Information literacy: A driving engine for economic success

1. Information literacy: A driving engine for economic success An East-West/North-South comparison Barbie E. Keiser barbieelene@att.net Internet Librarian International London, October 2007

2. Impetus for this study Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Criteria for Market Attractiveness Choosing nations Central European Initiative (CEI) International Center for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE) Why should we care? Inter-relationship of information literacy & knowledge management Introduction to this work-in-progress

3. Research-in-progress focusing on three levels: nation/society, organization, individual Characteristics of information literate societies, labor forces, and individual entities Evidence of information literate societies, labor forces, and individual entities Necessary elements and contributory factors What constitutes economic success? Comparing Central/Eastern Europe and older members of the EU Specific opportunities with regard to information literacy Research agenda

4. People who recognize their need for information and can identify, locate, access, evaluate, and apply the needed information Entities that organize and manage information so that their employees, suppliers, customers, and joint-venture partners can easily access and use it Socio-economic and political development are best advanced by...

5. Benefits Citizenry that can actively participate in government decision-making Ability to make use of e-government opportunities Value analysis Media-literate, informed voters Productivity Citizens Government workers An information literate society

6. Benefits Easy access to industry from those abroad Informed potential pool of investors Value Analysis Increased foreign trade & foreign direct investment An information literate industry

7. Benefits More efficient workforce, experiencing less frustration Individual companies able to take advantage of opportunities in an expeditious manner Value analysis Productivity of workers Options for teleworking/ telecommuting dependent on broadband or other high-speed Internet access Carbon footprints An information literate entity

8. Quantitative Factors Economics & finance Business, labor & employment Population demographics Education & literacy Libraries & library staff education Infrastructure Information & technology Qualitative Factors Tax incentives & small business development programs Information literacy policies Continuing education and training opportunities for lifelong learning (upgrading skills) Measuring the impact of information literacy

9. CEE Albania Belarus Bosnia-Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic Estonia Hungary Latvia Lithuania Macedonia Moldova Poland Romania Serbia/Montenegro ex. Kosovo Slovak Republic Slovenia Ukraine ICPE Albania Algeria Bangladesh Bosnia-Herzegovina Congo Congo D.R. Guinea Guyana India Iraq Macedonia Nepal Slovenia Somalia Sri Lanka Syria Tanzania Venezuela Zambia Countries in question

11. Central and Eastern European countries displaying evidence of information literacy Greater Investment in information literacy Lesser Greater Size & strength of country economies

12. Where ICPE member countries stand Greater Investment in information literacy Lesser Greater Size & strength of country economies

13. Quantitative Total Gross Domestic Product Per capita GDP Services as a percent of GDP Foreign direct investment Qualitative Active stock exchange VAT/taxation policies Economic & financial indicators

14. Quantitative Total employment Percent of population employed/unemployed Percent in agriculture, industry, services Size of business by number of workers employed Knowledge workers (white collar vs. blue collar employment) Education levels of employees (primary, secondary, tertiary) Productivity of workers New business start-ups Qualitative Rationale Active Chambers of Commerce, industry associations, and (international) trade show events Efforts to re-skill the labor force Business, labor & employment

15. Quantitative Population, total Population, 0-14 Population, 15-64 Population, 65+ Demographic projections Immigration/emigration rates Qualitative Rationale Current “market” for information literacy programs School age Labor force Older adults Population demographics, current & projected

16. Quantitative Literacy rates Expenditures per student (primary, secondary, tertiary levels) Graduation/completion rates Availability of high-speed Internet access in schools Number of book publishers Serials (ISSNs) Number of scientific (peer-reviewed) journal titles Database producers/vendors Number of bookstores Average cost of a book Qualitative Rationale Determines national progress Enables people to be better citizens Permits greater economic mobility throughout the society Fosters competencies Information creation/development is related to education Depends upon the quality of education and styles of teaching employed (critical thinking) Education & literacy

17. Quantitative Number of libraries (public, academic, special, and school) per 1000 users Volumes in collections High-speed Internet access in libraries Employment in libraries Number of library school programs (undergraduate & graduate level) Average number of students in each program Graduation rates Qualitative Rationale Trained information professionals that can serve as a resource for information literacy training in future Potential locations for information literacy programs in various types of libraries Libraries & library staff education

18. Quantitative Availability (& reliability) of electricity Telephone mainlines/employee Telephone mainlines/1000 people Investment in high-speed digital access or WiFi Qualitative Rationale Telecommunications is a key component of access to e-information Infrastructure

19. Quantitative Computer penetration/employee Computer penetration/1000 people Cell phone & PDA usage Employment in computing sector (programming) # Internet Service Providers Cost per CPU Patents held/patents pending Qualitative Rationale Knowledge construction Information & technology

20. Small business development programs Assistance provided Financial Direct loans Tax incentive plans Guidance Clusters Information literacy policies Continuing training opportunities General business/management skills Information technology skills Teaching & library staff Government-sponsored Association/organization-sponsored Industry-specific Commercial/entrepreneurial ventures Vendor-sponsored Qualitative criteria

21. Access to quality education Ability to read and write English Multi-lingual ability Cross-border search & retrieval Demographics Use of a Roman-based alphabet What contributes an information literate population

22. Existing obstacles (and efforts by countries to address them)

23. What an information literate society will mean to the countries of Central/Eastern Europe • Increased competitiveness • Make additional capital available • Improve general business practices and company operations • Increase knowledge creation within each country

24. Interesting models • Nordic countries • India • Singapore

25. Remaining challenges • Education and training • Awareness at the ministry-level

26. What nations can do • Support and encourage lifelong learning • Develop an information literacy policy for the nation • Invest! • Alter taxation and other regulatory policies

27. What industries can do • Build industry-specific portals with an information literacy component • Customize generic education/training programs for your specific industry • Understand that policies can influence practice

28. What individual entities can do • Organize and maintain organizational caches of information/knowledge that are easily accessible to all (employees, suppliers, customers) with built-in guidance functions for novice/occasional users • Arrange both formal and informal education and training opportunities

29. What you can do as… • Database producers and vendors • Website designers • Information professionals • Entrepreneurs