Although they are one of the fastest growing groups using the Internet, few facts are known about actual Web usage by seniors. A new study, though, shows that older people using the Internet for the first time search for Oprah Winfrey more than osteoporosis and seek news and travel information over aging issues.

The information comes from more than 7000 searches nationwide by new users over age 65 who gained access to the Internet through a new nonprofit educational program called Generations on Line. The program is available free to seniors through local senior centers, libraries, nursing homes and retirement communities that order the program.

"The top five categories new older Internet users searched for are travel, computing, current events, entertainment and family history," Generations on Line founder and chief executive officer Tobey Dichter told an audience Tuesday at the Second Biennial National Conference on Older Adults, Health Information and the World Wide Web. The vent was held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md., and was sponsored by the Spry Foundation in cooperation with NIH.

Dichter added, "With 21 million people over the age of 65 unable to use computers, it was critical to make the Internet fast, easy, free, and accessible where seniors live or congregate. After five months of operation, we collected and categorized the topics these new users entered. The terms reveal interest in the past and present, from Oscar Peterson to Oprah Winfrey, from Hegel to Humor, the Bible, newsmakers, and places to travel or where they were born many years ago."

Dichter also said that many facilities serving elders are woefully behind in providing Internet access for their patrons.

"Society has begun to identify the digital divide as a senior issue, but we have not really addressed those institutions where seniors live and meet as obvious access points for the new media. Although some senior centers are beautifully equipped, the majority in poorer areas are not."

Generations on Line is available in 120 facilities in 17 states. The number of searches performed to date is 10,000. People over 65 who are unfamiliar with computers learn and use the basic functions, including an intergenerational chat about the past, simplified email, and a specially designed search with results returned in 25 different languages, provided through a partnership with Alta Vista.com.

Generations on Line can be found at http://www.generationsonline.com.

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