following are just some of the ways that Gridley residents are currently using the Internet thanks to the grant to the Gridley Public Library.

Computer Graphics Artist - sends and receives massive graphic files directly from his office to clients.

Retired grandmother - sends e-mail to her children and grandchildren; plays bridge in live time with people from all over the world.

Pastor - searches for contractors that are church related; does sermon research and preparation.

Farmer - monitors radar to track weather patterns; checks on grain and hog prices; chats with other farmers about equipment issues.

Paint Contractor - orders paint supplies for his work and garden supplies for his gardening hobby; answers Master Gardening questions for McLean County; advertises rental property.

Illinois State Patrolman - planned a nine-state solo motorcycle trip using the Internet to chart routes and locate lodging and dining.

Retired Snowbirds - access their Gridnet account from Florida to keep in touch with friends and family; research personal hobbies such as genealogy and gardening; search for properties to purchase.

Grade School Student - research a paper on Bali Tigers for a school project; e-mails out-of-town friends; downloads games.

Grain Elevator Owner - receives merchandising information from commodity brokers from different states and other countries; sends information to customers.

Retirees - order medical prescriptions through the Internet.

Professor - telecommutes by communicating with students and faculty through e-mail; researches the library holdings of the academic libraries in Illinois.

Grade School Teacher - reconnected with a grade school friend after 41 years through an alumni Web page.

Church Conference Librarian - takes online classes; communicates with missionaries in other countries.

Insurance Company Representative - listens to Cardinals games; buys books and music; pays credit card bills online; tracks stocks; plans vacations.

Small Business Owner - sells antiques through an auction site and orchids through her own business Web page

Librarian - researches reference questions; develops Internet training materials.

Author/Editor - edits manuscripts in data format online; conducts research for writing.

The theme common to all of these responses was "we can't live without our Internet." Thanks to the LSCA grant from the Illinois State Library, they won't have to.

Endnotes

1. Bel Bruno, Ron, ed., "Click: People, Places, and Trends on the Net." Yahoo! Internet life, (September 1999): 38.

2. National Telecommunications and Information Administration, "Falling Through the Net II: New Data on the Digital Divide." The Digital Divide: A Survey of Information "Haves" and "Have Nots" in 1997, Web Pages, < http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/net2/falling.html>.

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