PRIORITIES FOR NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN COMMUNITY LIBRARIES IN ILLINOIS (COMPUTER, VIDEO, TELEVISION)

A plethora of new technological development was observed suitable for use in community libraries. A philosophical commonality was established for community libraries as those public and community college libraries governed by local autonomous boards. Research questions were raised concerning the relative needs and priorities of community libraries for new technologies and possible regional variations of those needs or priorities. Community libraries in the state of Illinois were chosen as the study population.;Needs were established for videocassette software lending; computer applications for interlibrary loan, circulation, and reference searching; public access computers; and computer applications for word processing. Priorities were identified as listed above. Minor regional variations were indicated in both needs and priorities.;A review of the literature identified 32 possible applications of new technology in four groups: radio, video/television, computer, and satellite technologies. A survey instrument was developed and sent to 788 community libraries in Illinois. The 484 responses generated a return rate of 61%.