"Is Google Making the Digital Divide Worse?"

Image courtesy of http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2013/09/19/why-even-being-near-a-google-fiber-city-is-good/

This is the title of Michael Brick's thought-provoking article published in Newsweek in February of 2014.  Despite its claims to spread Internet access to everyone far and wide and thus make it essentially a human right, Google just might be exacerbating preexisting social inequality.  Google Fiber, purported to be a savior by bringing information to users at lightning fast rates, and thus bringing jobs, possibilities, public safety, etc., got off to a rocky start:

"When Google came to town in 2011, the company divided the two Kansas Citys spanning the Kansas-Missouri border into "fiber-hoods." To qualify for service, residents in each zone would need to hit a certain percentage (varying by population density) of $10 prepaid registrations. Registration took place online, payable with a credit card. When the deadline arrived in September 2012, the online map of fiber-hoods was largely divided by [racial and ethnic] lines." 

Kansas City's Google Fiber divide. Image courtesy of http://www.wired.com/2012/09/google-fiber-digital-divide/

Until Google figures out a way to include poorer areas in its connectivity plans, it seems that cities fortunate enough to receive a Google Fiber installation will continue to isolate those historically less fortunate.  Brick's concern is that as the U.S. expands its high-speed connectivity, it faces the very real possibility of not just ignoring the less fortunate but creating and maintaining a permanent underclass.

Source:

Michael Brick, "Is Google Making the Digital Divide Worse?",http://www.newsweek.com/2014/02/21/google-making-digital-divide-worse-245546.html

The Digital Divide in South America

As one would expect, the digital divide is not isolated to any single country or continent.  In 2014, Miguel Angel Perez Alvarez wrote an article for Latin American Science website addressing South America's challenge in bridging its technical inequalities.  Perez Alvarez raises some very interesting points that would apply to populations regardless of geography, including what he calls the Civic Value of the Internet: 

"Regarding the cultural order it is necessary to undertake campaigns in all spheres of social life which allow citizens to realize the benefits of Internet access. These contribute to the social construction of well-founded knowledge so that citizens can demand access (at reasonable prices and with modern technologies) for education, health, communication, organization of social life, financial transactions and governmental action."

As we've witnessed with increasing frequency early in the 21st century, access to the Internet means many things to many people.  To naysayers, it is a conduit to video games, pornography, and social media...to others it means--as Alvarez Perez points out--access to educational materials, social movements, and a political voice.  Librarians everywhere should keep in mind that just because patrons aren't spending their time online poring over cutting-edge scientific journals doesn't mean that their time using the Internet isn't productive in its own way.

Researchers can use another valuable tool located on this particular page: an interactive map of South America, the Caribbean, and Mexico which projects the percentage of Internet usage in each country when a computer mouse hovers over it.

Photo courtesy of http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/241297

Source:

Miguel Angel Perez Alvarez, "Latin America's digital divide,' http://latinamericanscience.org/2014/05/latin-americas-digital-divide/

The White House on the Digital Divide

Recognizing the importance of access to high-speed Internet service, President Obama and the Council of Economic Advisers issued a statement on the current state (as of January 2015) of the digital divide in the U.S., titled "Mapping The Digital Divide".  This brief contains a wealth of information concerning Internet use in the U.S. and its many relationships to income, geography, education levels, population density, race, and gender.  It's also linked to two very useful resources:  The American Community Survey and the National Broadband Map, both are valuable sources of information for librarians seeking to better understand their local community and/or help patrons do the same.

"Internet Adoption in the United States by County: 2013" from "Mapping the Digital Divide", https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/wh_digital_divide_issue_brief.pdf

As others have pointed out, the digital divide is not so easily categorized, analyzed, solved.  The President and his advisers recognize the same: "The digital divide is likely both a cause and a consequence of other demographic disparities, and sorting out the precise impact of closing the divide is more difficult than characterizing the current disparities, as we have done here."  Addressing the problem will require increased access to affordable Internet service, investments in training, and infrastructure investments.  Time will tell how these plans close the digital divide in the U.S. and whether new challenges will have arisen by the time some of the old problems solved.

