Abstract
Digital inclusion – a proposal to provide equal access to the benefits of the Internet – is a national initiative supported by public libraries in the UK. Following the Snowden revelations however, many library workers have argued that digital inclusion gives scant regard to end-users’ digital privacy. Yet public libraries have protected access to information for a number of years through ethical principles recognising privacy as an important provision for the right to read and receive ideas. In the US, public librarians appear to understand that a lack of privacy in one's intellectual activities chills enquiry. This has resulted in many dynamic initiatives which teach end-users the value of digital privacy and introduce them to essential privacy-respecting tools. Comparatively little was known about whether public librarians in the UK, recognised these concerns and whether they had acted upon them in the interests of their communities. This study focuses on the activities of exemplary public library services in the UK, in order to report on the character of their digital privacy initiatives and in doing so, identify their rationales. The research explores their relevance to existing service strategies, the risks and barriers to implementation, and the potential for wider replication. This was fulfilled through the study of relevant literature and the application of practical research. The latter was carried out though a multiple case study involving three public libraries.
Highlights
Background informationIntroductionSince at least the beginning of the 18th century, libraries in Britain have sought to lend agency to their citizenry and expand access to knowledge, as they shifted from closed parochial libraries to lending libraries (Feather, 2008; Thomas, 1966).As traditional services and print resources have been revised and eventually transformed through the power of the Web and digitisation so too have the paradigms of social and civic engagement as well as learning.In 2014 the British Government’s Digital Inclusion Strategy made a nationwide effort to invest in resources and digital infrastructure for places like public libraries in the hope that it would mitigate the most pronounced effects of digital exclusion in the UK
This section reveals the results of the multiple case study research in which written interviewstyle questions were sent to respondents representing three different public library services spread across the UK
Charillon’s work - which was highlighted in the literature review chapter and is widely believed to be the first account of a public library in the UK to host a cryptoparty - was considered a logical point of departure for this research and so it was through her that initial enquiries were made
Summary
Background informationIntroductionSince at least the beginning of the 18th century, libraries in Britain have sought to lend agency to their citizenry and expand access to knowledge, as they shifted from closed parochial libraries (where books were often chained to desks) to lending libraries (Feather, 2008; Thomas, 1966).As traditional services and print resources have been revised and eventually transformed through the power of the Web and digitisation so too have the paradigms of social and civic engagement as well as learning.In 2014 the British Government’s Digital Inclusion Strategy made a nationwide effort to invest in resources and digital infrastructure for places like public libraries in the hope that it would mitigate the most pronounced effects of digital exclusion in the UK. These range from Google’s ‘Digital Garage’ and Barclay’s ‘Digital Eagles’ to the Society of
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