1 / 25

Information Literacy as a National Agenda:

Information Literacy as a National Agenda:. A case study of Singapore. Margaret Butterworth, Curtin University, Perth, W. Australia. Singapore. Singapore. Government Rhetoric. “The future belongs to countries whose people make the most productive use of

marilu
Download Presentation

Information Literacy as a National Agenda:

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. Information Literacy as a National Agenda: A case study of Singapore Margaret Butterworth, Curtin University, Perth, W. Australia

  2. Singapore

  3. Singapore

  4. Government Rhetoric “The future belongs to countries whose people make the most productive use of information, knowledge and technology. They are now the key factors for economic success, not natural resources.” Source: Goh Chok Tong, 1993

  5. Government Rhetoric (2) “Our continued competitiveness is dependent on a population which makes a conscious effort to learn throughout their lives.” Source: Ho Kah Leong, 1996

  6. Industry Types • “High-end” manufacturing: • Disk drives; semiconductors, etc. • Biotechnology • Financial services • Media and entertainment • E-Commerce changing to:

  7. %of Population aged 25+ with Post-Secondary Education Source: UNESCO Statistical Yearbook, 1998

  8. Foreign Reserves Source: Economist Intelligence Unit Country Report: Singapore,1999-2000

  9. Foreign Reserves Source: Economist Intelligence Unit 1999-2000

  10. Gov’t Expenditure as a % of GDP Source: Kwon, 1998, p.28

  11. Key Documents • IT 2000 (1992) • Library 2000 (1994) • www.lib.gov.sg/info/library2000 • Masterplan for Education (1997) • www.moe.sg/iteducation/masterplan

  12. IT 2000 • Creating an “intelligent island” • Wiring-up homes, schools, offices • Encouraging automation of routine processes • Developing innovative uses for technology • All sectors involved

  13. Singapore One • Broadband network • Delivers high speed connection • Slow to take off: • Not perceived to give value for money • High subscription • Inadequate content

  14. Library 2000: six strategic thrusts • Expansion of public library system • Network of borderless libraries • Co-ordinated national collection strategy • Quality service through market orientation • Symbiotic linkages with business and community • Global knowledge arbitrage

  15. Library 2000:key enablers • Human resources • Technology • New organisational leadership

  16. National Library of Singapore Source: Library 2000 Report, based on INTAMEL data

  17. Building Blocks:National Library Board • - one computer network • - twice the staff • - three times the floor space • - four times the collections

  18. Expanding the Physical Access • 1 regional library • 16 community libraries • 41 community children’s libraries • Renovated National Reference Library

  19. New Types of Library Shopping Centre Libraries Community Children’s Libraries

  20. Shopping Centre Library

  21. Expanding the Electronic Access • A new target audience • TIARA- online reference service • InfoXpress • Virtual Communities • students, business, etc. • E-station • franchise

  22. CD-ROMs Allow wider access to historical records

  23. Masterplan for Education • Encourage creative thinking • Reduce curriculum content by 30% • Integrate IT into all learning areas • Pupil-computer ratio of 2:1 by 2002 • Staff retraining plan • Experimental pilot projects

  24. Overview • Top-down approach • Awareness-raising or propaganda? • Gov’t builds solid infrastructure • Private/public synergy amplifies the effect

  25. Conclusions /Recommendations • Information literacy should be on all national agendas • See the big picture • Find benchmarks & best practice • Make constant comparisons Contact me at : margaret@iinet.net.au

More Related