Comments on: two “day in the life” anecdotes

By: Librarians Matter » Blog Archive » Digital divide - not about gizmoes.

Librarians Matter » Blog Archive » Digital divide - not about gizmoes. — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 12:19:01 +0000

[...] When I read Jessamyn West’s latest post about the Digital Divide, I thought – “that’s it, that’s my family”. The bit that struck a chord was: [...]

By: lis.dom » into the wild discussion

lis.dom » into the wild discussion — Thu, 02 Nov 2006 02:26:52 +0000

[...] As it turns out, I had a lively group of ten women who were ready and eager to dive into the discussion (and the cookies from the Meeteetse Chocolatier, which we got thanks to the generosity of the Park County Library Foundation), and I asked scarcely any of the questions I had prepared. The biggest surprise? At one point, I mentioned that Chris McCandless has a Wikipedia entry. “A what?” several people said. No one in the group had heard of Wikipedia. Sometimes it’s worth being reminded, in the midst of our discussions about making the library part of the online world, that not all of our patrons are online. As Jessamyn so rightly points out, part of the digital divide is not living in an Internet-aware culture. Part of being a librarian is realizing when that is the case and understanding when, and whether, it’s a problem. I love Wikipedia (for some purposes) as much as the next person, but I also think it is possible to live a full, rich, and satisfying life without it. And the library is here to serve both kinds of people. [...]

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 14:42:00 +0000

This one’s a great reminder that the digital culture is not as “universal” as we’d like it to be, and that access is only the first step of the solution. Thanks for sharing, and this one’s going up on the office bulletin board.

By: Renee

Renee — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 20:50:42 +0000

Thank you for this post. It is so refreshing to hear about the work you do helping bridge the digital divide. AND so refreshing to hear from someone that absolutely does not talk down to the people on the “wrong” side of it.

By: Kati

Kati — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 22:57:03 +0000

That’s a great point, but I would say that the capitalist culture in general, not just the electronic version, is intent on ripping everyone off. I think you are teaching your patrons to be critical of all information, which will serve them well on and offline.