Abstract
In these times, public libraries in many countries have increasingly come under pressure from developments within the information landscape. Thus, not least because of the massive digitization of information resources, the proliferation and popularity of search engines, in particular Google, and the booming technologies of Web 2.0, public libraries find themselves in a very complex situation. In fact, the easy-to-use technologies of Web 2.0 challenge the basic principles of information services provision undertaken by libraries. The new digital information environment and social software tools such as blogs, wikis and social networking sites have fuelled a discussion of the future of public libraries as information providers. After all there seems to be a need for public libraries to reorient their aims and objectives and to redefine their service identity. At the same time search engines, and especially Google, are increasingly coming under scrutiny. Thus, analysis results referred to show that the conception of information and the underlying purpose of Google differ from those of public libraries. Further, an increasing amount of criticism is being directed at collaborative spaces (typically Wikipedia) and social networks (e.g. MySpace) and it is pointed out that these social media are not that innocent and unproblematic. In discussing the survival of public libraries and devising an updated role for libraries in the age of Google and social media, attention should be given to fleshing out a new vision for the public library as a provider of alternative information and as an institution supporting information democracy.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Coyle, K.: The Library Catalog in a 2. 0 World. Journal Academic Librarianship 33, 289–291 (2007)
Stark, E.: Free Culture and the Internet: A New Semiotic Democracy (2006), http://www.opendemocracy.net/arts-commons/semiotic_3662.jsp
United Nations: Earth Summit. Agenda 21: The United Nations Programme of Action from Rio. United Nations, New York (1992)
Kenney, G.I.: The Missing Link – Information. Information Technology for Development 6, 33–38 (1995)
Talero, E., Gaudette, P.: Harnessing Information for Development. A Proposal for a World Bank Group Strategy. World Bank Discussion Papers no. 313. The World Bank, Washington, DC (1996), http://wwwwds.worldbank.org/servlet/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/1999/08/15/000009265_3961219093624/Rendered/PDF/multi0page.pdf
Hadden, S.G.: Democracy on the Electronic Frontier. In: Chapman, G. (ed.) Beyond the Endless Frontier. MIT Press, Cambridge (1996)
Doctor, R.D.: Justice and Social Equity in Cyberspace. Wilson Library Bulletin 68, 34–39 (1994)
Keen, A.: The Cult of the Amateur: How Blogs, MySpace, YouTube and the Rest of Today’s User-Generated Media are Killing our Culture and Economy. Nicholas Brealey Publishing, London (2008)
Eisenberg, M.: The Parallel Information Universe: What’s out There and What it Means for Libraries. Library Journal 133, 22–25 (2008)
Lietzau, Z.: U.S. Public Libraries and Web 2.0: What’s Really Happening? Computers in Libraries 29, 6–10 (2009)
Lancaster, N.: Web 2. 0 - Hype or Helpful? [Social Networking: Citizen Engagement]. Public Library Journal 23, 6–8 (2008)
Luyt, B., Ally, Y., Low, N.H., Ismail, N.B.: Librarian Perception of Wikipedia: Threats or opportunities for librarianship? Libri. 60, 57–64 (2010)
Brabazon, T.: The Google Effect: Googling, Blogging, Wikis and the Flattening of Expertise. Libri. 56, 157–167 (2006)
Waller, V.: The Relationship Between Public Libraries and Google: Too Much Information. First Monday 14, 9 (2009), http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2477/2279
McCabe, R.B.: Civic Librarianship: Renewing the Social Mission of the Public Library. Scarecrow Press, Lanham (2001)
Kranich, N.: Libraries, the Internet, and Democracy. In: Kranich, N. (ed.) Libraries and Democracy: The Cornerstones of Liberty, pp. 83–95. American Library Association, Chicago (2001)
Alstad, C., Curry, A.: Public Space, Public Discourse, and Public Libraries. LIBRES Library and Information Science Research Electronic Journal 13 (2003), http://libres.curtin.edu.au/libres13n1/pub_space.htm
Skot-Hansen, D., Andersson, M.: Det Lokale Bibliotek: Afvikling Eller Udvikling. Danmarks Biblioteksskole and Udviklingscenteret for folkeoplysning og voksenundervisning, Copenhagen (1994)
Matarasso, F.: Beyond Book Issues: The Social Potential of Public Libraries. British Library, Research and Innovation Centre, Comedia, London (1998)
Durrance, J.C., Pettigrew, K., Jordan, M., Scheuerer, K.: Libraries and Civil Society. In: Kranich, N. (ed.) Libraries and Democracy: The Cornerstones of Liberty, pp. 49–59. American Library Association, Chicago (2001)
Becker, S., Crandall, M.D., Fisher, K.E., Kinney, B., Landry, C., Rocha, A.: Opportunity for All: How the American Public Benefits from Internet Access at U.S. Libraries Institute of Museum and Library Services, Washington (2010), http://impact.ischool.washington.edu/documents/OPP4ALL_FinalReport.pdf
Segaran, T.: Programming Collective Intelligence: Building Smart Web 2.0 Applications. O’Reilly, CA (2007)
Levy, P.: Collective Intelligence Mankind’s Emerging World in Cyberspace. Kelly, New York (1997)
Kelly, K.: The New Socialism: Global Collectivist Society is Coming Online. Wired Magazine (2009), http://www.wired.com/print/culture/culturereviews/magazine/17-06/nep_newsocialism
Jadinge, A.L.: The Political Library: The Public Library as a space for citizens’ participation and public discourse (2004), http://www.abm.uu.se/publikationer/2/2003/189.pdf
Wikinews: YouTube Banned in Turkey Once Again (2008), http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/YouTube_banned_in_Turkey_once_again
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Oğuz, E.S., Kajberg, L. (2010). The Implications of Information Democracy and Digital Socialism for Public Libraries. In: Kurbanoğlu, S., Al, U., Lepon Erdoğan, P., Tonta, Y., Uçak, N. (eds) Technological Convergence and Social Networks in Information Management. IMCW 2010. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 96. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16032-5_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16032-5_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-16031-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-16032-5
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)