Democracy, digitisation and public libraries

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate what democratic challenges the digitisation of the public libraries in Denmark has entailed. Using the concepts from a national library professional strategy from 2012, an analysis of 9 librarians’ experiences with digital dissemination in practice is conducted. Design/methodology/approach The paper is a part of a larger research project called “If digitisation is the answer, then what was the question?”. This sub study builds on the semi-structured interviews with library staff members, case-descriptions of two central providers of digital public library materials, as well as literature studies of missions, vision and strategies from different public library policy institutions. To frame the study, a literature review has been conducted. Findings The author detects the presence of several incompatible conditions in digital dissemination. These conditions are predominantly of an organisational nature, potentially containing major consequences for citizens’ free and equal access to information, knowledge and culture. Among other things, the Danish public libraries risk substantiating an already existing and problematic polarisation between technologically capable and incapacitated groups of people. Originality/value The digital transformation of society has only just begun. Therefore, it is important to examine the consequences of the transition to digital media types for central cultural institution such as the public libraries. The present study is an early and minor contribution to the illumination of a process requiring many more and large-scale studies.

Digital dissemination skills in public libraries

“…The report deals with several external and internal organisational innovations relating to Open libraries , Inspiration and learning , The Danish digital library , Partnerships, and Professional development . The first three recommendations relate to issues, aimed at citizens and are the starting point for the analysis in my paper on Democracy, digitisation, and public libraries (Skøtt, 2021), while the last two recommendations, Partnerships and Professional development, relate to organisational issues forming the first part of my analytical framework in this article.…”

Fields Touched by Digitalization: Analysis of Scientific Activity in Scopus

“…The Scopus database represents the first research conducted on digitization developed by [16], which was initially oriented to the medical area and aimed to provide a procedure with which to achieve the rehabilitation of hands after the amputation of five fingers. There are numerous publications on digitalization, many of them closely related to the variables "analog conversion" [17], "image processing" [18], "digital libraries" [19], "algorithms" [20], "automation" [21], "digital storage" [22], "information management" [23], "cultural heritage" [24], "digital transformation" [25], "artificial intelligence" [26] and "digital technologies" [27], among others.…”