But many do not, and between the Internet and an excellent public library system, most Americans can learn pretty much anything for a nominal fee.

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Last December, Google unveiled a gargantuan effort to scan the library collections of Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, the University of Michigan and the New York Public Library into an Internet database.

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Your local health department, public library, telephone book and the Internet also may be good sources for finding a support group in your area.

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To be sure, much of what students get on the Internet still comes in books available free at school or the public library.

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The Chicago Public Library system found that 60 percent of the people using the Internet in their branches were applying for or seeking information about jobs.

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However, the American Library Association claims the program has revolutionized libraries, allowing them to provide public Internet access and other services that would disappear if the program were cut.

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