Resolution of Support

A RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF
NORTH CAROLINA LIBRARIES FOR VIRTUAL EDUCATION (NC LIVE)
Passed this 19th day of April, 2002

WHEREAS ready access to information is essential for the education, economic development, research, and recreation of the people of North Carolina; and

WHEREAS the elected officials of the state of North Carolina have sought to provide important online information resources to the people of the state through an efficient and effective collection of electronic databases, resources, and associated centralized support in the form of “North Carolina Libraries for Virtual Education” (NC LIVE); and

WHEREAS NC LIVE offers the people of North Carolina 24-hour online access to complete articles from over 7,800 newspapers, journals, magazines, and encyclopedias, indexing for over 15,000 periodical titles, and access to over 14,300 electronic books; and

WHEREAS these resources receive extensive use by the people of the state (over 91,000,000 “hits” on NC LIVE servers in 1999-2001); and

WHEREAS NC LIVE is available free of charge, on-site or remotely, for library patrons, researchers, and educators via the state’s public libraries, community colleges, university system, and members of the North Carolina Association of Independent Colleges; and

WHEREAS state funding levels the playing field so that individual economic status, rural isolation, community institutional financial constraints, and limited local library resources are not barriers to accessing information; and

WHEREAS continued development of the state’s information infrastructure will only achieve its full potential if there is quality content, as currently provided by NC LIVE, for that hardware to provide;

NOW, THEREFORE, let it be resolved by the Executive Board of the North Carolina Library Association that this body, on behalf of the people its members serve,

offers its sincerest gratitude to the state’s elected officials who, in their farsighted judgment, recognized both the immediate and long-term benefit of providing quality online information to their constituents, and thereby provided state support for NC LIVE; and

urges the elected representatives of the people of North Carolina to support appropriate funding levels to ensure the uninterrupted access to the information sources accessed by NC LIVE; and

pledges itself to do all in its power to support the further development and expansion of information resources for the education, economic development, research, and recreation--NC LIVE among them--of the people of the state of North Carolina.

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Signed, Ross Holt, President