Informed citizens or not? Implications for academic libraries

Kornelija Petr Balog, Boris BadurinaDepartment of Information Sciences

1

E-democracy

• usage of information and communication technologies (ICT) to enhance the democratic structures and processes

• refers to: – all sectors of democracy, – all democratic institutions, and – all levels of government.

• e-democracy vs. e-government– e-government - efficient delivery of government/state information to citizens

• current problem: – young people’s passive attitude toward democratic processes– possible solution (Council of Europe 2009) potential of e-democracy to, through

new technology, attract young people to democracy, democratic institutions and democratic processes

LIDA 2016 2

Academic libraries and democracy

• active role in promotion of civic literacy, creation of informed citizens

• ‘informed citizen’ importance of citizen access to information cornerstone of the democratic vision

• information literacy (IL) programs: – intellectual abilities of reasoning– critical thinking– lifelong learning

students - informed citizens and members of communities

LIDA 2016 3

Research

• May 2015• sample: 246 FHSS students

– 123 1st year undergraduate (UG)– 123 1st year graduate (G)

• instrument: online (59%) and paper survey (41%)• response rate: 60%

Research questions: 1.In what degree do FHSS students interact with online e-democracy and/or e-government information?2.Do senior FHSS students exercise higher level of awareness for the importance of the involvement in the democratic processes than their junior colleagues do? 3.Do FHSS students see academic libraries as relevant sources of this type of information? LIDA 2016 4

Results

LIDA 2016 5

Online activities of FHSS students

57% access Internet more than 10 times a day

51% spend online between 3-4 hours a day

Access Internet by smartphone (84%) or laptop (83%), usually from home (95%) or faculty library (54%)LIDA 2016 6

LIDA 2016 7

E-democracy related activities (by undergraduate and graduate students)

Only 6.9% created account for a portal E-Citizens (launched by Croatian government in 2014)

LIDA 2016 8

Participation in e-democracy at the level of national, regional, local government, or at the level of a legal personality with public jurisdiction

2%

0%

4%

2%

8%

1%

5%

3%

0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

5%

6%

7%

8%

9%

National Regional Local Public jurisdiction

Participation

UG G

90.7% did not take any part in e-democracy at any of these levels

LIDA 2016 9

Does my voice matter?

LIDA 2016 10

6.1% - yes71.5% - no22.4% - I do not know

Online sources of official information (study, work, life in a local community, etc.)

LIDA 2016 11

CommentsI can write and bother what and who I want, nothing will change!

I really liked the Pula initiative about e-consultations. I’ll look for similar initiative at my local town government pages. And this survey reminded me about the E-Citizens portal.

I do not have time to deal with those things.

I see no future in Croatia.

I prefer face-to-face communication and not online.

There is neither democracy nor e-democracy in Croatia

To be frank, I didn’t really understand this survey.

This is a good survey because it makes a young person think about the importance of personal engagement in democratic processes

I had no idea an individual can have such an influence! I’m definitely going to become a member of E-Citizens portal.

I’m leaving Croatia as soon as I graduate!

LIDA 2016 12

Conclusions

• true repesentatives of Google generation – spend a lot of time online, engaging in various online activities, primarily related to leasure and entertainment

• engaged little in democratic processes at any level (national, regional, local, legal personality with public juristiction)

• libraries recognized as relevant online sources of official information

LIDA 2016 13

…

• difference between undergraduates and graduates, with graduate students slightly more active in e-democracy activities

– however – graduate students have lower confidence that they have any influence on the work of public servants

LIDA 2016 14

Statistically significant differences: •Contacting representative in a Student Board•Contacting representative in a local government•Participation in e-democracy at a national level•Does my voice matter?•Sources of information: Ministry, University of Osijek, FHSS, local county, libraries

…

• opportunity and responsibility for academic libraries – education does matter!

–include information about e-democracy into their IL program

LIDA 2016 15

35% motivated by this survey to think about the importance of personal engagement in e-democracy/e-government

Thank you for your attention!

LIDA 2016 16