Building tribal community support for technology access

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to summarize the impact of a grant to fund staffing part‐time technology staff at centers on six reservations in Arizona, USA. The grant was designed to determine whether tribal communities would be able to support part‐time technology staff positions at the end of a one‐year funding period.

Design/methodology/approach

Evaluation of the grant was conducted through on‐site visits, interviews with technology staff, grant managers, student interns, and selected American Indian patrons of the technology sites.

Findings

Results indicate that a successful technology training site was dependent on several factors, including the personality and dedication of the technology staff, the location of the center, and the customized services provided. Nine recommendations from the study are identified, including the establishment of state‐level advisory and financial support, sharing of information among sites, building local capacity, continuing education for technology staff, continuance of the graduate student internship program, and continued contact with community technologies as a possible recruiting ground for graduate LIS programs.

Originality/value

Until now little information has been available on how to introduce technology services at information settings in Indian country within the USA.

Citation

Roy, L. (2006), "Building tribal community support for technology access", The Electronic Library, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 517-529. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470610689205