[WEB4LIB] Digital Divide (was Re: RE: Questia: who is behind it?)

[Dan Lester]

Thursday, February 01, 2001, 6:51:33 PM, you wrote:

RT> Dan Lester wrote:

>> DB> Also, do
>> DB> not add to the Digital Divide.
>>
>> Yawn.  The digital divide is an invention of a bunch of liberal
>> whiners who don't have enough trees to hug.

RT> Dan, now I realize you might have been on a sort of roll

I don't know about a roll, but catching up on listmail after a hectic
day.  I did read all of them before replying to any, which I always
recommend to anyone in such cases.  (If someone else has made your
point, no need to get in with a variant of "me, too")

RT> here debunking post after post, but surely you don't think
RT> every single family or child out there has the money or
RT> sufficient local informational infrastructures in place
RT> (e.g. wired libraries and schools) to put them all online
RT> and in reach of the same research resources you have
RT> access to in your institution.

Of course not.  Nor do I expect that such will ever happen this side
of heaven.  And that kind of comparison can go on, _ad infinitum_.  We
in Idaho don't have as much as those at U of Colorado, and they don't have
as much as Harvard or LC, etc.  However, things like our statewide
database licensing project, LiLI-D, part of Libraries Linking Idaho,
www.lili.org, is a way of giving every citizen of the state access to
several thousand full text journals via their home computer or public,
school, or academic library.

RT>  Living and working in a
RT> relatively poor community, I know the Digital Divide to
RT> be alive and well.  For thousands of our community
RT> members, our library is their only link to the digital world.

Of course.  And it is their only link to the print world, as well.
That isn't likely to change, either. Libraries should continue to do
all they can to better serve their patrons.

RT> Let us not forget some patrons
RT> are in fact homeless.  It is unwise, borderline callous to
RT> assume equal access exists everywhere else, and it's
RT> simply insane to suggest the Digital Divide does not
RT> exist.

Yes, many homeless use the BSU library, as well as the Boise Public
Library.  As a public institution, anyone is welcome to come in and
read books, use our internet workstations, watch our collection of
videos, and so forth.  However, the idea of there being a particular
"digital divide" is nothing but political tripe.  Of course there are
differences between rich and poor, rural and urban, etc.  That will
always be so, and tilting at windmills or thinking up cutesy names for
long standing problems doesn't do a darn thing to help to solve them.

RT>   But let's not just stop at the United States.  Let's
RT> broaden our perspective, look to the rest of the world.
RT> The Digital Divide's out there, affecting millions of
RT> fatally poor people in countries where basic issues of
RT> electricity, food, health and freedom are unresolved.

Yes.  As others have pointed out, however, an African dying of AIDS in
a village somewhere probably doesn't give a damn about the digital
divide.  Even if he did, there would probably be no electricity and he
probably couldn't read anyway.  Why don't we worry about things more
important than this latest trendy slogan?

RT> No, we are an extremely long way from the ideal of the
RT> Information Age, in which our global community has
RT> equitable and democratic access to quality resources
RT> of any kind.

Of course we are, and always will be.  By your apparent definition of
the Information Age, it'll happen the week after manna starts to fall
from heaven again, which will be two weeks after world peace.

RT>  But, back to the U.S. for now--anyone in
RT> doubt of the Digital Divide can click this for a quick
RT> reality check:  http://www.digitaldivide.gov

Right.  Note from the first paragraph that it only wants to
"provide all Americans with access to the Internet" and ignores the
Australians, Africans, Armenians, et. al.

If you want to read political crap, start with the second speech on
the speeches page, where you can find things like:

"I've been asked to talk about the subject of Digital Inclusion and the
importance of expanding the circle of digital opportunity for the
peoples of Asia and the Pacific."

The "circle of digital opportunity"????  The what???  From there it
goes on into some stuff about Robert Fulton and the Steamship, which
I'm sure really went over well with the audience in Brunei, where the
speech was given.

And "Partnerships that help provide computers and training for every
citizen and potential worker."  Hmmmm....does that mean we'll get
computers for those who aren't citizens, but are potential workers?
Will they need a green card to get a computer?

I could go on quoting more of this nonsense....but any of you are
welcome to wade through it yourself if your stomach is strong enough.

cheers

dan

-- 
Dan Lester, Data Wrangler  dan at RiverOfData.com
3577 East Pecan, Boise, Idaho  83716-7115 USA
www.riverofdata.com  www.postcard.org  www.gailndan.com