Sources:

Council of Economic Advisers, "Mapping the Digital Divide," https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/wh_digital_divide_issue_brief.pdf

The Digital Divide in 2015

Photo courtesy of http://www.geeks.com/techtips/2011/pc-gaming-vs-console-gaming.asp

Defining the digital divide has been a source of contention since the term was coined at the turn of the 21st century.  In his 2012 opinion piece "There Is No Digital Divide", published by the MIT Technology Review, Christopher Mims contends that pitting the technology "haves" vs. the technology "have-nots" is a dated way of seeing the issue.  Mims argues that this method of framing the discussion often (mis)leads to questions about why the "have-nots" can't change their behavior to be more like the "haves".  According to Mims, some researchers also argue that those computer users who come from traditionally "have-not" populations often misuse or waste their time when they have the opportunity to access computers and the Internet.  I agree with Mims who points out that this relies on how a so-called normal computer user would spend his/her time and an unfair method of assessment. Although judging how people spend their time on the Internet is really a private matter, with the exception of illegal activity of course, public librarians might have their work cut out for them if library boards, trustees, and budget committees routinely see patrons engaged in computer activity which they deem a "waste of time."

More recently and in this same vein, Wired  published "The Digital Divide Is Not Binary" by Michael Kende.  The author argues that anyone interested in solving the digital divide needs to ask bigger questions.  Kende's article includes a graph showing that many people around the world who do not have Internet access chose not to obtain it because of disinterest or lack of time.  Kende also pointed out that generating interest must be a starting point in combating the digital divide; however, this will require more localized hosting services because most are currently situated in the U.S. or Europe--which is cheaper but discourages new, local content.

Sources:

Kende, Michael, "The Digital Divide Is Not Binary," http://www.wired.com/insights/2015/01/the-digital-divide-is-not-binary/

Mims, Christopher, "There Is No Digital Divide," http://www.technologyreview.com/view/428043/there-is-no-digital-divide/

Help 'Close the Gap'

As community centers that showcase technology and offer it to patrons free of charge, public libraries are a natural starting place to close the digital divide.  Official numbers released by the AHA in its "Fact Sheet" (mentioned in a previous blog post) support the library's position at the forefront of this battle.  However, libraries of all types can tackle the digital divide by partnering not only with each other, but with other organizations fighting the same fight.

One such group is Close The Gap, an organization that essentially refurbishes computer equipment that companies, school, libraries,etc. have targeted for replacement and uses it for specific technology literacy projects around the world.  A more complete explanation of its Project Cycle can be found here.  Although libraries are often in need of updated technology, when they do have the opportunity to replace their older equipment, library managers should give Close The Gap, and other organizations like it, a closer look to see if a local project could be arranged.  Moreover, libraries would do well to make community partners and leaders aware of such organizations so that computer equipment throughout U.S. cities is not simply carted off to a recycling center without its future being thoroughly explored.

In rural Tanzania, a cargo container was re-purposed into a classroom. Photo courtesy of http://close-the-gap.org/blog/

Inside the classroom. Photo courtesy of http://close-the-gap.org/blog

Sources:

American Library Association, http://www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet26

Close The Gap, http://close-the-gap.org/

Spreading the Word

Like every tax or tuition-supported institution, the library often finds itself in the cross-hairs of budget committees looking for areas to cut.  Sadly, public perception of libraries during this "Digital Age" remains skeptical.  Public libraries especially are viewed as obsolete by taxpayers who insist that Google and Amazon provide researchers and students with all the resources they need.  In their opinion, computer servers like those below have replaced bookshelves in importance.

Photo courtesy of http://123hdwallpapers.com/google-data-center-network-server-computer.html

To combat this negative image, the University of Maryland and the American Library Association partnered and released an infographic titled "Public Libraries & Digital Inclusion".  A sidebar argues that when libraries (97.8%, according to their study) provide free Internet access, these institutions also supplement this with expertise from trained professionals (librarians) free of charge.  Public libraries also offer technology instruction, immigration assistance, and guide those people seeking employment to appropriate resources--again--free of charge.  Perhaps more public libraries should promote themselves to city councils and budget committees with information like that supplied by the University of Maryland and the ALA.  A little self-promotion might go a long way!

The Digital Divide and the American Library Association

  

Because of its wide-ranging impact on libraries of almost every type, the Digital Divide has not gone unnoticed by the American Library Association (ALA).  Among its many publications on the topic, the ALA has released the latest "Fact Sheet" which spells out how libraries are tackling the problems posed by the unequal access to technology and the instruction on its use.  These problems include not only those suffered the user (patrons), but also the burden placed on libraries to maintain pace with the growing demand for computers, space, maintenance, and replacing advancing technology.

