Kanhiote – Tyendinaga Public Library

Kanhiote Public Library

Tyendinaga – Ontario

Tuesday, 8 November 2011, 11:25 AM

By Kevin Maracle, First Nations Technical Institute, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory

The Kanhiote Library was connected to the Internet via a full time dialup line in 1999 as part of First Nation Technical Institute (FNTI) CAP project funding. At the time FNTI had two 56k Centrex lines connected to a staff-built 5 line dial-up server running Linux. The server was built from assorted odds and ends, for no real costs other than the multiport serial board – significant savings at that time, considering that commercial units cost thousands of dollars.

In 2000 FNTI upgraded to a T1 connection. That fall, in partnership with the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, FNTI installed a wireless network to distribute the T1 to a number of buildings. In 2003 KO-KNET became the supplier of our Internet feed for the community.

Kanhiote 1999, 2010
Kanhiote Library in 1999 (Left) and 2011 (Right)

The new CAP area is handicap accessible and currently consists of 9 computers and a printer. It is well used daily and also has wireless access for members of the community that have their own laptops. The wireless access is also used quite a bit after hours, from the parking lot!

Currently the speed is quicker than dialup access, but not by much at times. Tyendinaga really needs more bandwidth to allow community access to all the information and resources that the Internet can provide to students, professional administrators and people just wanting to learn more about the world. The Kanhiote Library is also not able to publish their catalog for internet browsing due to technical limitations of the current setup. As a First Nations library Kanhiote holds some unique materials that may be of interest to many people.

Kanhiote CAP Site