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

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.