Project Title: RAPID: Understanding the Experiences of Public Internet Users during the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic

项目名称：RAPID：了解新型冠状病毒大流行期间公共互联网用户的体验

• 批准号: 2037575
• 负责人: William Staples
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: University of Kansas Center for Research Inc
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-07-01 至 2021-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2037575&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Project; Title; RAPID; Understanding; Experiences

This Rapid Response Research (RAPID) project addresses challenges faced by those who rely on public libraries for their computing needs and broadband Internet access. We see these individuals as disadvantaged by their life circumstances and as being digitally homeless. Without a residence from which they can reach the internet and have sufficient bandwidth, their computing lives are resource-limited, transient, less private, and less secure than those who access broadband from their residences. The novel coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption to life and brought new challenges to the lives of these individuals. The months-long shuttering of libraries has, in essence, evicted these users from their only space for broadband. These people cannot simply work from home or e-learn new skills, nor can their children shift to distance learning. The key questions we address are, how has the pandemic affected library Internet users? How have they adapted to the closure of facilities? Where did they turn for Internet access? How did libraries respond to help meet the needs of patrons? A better understanding on the experiences and needs of the digitally homeless during the current pandemic advances a number of societal benefits and socially relevant and desirable outcomes. Systematic, scientific knowledge will contribute to developing more informed strategies and policies to build a safe and secure cyber-infrastructure that is available to all.As states begin the process of ending stay-at-home orders and libraries reopen, the PIs are collecting qualitative and quantitative retrospective information about what transpired during the quarantine and what is transpiring as states reopen. They are soliciting cooperation from library computer users at the local research site to complete a brief survey, and a subset to participate in field interviews. They also are generating a multi-stage cluster sample of library systems in the U.S. Team members are contacting selected libraries though phone or email to collect information on their experiences with the closures, how they did or did not provide open Internet access to the public, and what steps were taken to ensure secure and trustworthy access. The researchers are conducting a content analysis of news stories published during and after the pandemic regarding the experiences of Americans without internet access and how they coped during this time.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该快速响应研究 (RAPID) 项目旨在解决那些依赖公共图书馆满足计算需求和宽带互联网接入的人们所面临的挑战。我们认为这些人因其生活环境而处于不利地位，并且被视为数字无家可归者。如果没有可以访问互联网并拥有足够带宽的住所，他们的计算生活将是资源有限的、短暂的、私密性较差且安全性低于从住所访问宽带的人。新型冠状病毒和COVID-19大流行给人们的生活造成了前所未有的破坏，给这些人的生活带来了新的挑战。图书馆长达数月的关闭实质上已将这些用户逐出了他们唯一的宽带空间。这些人不能简单地在家工作或通过网络学习新技能，他们的孩子也不能转向远程学习。我们要解决的关键问题是，疫情对图书馆互联网用户有何影响？他们如何适应设施的关闭？他们从哪里寻求互联网接入？图书馆如何应对以帮助满足顾客的需求？在当前大流行期间更好地了解数字无家可归者的经历和需求可以带来许多社会效益以及与社会相关和理想的结果。系统的科学知识将有助于制定更明智的战略和政策，以建立一个可供所有人使用的安全可靠的网络基础设施。随着各州开始结束居家令和图书馆重新开放，PI 正在收集有关隔离期间发生的情况以及各州重新开放时发生的情况的定性和定量回顾性信息。他们正在征求当地研究地点的图书馆计算机用户的合作，以完成一项简短的调查，并邀请一部分人参与实地采访。他们还正在生成美国图书馆系统的多阶段集群样本。团队成员正在通过电话或电子邮件联系选定的图书馆，收集有关他们关闭图书馆的经历、他们如何或不向公众提供开放互联网访问的信息，以及采取了哪些措施来确保安全和值得信赖的访问。研究人员正在对大流行期间和之后发布的新闻报道进行内容分析，内容涉及美国人没有互联网接入的经历以及他们在这段时间如何应对。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。