The aim of this thesis is to gain a greater understanding of Stockholm Public Library’s democratic role in a society that is increasingly digitalized. This is done by studying the Young IT-support project at the library, and how it aligns with the library’s mission for digital inclusion. Critical discourse analysis methods are used to understand for which “problem” the project was formulated as a solution. By using theories about digital inclusion the study also investigates if the Young IT-support project contributes to the library users’ digital competence, and how the project effects the library’s own mission of digital inclusion. The empirical material consists of policy documents connected to the Young IT-support project and interviews with young IT-supporters, librarians and administrators involved with the project. The results show that the project is formulated as a solution to two different types integration “problems”: social and digital. But the responsible authorities are only interested in whether or not the goals of social inclusion are achieved. The study shows that the project mainly contributes to increase the users’ operational skills rather than their information and strategic skills, and that it favours socioeconomically strong groups. The project does have an unburdening effect on the library’s heavy workload on digital issues. However, the study also shows that it has a potentially impeding effect on the library’s digital mission, as librarians are overlooking the deeper digital work. In conclusion, the project partially has a positive effect on the digital inclusion but that it isn’t enough to bridge the digital divide. I argue that the library needs to examine if these external collaborations are a long-term solution to social developments, or if they are a short-term solution in place until other authorities take responsibility for democratic needs and rights. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-415921 |
| Date | January 2020 |
| Creators | Ericson, Signe |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för ABM |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | Uppsatser inom biblioteks- & informationsvetenskap, 1650-4267 ; 798 |
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