Folkbiblioteket och digital delaktighet : en studie av föreställningar om digital delaktighet

Abstract

How is a concept such as digital inclusion perceived by those who, as professionals, teach the skills which promote digital literacy and information literacy? How do instructors at Swedish public libraries understand their part in a process that is designed to enhance digital inclusion? The aim of my study is to understand how public library instructors perceive issues such as these and to uncover the different modes in which they create meaning from their work experiences. Furthermore, I want to examine if and to what extent these views reflect those of contemporary conceptions of lifelong learning. By using qualitative methods of inquiry encompassed in the phenomenographic research approach I have attempted to survey how a phenomenon such as digital inclusion is perceived by different individuals in a group of professionals in a public library context. Today, most public libraries in Sweden offer activities which aim to educate adults in various aspects of information and communications technology (ICT). In their capacity of educational activities for adults they can be subordinated under the general concept of lifelong learning. That is why I have attempted to examine the questions which arise when dealing with issues such as digital inclusion and information literacy by also exploring the concept of lifelong learning. By analysing the empirical data gathered at three of Sweden’s most important public libraries I was able to establish three different categories of interpretation regarding the implication of digital inclusion. Furthermore, the question of how the instructors apprehended their own part in the process of enhancing digital inclusion also generated three categories of interpretation. Much of the previous research on the subject indicates that neo-liberal values are influencing today’s library climate. Although not denying the existence of such a discourse, which can be recognised in political rhetoric for public libraries, I found no indication of such an influence when examining how public library instructors perceive phenomena such as digital inclusion and their own part in bringing it about. Instead, my data indicate the significance of principles such as those which can be found in the philosophical stance of humanist ethics.