Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate what democratic challenges the digitisation of the public libraries in Denmark has entailed. Using the concepts from a national library professional strategy from 2012, an analysis of 9 librarians’ experiences with digital dissemination in practice is conducted.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is a part of a larger research project called “If digitisation is the answer, then what was the question?”. This sub study builds on the semi-structured interviews with library staff members, case-descriptions of two central providers of digital public library materials, as well as literature studies of missions, vision and strategies from different public library policy institutions. To frame the study, a literature review has been conducted.

Findings

The author detects the presence of several incompatible conditions in digital dissemination. These conditions are predominantly of an organisational nature, potentially containing major consequences for citizens’ free and equal access to information, knowledge and culture. Among other things, the Danish public libraries risk substantiating an already existing and problematic polarisation between technologically capable and incapacitated groups of people.

Originality/value

The digital transformation of society has only just begun. Therefore, it is important to examine the consequences of the transition to digital media types for central cultural institution such as the public libraries. The present study is an early and minor contribution to the illumination of a process requiring many more and large-scale studies.

中文翻译：

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民主、数字化和公共图书馆

目的

本文的目的是调查丹麦公共图书馆数字化带来的民主挑战。使用 2012 年国家图书馆专业战略中的概念，对 9 位图书馆员在数字传播实践中的经验进行了分析。

设计/方法/方法

该论文是名为“如果数字化是答案，那么问题是什么？”的更大研究项目的一部分。本子研究基于对图书馆工作人员的半结构化访谈、两个中央数字公共图书馆资料提供者的案例描述，以及不同公共图书馆政策机构的使命、愿景和战略的文献研究。为了构建研究框架，进行了文献综述。

发现

作者检测到数字传播中存在几种不兼容的情况。这些条件主要是组织性质的，可能对公民自由和平等地获取信息、知识和文化产生重大影响。除其他外，丹麦公共图书馆有可能证实有技术能力的人和无能力的人群之间已经存在且有问题的两极分化。

原创性/价值

社会的数字化转型才刚刚开始。因此，检查公共图书馆等中央文化机构向数字媒体类型过渡的后果非常重要。目前的研究是对需要更多和大规模研究的过程的启发的早期和次要贡献。