Florida State University (Florida State University, Division of Sponsored Research)

Broadband adoption and access to the Internet are viewed as key to creating economic development opportunities in rural America. Researchers from the Information Institute at the Florida State University will collaborate with leaders from Opportunity Florida, the Panhandle Library Access Network, and community organizations in rural northwest Florida on a six-month planning project to identify strategies to promote education, instruction, and broadband planning in rural public libraries, and to create opportunities for local economic development. The overall goal of this planning project is to determine how best to educate rural librarians in order to maximize the benefits of broadband adoption in rural northwest Florida by addressing the following questions: What topics are essential? Who should be involved in the education and planning processes? Which venues are most appropriate and effective for the training based on prior Information Institute research?