Ten Reasons Why...

These reasons are not static, they will change from time to time for the simple reason that there are more than 10 reasons!

A 'wired society' is a literate society - the web and the Internet is made up of words. It even has stuff about books on it - have a look at The Bookworm!
The more public libraries, and thus communities, are networked, the greater the opportunities will be to provide UK local and community information. Information pertainent to this country, rather than north America will be viable. For example, Rights Information for Young People in Scotland.
Did you know that you can see what's on at your local cinema?
The Internet is not all American nor is it all computers nor is it for white male teenagers. It does contain useful community information and can be a very helpful way for people to communicate. For example, look at the uk people.disability or uk.people.deaf newsgroups, and the List of Services Providing Disability Information and/or Advice [in the UK].
Does your local library hold Hansard, or do you have to go to the central reference library? If the Bid succeeds you wouldn't have to leave your local library as Hansard - the record of our parliament - plus select committees and the Weekly Information Bulletin, are available over the Internet at the United Kingdom Parliament World Wide Web Service.
The Internet allows you to see how other countries view themselves and us, for example through their newspapers, The Irish Times, The Washington Post, Sydney Morning Herald.
By 'talking' with native speakers, the use of the Internet can help with language skills. It is possible to have 'conversations' with people from all over the world - and not necessarily in English, for example, in newsgroups and mailing lists: soc.culture.french and soc.culture.spain
Increasingly reference information, which a smaller public library couldn't afford to hold due to either space or money, can be accessed over the Internet, such as train information, bilingual dictionaries, a searchable Roget's Thesaurus and the CIA World Factbook 1995
People with similar interests and concerns can come together and share information even if they are geographically separated, for example, uk.politics.economics uk.rec.cars.classic uk.rec.caravanning
...? What do you think should go here? Drop us a line and let us know!

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URL:http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/informall/why/tenreason.html
Last revised 31-Jan-1997

Website by Sarah Ormes and Isobel Stark of UKOLN