January 2000

Update: Latvia

During last three months of 1999 there has been intensive growth in web activities in schools in Latvia. At the beginning of the school year new schools were connected to the Net by their municipalities, Some more schools have been connected and still are being connected in the framework of the state financed programme of school informatics. The list of schools connected with Web-sites are published on http://abols.lanet.lv/Skolas/SkoluSaraksts.html

The Soros Foundation in Latvia has implemented a project of Internet points of open access. From the total number of 25 points 12 are situated in libraries, and others in municipalities or in some educational institutions. All these new connections allow the setting up of a server that will support the web site. In all cases, individuals in the appropriate institution have an interest in building web pages and often real pages are built.

In 1997 the Association of museums in Latvia connected a hub for all its members. During 1998 those town and pagasti (civil parish) museums that previously were not under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture were included in the museum-records of the State Department of Museums. For this reason, the total number of museums with Web-sites increased and many museums with their own web sites closed their own Web-sites.

Quite analogously the number of hospitals with connected Web pages has decreased. This has caused an increase in their Web indicator despite there being no relevant new web presentations observed in the last three months.

Similarly the number of Web sites in libraries has decreased but the number has not changed sufficiently to cause an accompanying rise in the percentage of libraries with web sites. However, it may be foreseen that in the near future libraries will be better presented on the Web because some current projects include them.

Sources:

• For total number of "population" - Statistical yearbook of Latvia 1999. It contains information from the end of 1998.
• For statistics of web sites – Statistics of the academic computer network LATNET. End of 1999