Abstract
The demands for information are increasing nowadays, providing adequate sources of information for the community is a crucial agenda as it is an essential part of community development particularly the youth; the future leader of our community. As information and communication technology (ICT) play significant roles as sources of information, similarly, the rural library in Malaysia can play the same roles in offering updated and needed information of the community. The main objective of this paper is to know the potential factors, benefits and problems in using the services provided in the rural library. Discussion of this paper is based on applied documents and literature analysis. Based on the analyses done, a number of potential benefits offered by the rural community have been identified and certainly information offered is the main benefit available. Potential problems faced by the rural community in using the rural library services need to be overcome to ensure the rural community will profits from the benefits offered. Besides, a number of related factors and theories have been further discussed.
Highlights
The advancement of information communication technology (ICT) has provided a scenario where people dealt with information and created a knowledge society
This study has proven that majority of the rural library users in Malaysia were students
Information on education is mainly sought by the users and they mainly seek information education germane to scholarship, study opportunities in college and universities as well as information on vocational training. In another part of the study, the reseachers were interested in identifying the purpose of using the rural library services among youth and they concluded that youth use the rural library services mainly for assisting them in making important decision and gaining new knowledge
Summary
The advancement of information communication technology (ICT) has provided a scenario where people dealt with information and created a knowledge society. The Malaysia government has established a number of projects to provide all sorts of information and knowledge needed by the rural community, and among the projects are Rural Internet Center and Rural Info Center. Various programs were embarked under NLM such as establishing rural library, multimedia mobile library and knowledge cyber centre Those initiatives are to create a knowledgeable and information society and to bring ICT facilities development to the rural people (NLM, 2011). Youth are under the radar of information dissemination process They are among the main target groups of the information development programs such as Rural Internet Center, Rural Info Center and Rural Library. Looking at the huge number of rural libraries in Malaysia, it may trigger questions as to what extend does these rural libraries have been fully utilised? What are the benefits offered to them from the usage? If they are not using it, what are the reasons of not using the rural library services? this paper intends to discuss potential benefits and problems faced by the youth in Malaysia in using the rural library services
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