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(1)

Th P bli Lib i

The Public Library in a

Knowledge-Based Economy

Paul Sturges

Knowledge Based Economy

Paul Sturges

Professor Extraordinary

D t t f I f ti S i

Department of Information Science

(2)

Gloomy Predictions

• Some people (including some librarians) regard the book as outdated.g

• They see the future as entirely dominated by the Internet and its successors.

• They believe this means a complete

disintermediation and an end to the library profession

profession.

• They do not see libraries surviving, except for a few irrelevant monuments.

a few irrelevant monuments.

(3)

A library in Africa

(4)

Old and New Roles for the Public Library

• A more positive view is that the book is far from finished and that there is still a far from finished and that there is still a role for libraries supporting

L i

– Leisure

– Formal Education.

• It is also possible for the public library to function as a socially committed enabler function as a socially committed enabler in the knowledge economy.

(5)

IFLA’s Attitude to Change

IFLA the global bod representing

• IFLA, the global body representing

libraries and librarians, takes a positive view.

• IFLA FAIFE offers new roles for librariesIFLA FAIFE offers new roles for libraries in society through Workshops on:

I t t M if t – Internet Manifesto

– Public Access to Health Information – Transparency and Good Governance

(6)

FAIFE Trainers in Manila

(7)

Roles for the Public Library y

• Developing the Public Library as a Focal e e op g e ub c b a y as a oca Point or social destination

Taking P blic Librar ser ices o t to the

• Taking Public Library services out to the people in Outreach programmes

– Physically transporting traditional services – Disseminating information to the communityDisseminating information to the community

from the Public Library

• Developing Information Literacy in the

• Developing Information Literacy in the community

(8)

The Public Library as Focal Point

• Public libraries often bemoan their use by school children doing homework:

they should seize this as an opportunity they should seize this as an opportunity.

• The library may have little space but it

ff l t l b

can offer a welcome to clubs, committees, working groups.

• Libraries that do have spare space should use this to make the library a should use this to make the library a

‘social destination’ or ‘third space’ in the it

community.

(9)

A Focal Point for Young People

(10)

The Public Library and Outreach

• The library can achieve even more if it y rejects the limits of its walls.

• The library can form alliances for betterThe library can form alliances for better information provision with

Schools – Schools, – Churches,

Cli i

– Clinics,

– Community Centres, and many others.

• People who live too far from the library can be reached by innovative methods y

(11)

Innovative Transport for Outreach

(12)

Using the Cell Phone for Outreach

• Around 2004 the number of cell phones p overtook land lines in Africa

• There are now more than 280 million

• There are now more than 280 million cell phones in Africa and they are

i i t t

increasing at an enormous rate

• This contrasts with a maximum of 67 million Internet users

The cell phone is an ideal tool for

• The cell phone is an ideal tool for outreach activities

(13)

West African Herdsman Using Cell Phone

(14)

Why the Cell Phone?

• The people themselves have identified that cell phones perform functions which they

cell phones perform functions which they need.

• When state telecommunications monopoliesWhen state telecommunications monopolies are broken up and competing cell phone

companies create a market, people find ways

t i ll h

to acquire cell phones.

• They also pay for them, modify them, repair them share them rent them out and exploit them, share them, rent them out and exploit them in ways scarcely imagined in the

industrialised countries.

• The Public Library should seriously consider disseminating information via cell phone

messages.

(15)

What the Cell Phone can do

• Although cell phones require

– Electricity to charge their batteries – Telecommunications networks

• Once these requirements are met, the cell phone can deliver what people need cell phone can deliver what people need

– Contact with friends and family

Contact with officialdom and financial – Contact with officialdom and financial

networks

Employment and business opportunities – Employment and business opportunities

• Without further complication and at a

(16)

An Extended Family

(17)

Case Study: Managing the Extended Family

Family

• Heads of households in extended families are able to deal with their problems and can organise support

p g pp

instantly using cell phones they give to their dependents.p

• Budgeting for daily purchases of food and identification of the best bargains and identification of the best bargains can be done by phone.

C t t ith f il b ki i

• Contact with family members working in the cities and abroad (who can supply

(18)

Information Literacy

• Possibly the chief enabling role that the y g public library can take is through

Information Literacy Instruction.y

• This can begin with Literacy itself and continue with Critical Reading

continue with Critical Reading.

• Important contributions are

Di it l Skill I t ti – Digital Skills Instruction – Internet Use Instruction

• An Information Society does not just happen – it needs professionals and pp p

(19)

Conclusions

• Librarians, particularly public librarians, b a a s, pa cu a y pub c b a a s, spend too much time complaining that their status (and pay) is low

their status (and pay) is low.

• There are opportunities in a Knowledge- Based Economy for libraries to make a vital contribution to social change.g

• Librarians should not wait to be told to accept these opportunities: they must accept these opportunities: they must

seize them and transform themselves in

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