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SEFLIN: A Network of Libraries Providing a Multitude of Services

The South Florida Library Information Network, or SEFLIN, has a large membership of libraries in the South Florida area: fifteen university, college or public library systems are full members of SEFLIN; eleven institutions are associate members. In SEFLIN, "these member organizations represent a unique body working cooperatively to serve the needs of over 120 libraries in the area."

On the broadest level, SEFLIN strives to "pioneer innovative technology to deliver optimum library services to South Florida." This goal is then reflected and realized in the many services that SEFLIN provides the residents of South Florida, a service area that area covers 5,000 square miles with 4.2 million residents.

SEFLIN provides, among other things, SEFCAT, a service providing access to the online catalogs of all member libraries - over 4 million records; a document delivery service which makes over 100,000 deliveries a year; a monthly newsletter, EXCHANGE, for its membership; and continuing education, training and consulting with library staff and patrons.

SEFLIN also has created, and now maintains, SEFLIN Free-Net which provides the SEFLIN community with access to local, community-based information and serves Broward, Dade, Palm Beach, Martin and Monroe counties as a connection to Internet sites. Begun as a regional pilot project in Broward County in 1993-94, the Free-Net's services have expanded to include neighboring counties in order to satisfy the vision of a community resource which serves the entire region.

The Free-Net has been very popular with the SEFLIN-served community: 40,000 registrants have "access[ed] the system over 2 million times in less than two years" and Free-Net training has resulted "in over 8,000 members of the public trained each year."

SEFLIN sees the Free-Net project as reinforcing the "roles of librarians as information organizers and providers." In line with this goal, a great deal of local community information is provided at the site, organized into 16 substantive categories (such as Arts and Entertainment, Special Interest Groups, and Medicine and Health). In addition to the local community information, the substantive categories also include some national content.

The Free-Net also provides a training tool for those who, prior to needing help finding substantive information, need some training in using the Internet effectively. The Free-Nets's "Introduction to the Internet" section allows users to get information on: basics about the Internet and the Web, WWW Terminology, what domains mean, search engines, and how to evaluate web sites.

Check out the Free-Net site for more information about the information it provides - and check out SEFLIN's site to learn more about all the different services it offers residents of South Florida!