Executive Summary

This section first presents key cumulative findings of the survey that measured technology use and digitization activities by museums and libraries. It then presents a series of tables and graphs that compare survey responses by museums and libraries based on a variety of categorizations. The most significant of these categorizations is the one on which most sections of this report are based: museum, public library, academic library, and State Library Administrative Agency (SLAA). Further categorizations are by such measures as budget size, size of populations served, and current extent of technology use and digitization.

Key Cumulative Findings
The survey results quantify, for the first time, the current status of technology use and digitization activities by museums and libraries. The reliability of findings varies somewhat based on the rate at which institutions in various categories responded to the survey (see "Background on Study and Methodology" for a detailed discussion of reliability of responses). Nonetheless, some broad and significant cumulative findings are clear.

Technology Use
Libraries' technology use is pervasive, particularly the basic technologies that automate and support services to the public.

The different kinds of libraries in the survey have sources of funds that have enabled them to invest in technologies.

• Public libraries have benefited from E-Rate discounts, grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and IMLS' Grants to States program, which is Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds administered by the State Library Administrative Agencies. ²
• Academic libraries use operating funds, gifts from donors and IMLS funds to support their technology needs.
• State Library Administrative Agencies (SLAAs) use LSTA and operating funds to implement technology.

• Eighty-seven percent of museums are using some technology to automate operations and support programming.
• Roughly 13 percent of museums currently use no technologies, and 42 percent of those have no immediate plans for adding technologies.
• Sixty-seven percent of the survey's museum respondents have budgets of $250,000 or less. Among this group, only 55 percent have access to the Internet, e-mail, and standard office software. Only 41 percent have a Web site.

There are fewer sources of funds available for museum investment in technology.

• The funding programs that have benefited libraries have not been available to museums.
• Key sources of funding include operating funds, gifts from donors, and in-kind contributions. Twenty percent of all museums reported having 'no funding for technology.'

Museums and public libraries alike demonstrate a marked gap between small and large institutions.

Small museums are less likely to be using technologies than medium-sized and large museums. The distinction is pronounced: While 87 percent of all museums have some technology, the percentage of small museums with technology is significantly lower. Thirteen percent of small museums use no technology. Small public libraries fared better than their museum counterparts. For example, 85 percent have e-mail and Internet access. Yet they lag in use of online catalogs, desktop computers and Web sites.

Digitization Activities
Digitization activities are an emerging focus in museums and libraries, with substantial work being done by State Library Administrative Agencies (SLAAs).

• More than 78 percent of all SLAAs reported digitization activities in the past year. Compare this with 32 percent of museums, 34 percent of academic libraries, and 25 percent of public libraries. Larger museums, academic libraries, and public libraries are more active than the smaller ones.
• SLAAs lead in all areas of digitization, including funding (primarily through the receipt of LSTA funds from IMLS and other funds from their states), collaboration among institutions, and digitization policies.
• All groups have plans to digitize in the next 12 months and beyond, indicating a significant expansion of digitization activities.
• Collaboration in digitization activities and the adoption of policies and standard practices for digitization in museums, academic libraries, and public libraries lag significantly behind the SLAAs. These are important areas for development.

Key Technology Use Findings
A substantial majority of all respondents use new technologies. Those used most commonly are listed below. Those used most commonly are listed in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Strenghts in Technology Use

Exemplary Project: Colorado Digitization Project Museums, libraries, archives, and historical societies in Colorado have discovered that collaboration is a powerful approach for putting collections online. IMLS funded the Colorado Digitization Project (CPD), a multifaceted effort to make the rich primary source holdings of Colorado's cultural heritage organizations available online. Through grants to cultural heritage organizations and a combination of training, collaborative outreach, research, and technical support, the CDP created an extensive infrastructure to support the creation of digital collections. The project Web site, Heritage, provides a gateway to the collections, as well as a digital "toolbox" for digital project administrators, and resources for teachers.http://coloradodigital.coalliance.org/

Almost all libraries and SLAAs have sources of funding technology; one source for many of them, particularly SLAAs, is IMLS. A large, but markedly lower, segment of museums has technology funding. Only 2 percent of museums use IMLS funding for technology. (see Figures 2a and 2b)

Figure 2a: Institutions That Have Some Funding for Technology



Figure 2b: Institutions That Have IMLS Funding

Web sites and technology that supports programming are employed by most surveyed institutions, although their presence is far from pervasive. (see Figures 3-5)

Figure 3: Who has a Web Site.

