Article from Sidmouth Herald published during 'folk week' 2002.

Libraries next target after bloom town rap

PRIVACY while using computers made available in public libraries for internet and e-mail use is the latest cause being grappled with by Dr Stephen Wozniak. He is hoping visitors to Sidmouth International Festival who use the Sidmouth Library facilities will tell him what they think via e-mail.

Best known for his stance against Britain in Bloom, Dr Wozniak has used letters to national and regional press to criticise the lack of privacy for people who want to use public access computers for medical or banking web-sites.

He based his experience on Sidmouth Library, which recently had a number of computers installed under the Government's People's Network initiative. He has since visited other libraries during a week away from his home in Packhorse Close and found there was a widespread dislike of library computers because they are overlooked.

He said: "I have concluded from my survey of users and from discussions with several helpful librarians that hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of equipment has been installed without anyone thinking through what people really want. This is despite the existence of professional on-line discussion forums being devoted to use of the internet in libraries."

Of Sidmouth Library, Dr Wozniak said he would praise the friendly staff and the fact that the first half hour's use of computers is free. However, even the latter point needed examination.

He said: "In some areas they charge £1.50 and as a consequence libraries have banks of expensive machines consuming energy all day yet being little used.

"This whole area seems ripe for an injection of logic, especially as most use seems to be for e-mail and trivia which are hardly core library functions that should be funded at public expense."

In some areas surveys of library users have been carried out, but Dr Wozniak is critical of the forms used. He said: "All that is necessary is to have one sensibly designed form. Instead of the job having been properly done, I have seen a plethora of amateurish, locally-designed leaflets.

"There was a similar problem at East Devon District Council when 90 per cent of the data collected during a large survey could not be analysed.

"Later, DCC produced a laughable survey of accident data during the Sidford traffic lights consultations. It took quite a bit of correspondence before either of them owned up.

"I get annoyed by the rubbish we have to pay for out of our Council Tax. It is not rocket science to design a logical questionnaire that combines relevant questions into a format such that the answers would be useful for planning purposes."

Dr Wozniak has set up an e-mail address, libprivacy@hotmail.com, for his own library use survey and hopes Sidmouth residents and international festival visitors will log on to register their thoughts. He said: "Perhaps if it is raining they would like to e-mail home for free and then tell me if their own library has paid such scant regard to user preferences."

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