What concerned me most though, was in conversation with the other participants about where they get their information there was a great dismissal of libraries as a resource because ...
the computers don't have USB ports so you can't upload cover letters or resumés, and there are all sorts of blocks to printing stuff off. Not only that, but the computers are so old that sometimes they still have floppy disk drives, or they are so filtered that you can't access the websites you need!Admittedly this was only one conversation, but a perusal of the material I've received recently lists the "local library" twice in nearly ten pages of possible resources.
That doesn't sit with what I have bumped into; not only talking to librarians who work in public libraries, but in the literature about promoting public libraries. So I am left wondering when "the local library" got dropped as a resource for those who are unemployed and without other access to online resources, including government information.
A chance comment from my sibling suggests that "the internet" is being bypassed by the use of smartphone technologies, and that perhaps those that might otherwise have been using a library to look for work are using their phones. I'm not so sure, but it does leave me with a second dose of wondering about the extent to which smartphone technology is being used "instead of" computers and the internet and how it affects public libraries in particular. I suppose this means I now have something new to read up on *G*
Actually, I am now incredibly curious as to what the status is in my local libraries. This means that when I take my "Artist's Date" next week, I plan on taking a busman's holiday to find out the state of library computers in the four libraries in my local council area. Having contributed in one public field *hah!*, I am feeling the need to do something else that might be of social benefit - plus I will have fun driving around the area, which has some lovely views, and that will be good for my soul too.
I know that last bit sounded a bit pompous, but attending a 'Commonwealth Focus Group' has to have had some lasting side affects, surely? *G*
Hopefully I'll be over the pompousity shortly *sighs disparagingly at self*
2 comments:
That's interesting. I work in a public library, and we get people coming in all the time to print their cover letters and resumes, as well as using the internet to search for jobs on websites like seek. All our computers take USBs, we don't have a limit on printing (it's all pay per use), and our filters won't block job searching sites, and if they do, we can unblock them. It's a shame that the agencies don't seem interested in recommending the local library as a great place to do your job seeking, because half of our clientele using the computers would be doing just that.
On the other hand though, agencies will tell people to go to the library to get a form, not telling their clients that they mean to use the library PCs to access their site and find a form that's buried 5 layers down....
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