The South Carolina State Library is pleased to announce that it is now a BGTIME participating location. BGTIME (Bridging Generations through Technology, Information, Media and Engagement) and the Web site BGTIME.org are made possible through a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and funding from Central Carolina Community Foundation.
The program is coordinated in the University of South Carolina's renowned IFRA Newsplex multimedia facility. There, students from the University of South Carolina and Benedict College are trained and then dispatched to senior centers and partner sites such as the State Library, to provide guidance and the skills necessary to use this online community forum.
"We are proud to work with our program partners to ensure that significant progress is made in giving our community's seniors a digital voice," said JoAnn Turnquist, Central Carolina Community Foundation President & CEO. "Our participating seniors may be 'tourists to technology' but with the help of our student mentors, they will be savvy travelers."
The student mentors receive a weeklong training course in Newsplex similar to those given to the facility's professional clients. The students learn how to write for the Internet, create audio podcasts as well as shoot and edit video. The students are then paired with seniors to train them not only to access information from the Internet, but also to contribute their personal stories and perspectives.
"We are very pleased to be partnering with the Central Carolina Community Foundation to support such a great program," said Dr. Curtis Rogers, Communications Director at the State Library. The South Carolina State Library hosts BGTIME computers in two locations. Computers are located in the main library at 1500 Senate Street and next door in the library's administration building at 1430 Senate Street.
