The Digital Divide

What It Is & How the Systems Librarian Can Help Overcome It

The Latest treatment for

diabetes

Information & Computer literacy

An Introduction

Types of Literacy Issues

Lack of Access

User does not have access to items due to lack of technology, copyright or poorly designed systems

Lack of Ability to Use Technology to Access

Ability can refer to access issues above or to information literacy issues or literacy problems (e.g. Do they have the skill set needed to retrieve information?)

Lack of Specialized Education (e.g. medical information)

“I don’t understand the information once I have it.”

Literacy Types

Typical HS Grad has 7th-8th grade reading level in US

Information Literacy

Computer Literacy

Health Information Literacy

*These problems can be independent of education level.

Out of the below issues

Literacy

Access to Net/Technology

Access to materials/resources

Information Literacy

Which one is the librarian most concerned with?

Types of Literacy Barriers

• Income

• Education

• Geographic Location

• Limited Literacy

• Computer Skills

• Age

• Language

• Attitudes

• Cultural Issues

• Accessibility

• Trust or Privacy Concerns

Morey OT. Digital disparities: the persistent digital divide as related to health information access on the Internet. Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet. 2007;11(4):23-41.

Addressing Literacy

• Limited ability to address as librarian

• Community programs

• Public Awareness

• SLMS - Very Important, but often undermined in education today!

• No literacy = “Flight Grounded”

Information literacy

Information Literacy is a huge problem in our society

It afflicts not only the poor or ignorant

What did we do before the Net became our tool. Or, were we always this ignorant?

The Information Literacy & Critical Thinking Connection

"…(t)hose who have learned how to learn. They know how to learn because they know how knowledge is organized, how to find information and how to use information so that others can learn from them. They are people prepared for lifelong learning because they can always find the information needed for any task or decision at hand." [ALA]

Information Literacy cont.

Critical thinking plays a role

The ability to critically evaluate

Epistemology or how do we know what we know?

Agnotology

“misinformation” leads to overload and subsequent apathy

Information Literacy cont.

Ironically, the more information we produce, the less intelligent we become

Where is the source? (Example – Wikipedia)

The New Dark Age

Health Information Literacy – A Special Problem

…the ability to read, understand, and act on health information. [Pfizer, 2002] …the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. [Healthy People 2010, 2000]

Health information literacy

• Despite best efforts, terribly difficult to achieve

• Requires literacy, information literacy and understanding of complex medical terminology and information

• Can be difficult for even nurses and doctors due to lack of technical proficiency

• Difficult for patients due to lack of knowledge and technical proficiency

Is technology the answer?

“I just need to write this paper and cite 3 articles.”

Two Problems: 1) Finding the articles 2)Evaluating the sources

Most students only care about the first problem

Technology coupled w/Ability can help solve the first problem

Paradoxically, technology can be both the solution and problem

How Can the Systems Librarian Help?

Pre-Automation the library had no card catalog and over 1000

resources

Vendor evaluation for automation

Automated in May and completed cataloging in August

New ILS roll-out in September

Ultimately a failure

Case Study: Columbus Regional Hospital

The OPAC Incident

Why Did The Implementation Fail?

Common Reasons for Implementation Failures

“If you build it, they will come” philosophy

Users do not understand the technology

Poor design

Implementation lacks “Sociotechnical Approach”

Sociotechnical Approach

Holistic approach to human interaction with technology

Technology is not “the simple solution”

Workflow, ethnographic studies, user-centered approaches

Integrating the tool with user rather than integrating user with tool

Simply understand your user!

So considering all of this, can technology be the answer to

information illiteracy and the digital divide?

Technology as Solution

• With the right approach, technology can indeed be part of the solution

• In and of itself, technology is of little use

• Until we realize AI, we must view technology as supplemental

• Digital Divide can only be partly addressed through technology

Digital Divide Solutions

Increased access to net

Increase access to materials

Educational programming

Improved technology

Address Usability Issues with web resources

Systems Librarian Solutions

• Better systems - the market is listening

• Marketing the Systems & Services – it’s not what you have but what you do

• Understanding the user and what they seek

• Web Visibility - Search Engine Optimization

• Search Log Analysis

Remember:

• The ILS serves two users – the librarian and end-user

• Primary purpose of ILS was initially to automate processes in library

• Today, the ILS has a much broader set of functions

Marketing the ILS

Library as place versus web presence

Library website is gateway to ILS

What do they already use? Google Scholar Other Databases Mobile Technologies

How to catch an end-user

If you can’t get them to your system or website, you can’t hook ‘em

Points to consider:\ Where do they already go

What do they seek?

Collaborations can help

Local collection can attract users

What do they see when they get to your website?

Can Systems Help? A look at specific problems and possible solutions

You just found out your mother has Alzheimer’s.

Can the Library System Help?

Two Clicks via IMCPL

More Problems

What to do on Friday night

I lost my job

I want to learn how to program

I want to read a book about vampires

imcpl.org was able to address all of these well.

A Different Problem Your doctor has just come into your

hospital room and informed you that you have Clostridium Difficile – better known

as C. diff.

Is the OPAC, Library Wesbite or Wikipedia the best source for quick

information?

Your ILS & Library Cannot Compete With:

Google

Yahoo

Wikipedia

Wolfram Alpha

Amazon.com

Anymore Than You Could Compete with Encyclopedia Britannica, World Book or

Ulrich 20 years ago!

The Library & ILS Now Must:

Come back to the community

Concentrate on local interests

Tailor resources to the user

Library Website & OPAC Purposes

Or Why People Might Show Up...

Online Collections Local Collections Events/Schedule Pathfinders Gateway to OPAC

Research Food Review Movie Review

Do you know what your users seek or want?

What your Users Probably don’t want

Too much information To Read Your Policy To Be Information Literate To Understand LCSH Search more than 60 seconds Search more than 3 pages deep Cluttered Web Pages To click the mouse more than 3 times

Summary Points

No single solution

Solutions must address a number of factors to include basic literacy, information literacy and technology that does not alienate end-users

The right systems can be part of the solution

Technology must address usability

Summary Points

ILS & Library can bridge digital divide by providing access, instruction and resources

ILS & Library not meant to compete with large private entities

Library services are best focused on community and users