Review-Bishop Article

The community members were mostly interested in community services and activities, resources for their children, healthcare information, education information, employment information, crime and safety information, and general reference tools to search for information. Some of the barriers that this population faced included lacking access to computers and the internet and lacking the experience necessary to operate the computers and the applications available. In several cases, families owned a computer, but it was broken, too old, or only temporary. This indicates another barrier: connectivity. Almost one-third had never used a word processor and nearly half had never used a spreadsheet or database program. Only about ten percent reported using the Web regularly. The Collins family did not own a computer. They had no access at home. Other than Nicole, the rest of the family had very little experience with computers and were in need of training. Also, based on the area their home was located, connectivity was another possible barrier.