Overcoming Information Poverty
Investigating the Role of Public Libraries in The Twenty-First Century
Table of Contents
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A. McKeown, 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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List of Figures
Groups at risk of information poverty. 47
Factors creating information poverty. 64
A continuum of information poverty comparing information poverty (information poor) with information access (information rich). 84
. 85
Daily computer use in the United Kingdom by age group in 2006 and 2015. 100
Average rankings of skills and access that libraries could develop more in disadvantaged areas. 125
Skills continuum. 135
Library activities/services able to best reduce information poverty. Values are based on surveys completed by 22 respondents. 138
Activities in libraries in Northern Ireland. Values are based on surveys completed by 21 respondents. 139
The interdependent levels of accessing and providing information. The process of information seeking is noted by the blue arrows , whereas the process of information provision is noted by the red arrows . 152
Challenges facing branch library managers in socially deprived areas. Data are compiled from surveys completed by 22 respondents. 169
Groups that libraries could target more effectively. Data are compiled from surveys completed by 22 respondents. 173
Process used to measure information poverty. 186
The vicious circle of unemployment, the virtuous circle of public libraries and their associations with information poverty. 188
Focus group 1: information poverty indicators. 197
Focus group 2: information poverty indicators. 203
List of Tables
Methodological framework 12
Branch library managers perceptions on why people in socially disadvantaged areas may not use libraries ( n = 22) 79
Information poverty indicators framework 91
ONS statistics on internet use 99
Home internet access by multiple deprivation measure 104
Northern Ireland findings of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development literacy, numeracy and problem solving skills survey (2013) 118
Applying the information poverty indicators framework 141
Focus group 1: Community centre job club respondent labels 190
Focus group 2: Library job club respondent labels 199
Preface
Overcoming Information Poverty is an adaptation of a recently completed PhD thesis at Ulster University. Writing this book was the appropriate way to disseminate the knowledge gained during my academic studies at Ulster University from 2008 to 2014. I gained first-hand experience of the changing public library service, how information poverty theories can be applied in practice and how public libraries play a vital role in assisting those without the financial means or the skills to access information. The research upon which this book is based was a case study that used Libraries NI, the public library service of Northern Ireland, to investigate how information poverty can be addressed at societal, community and individual levels. This research is, to my knowledge, the first external, large-scale study to investigate Libraries NI since it was set up in 2009.
Overcoming Information Poverty establishes a theoretical framework that demonstrates how information poverty can be conceptualised and targeted at three levels: macro (strategic), meso (community) and micro (individual). The book is innovative, valuable and significant in that it is the first time a unique macro-, meso- and micro-based model of information poverty indicators has been developed and applied to illustrate the impact of public libraries at strategic, community and personal levels. This study applied mixed methods using quantitative and qualitative data obtained from semistructured interviews with library staff and external stakeholders, a survey of branch library managers and focus groups with library users and nonusers. Secondary data from the Northern Ireland Census (2011) and a content analysis of documents strengthened the primary data from the interviews, survey responses and focus groups. In addition, the information poverty literature for example, a 1975 study by Childers and Post of localised information environments, Chatmans small-world theories, and more recent writings from have shaped my thinking and are integrated within this book.
