The Digital Divide - OLJ Post

I’ve been interested in the digital divide since I first heard the term when I began my MIS. It is part of the reason that I undertook this unit as I am not a social networker myself and assume that helping patrons who find themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide would be a large part of my duties if I were to work in client services. I had to learn if I was going to teach!

“Commonly, the digital divide is defined as the gap between those who do and do not have access to computers and the Internet” (van Dijk, 2006, p.178). In its early inception the concept of the digital divide was concerned only with access. Mossberger, Tolbert & Stansbury (2003) posit that this is only one of four facets of the digital divide: the access divide, the skill divide, the economic opportunity divide and the democratic divide. Others have also suggested that the digital divide is multi-faceted and even expand further the work of Mossberger, et al. such as van Dijk’s (2005) classification of multiple access divides: motivational, material, skill and usage. This illustrates that the internet is no longer a luxury and those that lack access to it are at a disadvantage in today’s networked society.

Bertot, Jaeger, McClure, Wright, & Jensen, (2009) are mainly concerned with access which is only one facet if the digital divide and the one libraries are already addressing albeit sometimes at a disadvantage. Jenkins, Clinton, Purushotma, Robison & Weigel (2006) concern themselves with more than surface provision of access to networked computers. They also address the skill divide. Furthermore, when Jenkins et al. (2006) illustrate the need engage in the networked society, they are talking about the foundations of digital citizenship. “Digital citizenship is the ability to participate in society online” (Mossberger; Tolbert & McNeal, 2008, p. 14). Participating in society online is more requires a specialised information literacy that goes beyond what was necessary only 5 years ago. Web 2.0 technologies are increasingly multimedia technologies and those not already well practiced in their use fall further behind every day which is why van Dijk (2005) labels the “deepening divide” to the digital divide.

Libraries and librarians are imperative in addressing the inequities of the digital world and not only because they provide free access to it. Libraries and the librarians that work in them offer programs based on the needs of their clients and today their clients need programs that revolve around effective IT use and that include more than basic skills. Today’s library needs to be teaching Web 2.0 technologies like the ones we have been using throughout this semester and to do so they need to be confident with them themselves. While I might not be quite there yet, I think that this course has given me a solid foundation to build upon.

Works Cited

Bertot, J. C., Jaeger, P. T., McClure, C. R., Wright, C. B., & Jensen, E. (2011). Public libraries and the Internet 2008-2009: Issues, implications, and challenges. First Monday, 14(11), 14(11). Retrieved May 2013, from http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/viewArticle/2700/2351

Jenkins, H. C. (2006). Confronting the challenges of participatory culture: Media education for the 21st century. Chicago: The MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved May 2013, from http://digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C-E807E1B0AE4E%7D/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF

Mossberger, K., Tolbert, C. J., & McNeal, R. S. (2008). Digital citizenship. Cambridge: The MIT Press.

Mossberger, K., Tolbert, C. J., & Stansbury, M. (2003). Virtual inequality: Beyond the digital divide. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Prss.

van Dijk, J. (2005). The deepening divide: Inequality in the information society. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

van Dijk, J. (2006). The network society (2nd ed.). London: Sage Publication.