Figure 4: Current Use of Technology to Support Programming

Figure 5: Types of Programming Activities Supported by Technology

Exemplary Project: Digital Collections-Museums and Libraries Find Common Ground Museums and Libraries in every corner of the country have been affected by the World Wide Web. What issues face these institutions as they consider the best ways to use the Web to expand access to their collections? This was the subject of a unique gathering of 30 library, archive, and museum policymakers sponsored by the Council on Library and Information Resources and the Chicago Historical Society. Supported by an IMLS LSTA-funded National Leadership Grant, the meeting proved that museums and libraries share acres of common ground in the new digital world. http://www.imls.gov/closer/archive/hlt_c0900.htm

Key Digitization Activities Findings
Digitization activities are significantly less pervasive among institutions than use of technology. Only SLAAs are above 50 percent in digitization activities. (see Figure 6)

Figure 6: Which Institutions Have Digitization Activities?

What is being digitized? Historical documents/archives and photographs were frequently selected for digitization by all types of institutions.(see Figure 7)

Figure 7: Materials Currently Being Digitized

What do institutions hope to accomplish with their digitization projects? There is considerable convergence of chief goals among the different groups. Museums and libraries look at "collections" differently, but, in general, all of the groups have similar goals. (see Figure 8)

Figure 8: Rankings of Primary Goals of Digitization

What funding sources are used for digitization projects? Principal sources of funding for digitization also varied widely by type of institution. (see Figure 9)

Figure 9: Top Funding Sources by Institution

Exemplary Project: Web Delivers Digital Picture of Native American History The Native American collections of Montana are rich with images of the Cheyenne, the Gros Ventres, and twelve other Plains Indians cultures. An IMLS LSTA-funded National Leadership Grant allowed Montana State University Libraries at Bozeman and the Museum of the Rockies to create a searchable database of 1,500 images from five collections across the state. http://www.imls.gov/closer/archive/hlt_c0500.htm

What are the hindrances to digitization? Among institutions with current or planned digitizing activities, hindrances to more extensive digitization are the same regardless of institution type. Those with no current or planned digitizing report more hindrances that vary somewhat by institution type. (see Figure 10)

Figure 10: Most Common Hindrances by Institution Type

Who has digitization policies? Less than half of responding museums, public libraries, and academic libraries have digitization policies in place or in development. Only among SLAAs-where more than half of respondents are doing digitization-are policies in place or in development. (see Figure 11)

Figure 11: Digitization Activities and Policies by Institution Type

Exemplary Project: Hardscrabble Mountaineers, Spanish Settlers, Native Americans-The Cultures of Taos Valley Unearthed New Mexico's Taos Valley is steeped in the cultures of Native Americans, Spanish settlers, mountain pioneers, and artists' colonies. The unique southwest collections in local museum archives were once the sole purview of curators. Now, thanks to an IMLS grant and the online catalog of the University of New Mexico, three Taos Valley museums' archives are available to everyone, including 14 year-old Joe Kierst, who is 100 pages into his historical novel about Peg-leg Smith, Cerain St. Vrain, William Becknal, and other hardscrabble mountaineers. http://www.imls.gov/closer/archive/hlt_m0701.htm

Key IMLS Roles Findings
Funding to support technology implementation and digitization activities was the outstanding role identified for IMLS by both museums and libraries. Other ways of assisting with funding needs were also desired: identifying other sources of funding; identifying costs and resources needed; and identifying cost-effective technologies.

Another IMLS role that was strongly supported is the identification of best practices, model projects, and information about standards, guidelines, and resources. This finding is based on combined responses about roles for both technology support and digitization activities.

A substantial number of museums and libraries said that they did not know what IMLS' role should be. Some indicated that IMLS does not have a role.