🚀 go-pugleaf

Here is a press release from Pacific Bell that I found
on the company's World Wide Web server at
<http://www.pactel.com/cgi-bin/prman/lnewr/pacbell>.
I don't work for Pacific Bell, but I thought the press
release might be of interest to readers of this newsgroup.

FOR RELEASE:
May 2, 1995

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
David A. Dickstein, 213-975-4074

Library of the Future Premieres in Pasadena

Pacific Bell Links Public Library with State Capitol for Tech Launch

       More information on Pacific Bell's Education First initiative is
available on the
       Pacific Bell Web site <http://www.pacbell.com>.

PASADENA ( Pacific Bell, along with government and business leaders,
will commemorate California Library Legislation Day on May 2 by
unveiling "The Library of the Future," an ambitious project to
transform the Pasadena Public Library into a high-tech
communications and information hub of the 21st century.

The demonstration project, part of Pacific Bell's $100 million
Education First initiative in California, is designed to
revolutionize the way citizens get information and communicate
with government agencies and public officials.

"We want to show how the public library of the future can serve
as a convenient place where people obtain government and health
information, access civic services and records and 'meet'
via a video link with public officials and other citizens from
around the state, nation and world," said Sally Swan, public sector
vice president for Pacific Bell.

Among the day's highlights will be an Electronic Town Hall,
during which Southland librarians will meet with their elected
representatives in Sacramento to discuss critical library funding
issues. Legislators will use the new videoconferencing facility
at the State Capitol to connect with the Pasadena Library. Scheduled
participants include State Senators Tom Hayden (D-23rd) and Newt Russell
(R-21st) and Assembly members James Rogan (R-43rd) and
Sheila Kuehl (D-41st).

Other demonstrations will include:

       Video Help Desk: With the help of desktop computer
videoconferencing and simultaneous file and screen sharing, citizens
will be able to see and get help from an Internal Revenue Service
official while viewing pertinent tax documents on the computer screen.

       Doc in a Box: A demonstration with the Community Breast Health
Project of how public libraries might provide a link to medical and
health resources via videoconferencing and on-line discussion
through the Internet.

       Government On-line: Using a computer with Internet access,
citizens can find and review federal, state and local government
records and information, exchange electronic mail with the White House
and members of Congress, browse the Library of Congress, view text of
proposed legislation and offer their personal views.

       Virtual Community: An electronic visit to the city of Cupertino's
CityNet via the personal computer for a glimpse at some vast community
and reference information, including a demonstration of an on-line
photo archive of missing children.

       Smart Traveler: A trip to the kiosk-based service being tested
in Los Angeles by the state Department of Transportation that provides
real-time freeway and road conditions and other public transportation
information.

Besides the videoteleconferencing technology, other applications
that will be offered under the program include public access by
library patrons and students to the global Internet, according
to Luis Herrera, director of the Pasadena Public Library.

"We're very pleased to be one of two public libraries in California
chosen as a demonstration site for Pacific Bell's Education First
project," Herrera said. "Public libraries have a key role in
providing community education and information services and our staff
looks forward to the challenge of making the 'information superhighway'
accessible and useful to all of our patrons."

Education First is a Pacific Bell initiative aimed at accelerating
deployment of information technology in California's 8,600 public
and private schools and libraries. The program includes:

       $100 million in communications services from Pacific Bell.

       Discounted computers, equipment and other related services
from at least 20 of the nation's leading technology, telecommunications
and information services vendors and manufacturers.

       Teacher training and curriculum development assistance and support.

To showcase the project, Pacific Bell and other technology vendors
have equipped 11 schools and libraries as "model technology" demonstration
sites where government, business and education leaders can see and
learn how electronic learning applications can improve the
educational process.

The demonstration sites also will serve as incubators for
developing technology applications,
training packages and curricula for adoption by other
Education First participants. San Diego
State University's College of Education will help in
application development and special
projects will be developed in cooperation with
organizations such as the Exploratorium in San
Francisco, Marine World Africa USA in Vallejo and
with public television stations KCET in
Los Angeles and KQED in San Francisco.

As one of 11 model technology sites under the
program, the Pasadena Public Library has been
provided advanced telecommunications technologies
to enable the development of new ways
to access and share information over the
evolving information superhighway. These new
approaches involve the use of videoconferencing
and computing which, in the tradition of
American libraries, will be freely accessible
by the general public.

Swan said the company is interested in working
with other libraries and government agencies
to further develop the concept of electronic
service delivery through publicly accessible
technology. For more information, call (415) 542-1957.

Pacific Bell is a subsidiary of Pacific Telesis Group,
a San Francisco-based diversified telecommunications corporation.

# # #
--- forwarded by

Nigel Allen
52 Manchester Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M6G 1V3, Canada
Internet: ndallen@io.org   http://www.io.org/~ndallen
Telephone: (416) 535-8916