Internet Access vs. Dial-In Access

[Scott Bauer]

*** Crossposted to Publib, Web4lib, and CARL-L, with apologies ***

The Contra Costa County Library currently offers remote access to our
catalog through both Telnet over the Internet, and through dial-in modem
connections.  We plan to offer Web-based access to the catalog in the near
future. 

As part of planning for future remote access needs, we are considering
changing the number of dialin lines that we have available, as well as
whether we should add toll-free access via an 800 number for our dial-in
users. We would be interested in hearing from other libraries that offer
both 800 number dial-in access and Internet access (whether Telnet or Web
based) to their catalogs.  In particular, we would like to know:

(1) What percentage of your remote users each kind of access represents,
(2) Have these percentages changed substantially over the past year,
(3) If you have added web access to the catalog as a supplement to Telnet
access, how much has Telnet access dropped off (if at all)?
(4) Do you have plans to reduce the number of dialin lines offered as a
result of providing Internet access?

Thank you very much for any information you can provide.  I'll summarize
responses to the lists....

Scott Bauer   sbauer at ccnet.com   OR   sbauer at mail.contra-costa.lib.ca.us
Contra Costa County Library