                                            Photo courtesy of University of California, Berkeley

The "Fact Sheet" contains links to dozens of surveys and statistics regarding public, academic, and school libraries which provide excellent starting points for anyone interested in investigating the topic further.  The publication also categorizes its contents into the aforementioned library types for easy reference.  It is clear to see the studies cited in this fact sheet is the basis for many other posts and publications on the Digital Divide, evidenced by the following excerpt:

• Virtually all libraries (98 percent) offer free public Wi-Fi access;
• 95 percent of libraries offer summer reading programs to forestall the “summer slide” in reading achievement experienced when learning takes a holiday between school terms;
• Close to 90 percent of libraries offer basic digital literacy training, and a significant majority support training related to new technology devices (62 percent), safe online practices (57 percent) and social media use (56 percent);
• 76 percent of libraries assist patrons in using online government programs and services;
• The vast majority of libraries provide programs that support people in applying for jobs (73 percent), access and using online job opportunity resources (68 percent) and using online business information resources (48 percent);
• A significant majority of libraries host social connection events for adults (61 percent) and teens (60 percent) such as book discussion groups or gaming programs;
• 45 percent of libraries provide early-learning technologies for pre-K children; and
• More than one-third of all libraries provide literacy, GED prep, STEAM and after-school programs.

It is clear that libraries are conveying a message when they provide such numbers:  libraries recognize the importance of access to technology (and all that entails) and are striving to provide it to as many of their patrons as possible.  This fact sheet is a powerful tool for librarians and library advocates in the battle for public opinion.

What to Do?

Public libraries (and librarians) would love nothing more than to provide patrons with a room full of new computers and access to the latest databases; however, money usually poses quite a roadblock to pulling this off.  In what other ways could libraries provide patrons with access to cutting-edge technology without stretching their already limited budgets too thin?  What about patrons who might have the funds to possess a cell phone, tablet, or laptop, but can't necessarily afford data plans or Internet service?

                                                             

   

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons

After learning that nearly a quarter of its nearby population had no way to access high-speed Internet, Kitchener Public Library (KPL) in Ontario, Canada, initiated a program to add portable devices to its circulation materials.  KPL has 25 Aircards that provide borrowers with a personal wi-fi hotspot for lending periods of up to 3 weeks.  As a graduate student a decade ago, I remember very well having a laptop computer and only being able to use it for composing term papers or surfing the web when one of my neighbor's unprotected wi-fi signals wafted in through my window.  This would have--and could be, in the future--a program that I would very much take advantage of!  KPL's program also relieves some of the bandwidth burden placed on library branches and might defray some costs in terms of maintaining and replacing computers and tablets.  

      
Photo courtesy of Creative Commons

  

The article's author, Daniel Kitts, cited an ALA study that revealed 65% of libraries did not have enough Internet workstations to satisfy their daily demand.  Unfortunately, that statistic speaks to how difficult Internet access is to obtain for many people and how difficult it is for libraries to provide it.               

Libraries Providing Internet Access a Bad Sign?

A New York Times piece published in July 2014 can be read two ways.  In her article, Susan Crawford, a visiting professor at Harvard University, cites data from several surveys and studies in highlighting the important role that libraries play in providing Americans with Internet access.  High-speed Internet access is "almost as essential as electricity," she claims.  Crawford goes on to argue for the centrality of libraries in giving patrons a place to apply for jobs, do their homework, and find information related to their finances, healthcare, and education.  Good news, right?

            Image courtesy of Creative Commons                

Crawford ends her article on a rather sour note:  "That libraries serve as the provider for millions of Americans isn't something to celebrate."  Rather, Crawford contends that such reliance on the library to provide public Internet services indicates a shortcoming.  The author notes that many public libraries are short on computers and bandwith, which leaves patrons with slow processing speeds when they finally have a chance to work on a computer.  Crawford fails to provide, however, any suggestion for remedying the problem.  Does providing high-speed Internet access fall on the shoulders of the federal government?  Cities and local governments?  How do we address the lack of access to high-speed Internet in rural areas?  Crawford succeeds in raising an important question and it will be up to library professionals in the very near future to provide a solution. 

The Digital Divide

For many people, libraries serve as a source of knowledge and information whether they're located in a high school, at the center of a university campus, tucked away in a law firm, or parceled out in dozens of branches throughout a metropolis.  Libraries are becoming more and more a community center, meeting place, and space for creativity as well.  And because many libraries are open to the public free of charge, it would follow that anyone and everyone has equal access to the materials they seek.  However, locating information today largely requires the use of advancing technology:  computers, electronic databases, wireless networks, and the knowledge of how to use these tools in order to find the most relevant material.  Unfortunately, these things are not as widely available one might suppose and, in fact, there exists quite a gap between the "haves" and "have nots", if you will. This inequality in the access to and ability to make use of library technology is known as the "Digital Divide".

Image courtesy of http://dollarbits.com/great-divide-low-priced-home-sales-sink-high-priced-ones-rise/

Here is a brief YouTube video that explores the basics: