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September 04, 2008
Even Librarians Suffer from the Digital Divide.
In the May 2008 issue of Library Journal, Shannon Bohle contributed an article entitled, "The New Digital Awareness". Bohle writes about how every library or information organization falls on a continuum related to how much (or little) the organization shares digital information with other organizations and people.
There are three paradigms put forth by Bohle: the competitive isolationists, the exclusionary collaborateurs, and the free mashups & crossovers. Each group has varying levels of collaboration with other institutions. Bohle says that this level of sharing mainly focuses on metadata. Competitive isolationists often create their own metadata structures and do not share it with anyone else to maintain their competitive advantage. Exclusionary collaborateurs team up with specific institutions and forge formal ties as a basis for sharing. These teams are often determined by geography or linguistics. The free mashups & crossover organizations focus on overcoming boundaries to establishing open access to materials. Bohle discusses the pros and cons of each attitude and points out that the digital divide can even affect libraries and librarians, not just end-users. She suggests that the use of social networking sites is an excellent way to promote and achieve open access.
Shannon Bohle is the founder of Archivopedia and a Reference Librarian at Lima Public Library in Ohio.
--posted by Maggie Anderson
Posted by colldev at September 4, 2008 03:27 PM