Montana State University

There is little economic research investigating the impacts of patrons' Internet access—both in the library and at home—on the changing use and availability of traditional library resources. Researchers at Montana State University and the American Library Association will explore the feasibility of an economic study of the Internet's impacts on public libraries. The planning project team will design and test a research questionnaire to see if it can elicit information that would be used to effectively model and quantify these economic impacts and provide insights into appropriate changes in public library operations.