4 November 2004

Mpumalanga has brought down the curtain on a three-year public library project that has seen basic computer equipment installed at more than 100 public libraries throughout the province.

The R5-million Building Electronic Bridges (BEB) project has linked libraries both in rural and urban areas to an online information system - the Electronic Provincial Catalogue - that enables librarians to carry out functions such as acquiring and issuing books electronically.

It is now possible for the remotest rural library to locate a book anywhere in the province on behalf of a user and request to loan the book, and for anyone with access to a computer to explore the province's libraries from their keyboard.

The libraries also received three CD-ROM encyclopedia sets - Encarta, Britannica and South African Encyclopedia - for access to additional electronic information.

The provincial authorities say the project has succeeded in "leveling the playing field in terms of accessing information" - as well as providing jobs and skills for many librarians.

Source: BuaNews

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