Information Institute Paper by Mandel, Alemanne, and McClure Wins Best Paper Award at the iSchools’ iConference 2012

An Information Use Management & Policy Institute (Information Institute) paper won one of five best paper awards at the iSchools’iConference 2012, held February 7-10, 2012 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  The paper, Rural Anchor Institution Broadband Connectivity: Enablers and Barriers to Adoption, covers two projects currently underway at the Information Institute at the Florida State UniversityCollege of Communication and Information, School of Library and Information Studies.  It was presented at the conference by Lauren H. Mandel, Research Coordinator, and Nicole D. Alemanne, Research Associate, of the Information Institute, who co-authored the paper with Charles R. McClure, Francis Eppes Professor and Director of the Information Institute.

The paper was one of 53 accepted to this year’s iConference.  It presents findings from broadband needs assessments the Information Institute conducted at rural anchor institutions for the North Florida Broadband Authority (NFBA) and the Florida Rural Broadband Alliance, LLC (FRBA) service areas—the North Central, Northwest, and South Central Rural Areas of Critical Economic Concern (RACEC) in the state of Florida.  It also proposes a model of community-based broadband planning that the Information Institute developed.  See the Information Institute’s NFBA and FRBA project websites for more information.