The Digital Divide sounds like something you would read about in a futuristic novel such as "Fahrenheit 451" or "1984." But it exists today, more real than not.
As more and more resources, from job applications to tax forms, are posted online, those without access to the Internet risk being left behind. Some public institutions, including libraries, can help defray this uneven access. But the question is whether the public can offer enough access to level the playing field. This is the phenomenon known as the Digital Divide.
Bruce Gay, technical services manager at the Milwaukee Public Library, 814 W. Wisconsin Avenue, said the demand for Internet use is so high that it exceeds the supply.
Milwaukee Public Library Central, as this location is known, has 88 computers with Internet access.
Gay said certain times of day are busier than others. He said Saturday morning is a time when a person is more likely to find an available computer, versus a weekday evening, when more people visit the library and the demand for a computer is greater.
"It's busy in spurts," he said. "The demand for computer use has been going up every year."
At the library, users are allowed two hours on the computer and may reserve time up to three days in advance, although doing so is not required.
As more resources are posted online, Gay said lack of Internet access can be a problem. In some cases, it is the only place to apply for jobs.
"Sometimes the people applying for these jobs are the least computer-savvy," Gay said.
This is when the Digital Divide becomes apparent.
"I think there are two parts to the Digital Divide," Gay said. "One is computer ownership — as you are aware the cost of computers is continuing to decrease, but not everyone has the means to purchase one. The second part is literacy — some class distinctions point to that. For example, often, the poor have less digital literacy."
The Digital Divide can also be a way of distinguishing between the principally older generations, those 30 – 35 and older, who were raised before the Internet was widely available, and those who have grown up with the Internet, according to William Thorn, associate professor of journalism.
"The growth of technology is the Digital Divide," Thorn said. "It runs somewhere through people in their 30s. It also depends on where you grew up, exactly how old you are and class. The upper and middle classes may have had the Internet at home for five years or more, where the poor class or people in rural areas have not."
Public libraries are there to attempt to decrease the Digital Divide, according to Thorn.
"They have become the free place to go for Internet access," he said.
He said a problem Marquette initially had at the John P. Raynor, S.J. Library is that people not affiliated with the university were entering the library in such volume that those who were paying tuition could not use the computers. Now there is a user fee for the library, specifically because of the demand for computer use.
Jean Navarro and Monica Sell, both Milwaukee residents, said they had no problem finding a computer at the Milwaukee Public Library.
"We are just using it to check out a couple of things online and check e-mail," Navarro said. "She (Sell) does not have a computer at home."
To keep up with the demand, Gay said each Milwaukee Public Library tries to stock an adequate number of computers.
This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on August 29, 2005.