Missingham, R.
(2009). Encouraging the digital economy and digital citizenship. Australian
Library Journal, 58(4), 386-399.
Missingham, Parliamentary Librarian
with the Australian Parliamentary Library has a special interest in the
“development of digital delivery and digital services” (Missingham, 2009, p.
399). Outlining the obstacles facing the
Australian digital economy, Missingham highlights how libraries help overcome
these issues. In particular she
describes how libraries collaborated to form Electronic Resources Australia in
order to provide more access for Australians to quality information. Missingham states the main challenges of
Australia’s digital environment are accessibility, digital resources and
skills. She emphasises that while
libraries will do what they can to assist providing Australians with better
access, better content and better skills, they can only do so much and need the
support of the federal government to make real progress.
Missingham posits that internet
access in Australia is vastly imbalanced with capital cities and those with
means having sufficient access while rural and less affluent areas have limited
access. Commonly referred to as “the
digital divide” this is a well-known issue.
A perfect example is the remote Aboriginal community of Papunya (in the
central Australian desert) who have only just received access to the internet
for the first time this year by way of a community computer room. The room is run by a group of dedicated
volunteers and haphazard funding. The
internet is provided by NT Libraries but due to limited funding they only have
access to 8 GB per month for the whole community which equates to around 2
hours access a day (Mann, 2011). The
importance of internet access in remote areas is highlighted by the fact they
are often living vast distances from many necessary services (Department of
Communications, as cited in Australian Bureau of Statics, 2009, ¶7). Missingham acknowledges the National
Broadband Network will help solve a lot of the connectivity issues however
there will still be parts of Australia (7%) with restricted access.
Conceding that while there is a lot
of information available free on the internet, Missingham recognises it is a
mixture of quality and “downright misleading” information (p. 388). Furthermore Missingham points out that
subscription based resources (providing access to quality information) are
usually only subscribed to by organisations with budgets that allow it. Missingham uses an inquiry in 2003 by The
Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts
References Committee to illustrate content barriers. The Senate recommended that additional
government funding be made to the National Library of Australia so they could
investigate databases that might befit national site licensing. Despite the funding not being made Missingham
describes how it sparked movement within the library community and as a result,
in 2007, Electronic Resources Australia (ERA) was launched and by 2009 around
8.5 million Australians had access to quality content via “1,193 participating
libraries” (p. 393). Readers will need
to take into account that Missingham, as an ERA Convener, may have bias in this
area. Missingham further acknowledges
that this is still inadequate as it “only services less than half the
population” (p. 397).
Using the findings from the
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Missingham indicates that 46% of Australians
(aged 15-74 years) are below the minimum level considered necessary “for
individuals to meet the complex demands of everyday life and work in the
emerging knowledge based economy” (p. 395) while those above this level were
“more likely to have used the internet” (p. 396). The downside of this evidence is the fact
that the “minimum level” was determined by survey developers.
Overall Missingham presents a
fairly thorough account of Australia’s digital economy, clearly identifying
some of the barriers faced by many Australians.
She has used authoritative resources to support most of her claims. This is clearly a topic she is passionate
about. Missingham has also quoted public
submissions from the Senate inquiry that clearly identify disadvantages
experienced by users to effectively support her theory. Although access to content and skills are
barriers, connectivity issues need to be addressed first. There is no point having the content available
if it cannot be physically accessed.
Access is also needed before the community can develop skills.
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2009) Internet access at home. Retrieved
December 11, 2011, from http://abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Chapter10002008
Mann, A. (Reporter). (2011, September 20). Hack in Alice Springs: bridging the internet
divide. Hack [Audio Podcast].
Retrieved from http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/triplej/hack/m2031428.mp3
Missingham, R. (2009). Encouraging the digital economy
and digital citizenship. Australian Library Journal, 58(4),
386-399.
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