1 / 15

Our electronic future: key issues & developments for ICT in Public Libraries and their impact on children

UKOLN is supported by:. Our electronic future: key issues & developments for ICT in Public Libraries and their impact on children. Penny Garrod UKOLN University of Bath Bath, BA2 7AY. Email p.garrod@ukoln.ac.uk URL http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/. UKOLN.

breck
Download Presentation

Our electronic future: key issues & developments for ICT in Public Libraries and their impact on children

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. UKOLN is supported by: Our electronic future: key issues & developments for ICT in Public Libraries and their impact on children Penny Garrod UKOLN University of Bath Bath, BA2 7AY Email p.garrod@ukoln.ac.uk URL http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/

  2. UKOLN • national focus of expertise in digital information management • based at the University of Bath • funded by: • JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee: Higher & Further Education sector); • Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries • plus project funding (e.g. EU and JISC) • around 27 staff • carries out applied research (e.g. in metadata), software development and provides policy and advisory services

  3. ICT in UK public libraries: focusing on young users • Key Questions for librarians • What do today’s children and young people want from libraries? • What are their expectations? • What sort of services should libraries be providing? • What do they actually need? • How can libraries link in with schools, social services and all the other agencies dealing with children? • How can libraries attract and retain children and young people? • Can/should public libraries collaborate with private sector: ethical issues; money needed to sustain and develop services; public libraries offer free services.

  4. UK children: creating library services to meet their needs and expectations • Children are increasingly consumer oriented and materialistic • Their worlds revolve around popular culture: TV; pop and football stars; films, computer games etc. • They like and use modern technology: it’s “cool” (82% of 14-16 year olds own mobile phones); use games computers • They like the Internet and interactive media • Many have poor literacy skills and find reading difficult and books ‘boring’

  5. What do children need? • Help with literacy, numeracy and ICT skills • develop information literacy/ research skills; foster inquiring minds • encourage reading and promote books as relevant to their lives; libraries as places to ‘hang out’ with friends and use ICT • develop the creative imagination & thinking skills • motivate them to learn and to experiment with books, the Internet and multimedia ?Can ICT in libraries help with these?

  6. Learning from the best: examples of good practice Library Websites:Portal approach: developed & designed specifically for children & young people links to quality assured educational resources & pre-selected sites* Interactive features Quizzes and games Submit book reviews Links to other library materials: videos, DVDs, CDs etc .. Publicise homework clubs; out of school activities *filtering software has limitations

  7. Examples of good practice • Web-based services • Treasure IslandUKOLN 1997 pilot for Stories from the Web • Stories from the WebBirmingham Libraries:(website +clubs) • Library web sites • Suffolk County Council – children’s Book Zone; ‘fun sites’; links and activities; • Hillingdon - links include National Grid for Learning approved site e.g. ‘Dot’s Den’ • Nottinghamshire Libraries – builds on young children’s interests

  8. Treasure Island – the website http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/treasure /

  9. One of three Treasure Island activities

  10. Stories from the Web http://www.storiesfromtheweb.org/index.htm

  11. Suffolk County Council - Cyberlibrary for children

  12. London Borough of Hillingdon

  13. Nottingham: children’s page http://www.nottscc.gov.uk/libraries/

  14. ICT in Libraries: possible future scenarios? • 3rd generation mobile phones & PDAs: converged technologies • Ebooks: graphic books; key school texts • Virtual libraries: focus on websites and e-learning - less on buildings and bookstock • Web sites: increasingly adopt commercial models e.g. Amazon • Shared Information Environment: schools, museums, libraries, colleges, health & social services + retail & media: share resources & work in partnership. (public sector ethos versus consumerism?)

  15. Conclusions • ICT represents opportunity to capture hearts and minds of young people and make libraries relevant to their lives • Reading and literacy – harness interactive capability of the Internet to encourage children to read and improve literacy and information skills • 21st century children have high expectations based on consumer models and are happy using modern technology • Examples of good practice but not widespread – invest in children- they are the future • Any Questions?

More Related