The Use of the Internet in School Libraries: An International Comparative Survey

Abstract

This research sought to gain an impression of the use of the Internet by school librarians in the United Kingdom and South Africa. The research questions addressed the issues of access to the Internet by school librarians, the purposes for which school librarians used email and the Web, the demand from teachers for access to the Web, the key issues identified by school librarians in relation to the use of the Internet in schools in the next five years, and any differences between the responses of librarians from the two countries. The key findings were that there was limited access to the Internet in the respondents' schools; school librarians used the Web mainly for curricular material; science and geography departments were the heaviest users of the Web; and the key future issues identified included information skills, cost, inservice training, and the role of the school librarian. There were no significant differences between the two countries studied.