Digital Divide

The digital divide is a term that describes the 'haves' and 'have nots' in the technology age. Discussion of the digital divide predates the 2.0 concept and historically focused on capacity building in communities that would bridge the divide. Early projects focussed on public access to the internet and computer instruction that would allow all citizens to participate. Bridging the divide became increasingly important as governments began to provide information and access to services online.

In the 2.0 era, issues of public internet access have arguably been diminished, and the financial costs of moving to library 2.0 are relatively small compared to the costs of hardware and infrastructure incurred in the early 1990s to 'wire' communities to the internet. What remains and is exacerbated by library 2.0 is a divide in computer and media literacy.

Library 2.0 assumes a degree of computer literacy that many believe is commonplace among young users. However Rory Litwin challenges the notion of a new '2.0 ready' generation citing two ethnographic studies that suggest otherwise. One key finding in a study conducted at the University of Rochester was that there is a significant number of undergraduate students who are actually 'technogically inept,' (Carlson, S., 2007, 34).

The digital divide is also manifest in libraries as well. Librarians must be able to use and teach 2.0 technologies and be willing to implement such changes. The willingness and capacity to make changes will certainly vary from library to library. And the proliferatrion and incorporation of wilkis and blogs into the library increases the importance of media literacy. This format agnosticism of library 2.0 aso poses challenges to collection development as many blogs contain vaulable and useful information but are not as easy to assess from an authoritative perspective. Librarians may find it difficult to remain neutral towards blogs and other more authoritative formats such as peer reviewed journals or respected newspapers written by 'qualified' journalists. Librarians must be prepared to educate users as to the place and purpose of blogs and wikis and to generally promote media literacy among their patrons.