Information literacy: A driving engine for economic success

An East-West/North-South comparison

Internet Librarian InternationalLondon, October 2007

Barbie E. Keiserbarbieelene@att.net

Introduction to this work-in-progress

Impetus for this study Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Criteria for

Market Attractiveness Choosing nations

Central European Initiative (CEI) International Center for Promotion of Enterprises

(ICPE)

Why should we care? Inter-relationship of information literacy &

knowledge management

Research agenda

Research-in-progress focusing on three levels: nation/society, organization, individual

Characteristics of information literate societies, labor forces, and individual entities

Evidence of information literate societies, labor forces, and individual entities

Necessary elements and contributory factors

What constitutes economic success?

Comparing Central/Eastern Europe and older members of the EU

Specific opportunities with regard to information literacy

Socio-economic and political development are best advanced by...

People who recognize their need for information and can identify, locate, access, evaluate, and apply the needed information

Entities that organize and manage information so that their employees, suppliers, customers, and joint-venture partners can easily access and use it

An information literate society

Benefits Citizenry that can

actively participate in government decision-making

Ability to make use of e-government opportunities

Value analysis

Media-literate, informed voters

Productivity Citizens

Government workers

An information literate industry

Benefits

Easy access to industry from those abroad

Informed potential pool of investors

Value Analysis

Increased foreign trade & foreign direct investment

An information literate entity

Benefits

More efficient workforce, experiencing less frustration

Individual companies able to take advantage of opportunities in an expeditious manner

Value analysis

Productivity of workers Options for

teleworking/ telecommuting dependent on broadband or other high-speed Internet access Carbon footprints

Measuring the impact of information literacy

Quantitative Factors

Economics & finance Business, labor & employment Population demographics Education & literacy Libraries & library staff education Infrastructure Information & technology

Qualitative Factors

Tax incentives & small business development programs

Information literacy policies Continuing education and

training opportunities for lifelong learning (upgrading skills)

Countries in question

CEE

Albania Belarus Bosnia-Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic Estonia Hungary Latvia Lithuania Macedonia Moldova Poland Romania Serbia/Montenegro ex. Kosovo Slovak Republic Slovenia Ukraine

ICPE Albania Algeria Bangladesh Bosnia-Herzegovina Congo Congo D.R. Guinea Guyana India Iraq Macedonia Nepal Slovenia Somalia Sri Lanka Syria Tanzania Venezuela Zambia

Central and Eastern European countries displaying evidence of information literacy

Lesser Greater

Greater

Size & strength of country economies

Inve

stm

ent i

n in

form

atio

n lit

erac

y

Where ICPE member countries stand

Lesser Greater

Greater

Size & strength of country economies

Inve

stm

ent i

n in

form

atio

n lit

erac

y

Economic & financial indicators

Quantitative

Total Gross Domestic Product

Per capita GDP Services as a percent

of GDP Foreign direct

investment

Qualitative

Active stock exchange

VAT/taxation policies

Business, labor & employmentQuantitative Total employment

Percent of population employed/unemployed

Percent in agriculture, industry, services

Size of business by number of workers employed

Knowledge workers (white collar vs. blue collar employment)

Education levels of employees (primary, secondary, tertiary)

Productivity of workers New business start-ups

Qualitative Rationale Active Chambers of

Commerce, industry associations, and (international) trade show events

Efforts to re-skill the labor force

Population demographics, current & projected

Quantitative

Population, total Population, 0-14 Population, 15-64 Population, 65+ Demographic projections Immigration/emigration

rates

Qualitative Rationale

Current “market” for information literacy programs School age

Labor force

Older adults

Education & literacyQuantitative

Literacy rates Expenditures per student (primary, secondary,

tertiary levels) Graduation/completion rates Availability of high-speed Internet access in

schools Number of book publishers Serials (ISSNs) Number of scientific (peer-reviewed) journal

titles Database producers/vendors Number of bookstores Average cost of a book

Qualitative Rationale

Determines national progress Enables people to be better

citizens Permits greater economic

mobility throughout the society Fosters competencies

Information creation/development is related to education

Depends upon the quality of education and styles of teaching employed (critical thinking)

Libraries & library staff educationQuantitative

Number of libraries (public, academic, special, and school) per 1000 users

Volumes in collections High-speed Internet access in

libraries

Employment in libraries Number of library school programs

(undergraduate & graduate level) Average number of students in each

program Graduation rates

Qualitative Rationale

Trained information professionals that can serve as a resource for information literacy training in future

Potential locations for information literacy programs in various types of libraries

Infrastructure

Quantitative

Availability (& reliability) of electricity

Telephone mainlines/employee

Telephone mainlines/1000 people

Investment in high-speed digital access or WiFi

Qualitative Rationale

Telecommunications is a key component of access to e-information

Information & technology

Quantitative

Computer penetration/employee

Computer penetration/1000 people

Cell phone & PDA usage Employment in computing

sector (programming) # Internet Service Providers Cost per CPU Patents held/patents pending

Qualitative Rationale

Knowledge construction

Qualitative criteria Small business

development programs

Assistance provided Financial

Direct loans Tax incentive plans

Guidance

Clusters

Information literacy policies

Continuing training opportunities General business/management

skills Information technology skills Teaching & library staff Government-sponsored Association/organization-

sponsored Industry-specific

Commercial/entrepreneurial ventures

Vendor-sponsored

What contributes an information literate population

Access to quality education

Ability to read and write English

Multi-lingual ability Cross-border search &

retrieval

Demographics Use of a Roman-

based alphabet

Existing obstacles (and efforts by countries to address them)

What an information literate society will mean to the countries of Central/Eastern Europe

Increased competitiveness Make additional capital available Improve general business practices and

company operations Increase knowledge creation within each

country

Interesting models

Nordic countries India Singapore

Remaining challenges

Education and training

Awareness at the ministry-level

What nations can do

Support and encourage lifelong learning Develop an information literacy policy for

the nation Invest!

Alter taxation and other regulatory policies

What industries can do

Build industry-specific portals with an information literacy component

Customize generic education/training programs for your specific industry

Understand that policies can influence practice

What individual entities can do

Organize and maintain organizational caches of information/knowledge that are easily accessible to all (employees, suppliers, customers) with built-in guidance functions for novice/occasional users

Arrange both formal and informal education and training opportunities

What you can do as…

Database producers and vendors Website designers Information professionals Entrepreneurs