Brendan Luyt

Knowledge access, creation and transfer in e‐government portals

Purpose – Knowledge management (KM) is an important consideration in e‐government portals to ensure that knowledge flows efficiently between governments, individuals and organisations. A crucial aspect of e‐government portals that has not been addressed adequately is the extent to which KM mechanisms have been implemented. Specifically, the authors argue that appropriate KM mechanisms are necessary to support the access, creation and transfer of knowledge between these portals and their users. The paper aims to propose an evaluation model for this purpose by first defining the main KM mechanisms and then burrowing deeper into their constituent dimensions.Design/methodology/approach – An evaluation model known as knowledge access, creation and transfer (K‐ACT) is presented which identifies three KM mechanisms for portals: knowledge access, creation and transfer. Each mechanism is characterised by a set of dimensions and sub‐dimensions representing the tools and features for supporting that mechanism. The m...

Assessing students' information literacy skills in two secondary schools in Singapore

Appropriately measuring information literacy (IL) skills is essential to understand their educational impact as well as exploring pedagogies to improve teaching of these skills. This paper reports findings of a baseline study to understand the IL level of secondary school students in Singapore. A comprehensive instrument encompassing a new dimension of ethical usage of information as well as major IL principles and guidelines was developed for data collection. A total of 298 responses were gathered through the online survey. The findings indicate that overall there was a scope to improve students’ IL skills. That stated, higher order IL skills (such as information use, synthesis, and evaluation) demand more attention, as comparatively lower levels of proficiency were observed in this study.

The inclusivity of W ikipedia and the drawing of expert boundaries: An examination of talk pages and reference lists

Wikipedia is frequently viewed as an inclusive medium. But inclusivity within this online encyclopedia is not a simple matter of just allowing anyone to contribute. In its quest for legitimacy as an encyclopedia, Wikipedia relies on outsiders to judge claims championed by rival editors. In choosing these experts, Wikipedians define the boundaries of acceptable comment on any given subject. Inclusivity then becomes a matter of how the boundaries of expertise are drawn. In this article I examine the nature of these boundaries and the implications they have for inclusivity and credibility as revealed through the talk pages produced and sources used by a particular subset of Wikipedias creators—those involved in writing articles on the topic of Philippine history.

Defining the digital divide: the role of e‐readiness indicators

Purpose – To show how e‐readiness indicators, specifically the Networked Readiness Index (NRI), participate in the work of defining policy problems.Design/methodology/approach – The article critically examines the Networked Readiness Index in terms of its presentation and its underlying model. It relies on an approach to policy analysis that views policy problems as socially constructed.Findings – E‐readiness assessment tools purport to show how ready the nations of the world are to exploit the potential of new information and communication technologies. Yet they do more than that; being actively engaged in constructing policy problems. In the case of the NRI, the problem of the international digital divide is defined in a particular way that privileges certain interests while at the same time legitimatizing its inclusion on the agenda of international organizations as a problem worthy of sustained attention.Practical implications – The findings of the article suggest a need for alternative indicators tha...

Proposing a 6+3 model for developing information literacy standards for schools: A case for Singapore

Several comprehensive information literacy (IL) standards have been developed worldwide for use in the education sector, specifically for students and teachers. Apart from the more generic International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) IL standards, such standards are more appropriate for their countries of origins. If these standards are to be applied to schools in Southeast Asia, then some form of contextualization and customization is necessary to cater for gaps that surface due to their different and unique education environments and cultures. In addition, as a result of the growth of Web 2.0, information seeking moves rapidly in the social dimension. It is therefore timely to review ongoing research in the areas of collaborative information seeking and behavior, as well as education values in order to derive a set of up-to-date, relevant and holistic IL standards for schools. This paper proposes a model to help to develop IL standards for schools in Singapore that was constructed using the aforementioned standards as a guide, based on the paradigm of a popular information and technology literacy process model known as the Big6, and steered by related educational initiatives and education values that have been recently implemented in Singapore. The proposed model expounds each of the Big6 categories in terms of Techniques and Tools, and supplements those categories with three important mindsets of Ethics and Social Responsibility, Collaborative Information Behavior, and Attitudes and Perceptions.

The nature of historical representation on Wikipedia: Dominant or alterative historiography?

Given their ease of use and capability for interactivity, new media are seen as having the potential to make visible previously marginalized voices. The online presence of the writing of history is increasing, and this potential would be a welcome development for the field as it would create a much richer set of easily available historical perspectives. However, this article suggests that the achievement of this promise is fraught with difficulty and that a more likely outcome is a mapping of the status quo in historical representation onto the new media. To illustrate this, I present an analysis of the Wikipedia accounts of Singaporean and Philippine history. For Singapore, alternative historical visions are not as developed as those for the Philippines, and this is reflected in the nature of the respective Wikipedia accounts. I suggest that a possible means to achieve something more of the promise of digital media for history is for information professionals to take a keener interest in Wikipedia, with an eye to helping include accounts of documented historical perspectives that are ignored by mainstream historiographical traditions.

Imagining the internet: learning and access to information in Singapore's public libraries

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the discourses surrounding the provision of internet access in Singapore through the public library system and to consider what the government, librarians and members of the public consider are the legitimate uses of the internet in Singapores public libraries, how these compare with what the librarians see as their role in facilitating access and to what extent the internet as an educational tool features in public libraries according to users.Design/methodology/approach – A discourse analysis of public documents and semi‐structured interviews with ten senior librarians, managers, and 40 members of the public were conducted. Observation was also conducted of library users and of their usage at the computer terminals in the library.Findings – Findings from the study throw up very different definitions of what constitutes learning through the internet within the context of a public library. This reinforces conclusions from previous studies that what is termed learn...

Librarian Perception of Wikipedia: Threats or Opportunities for Librarianship?

Abstract The rapid rise of Wikipedia as an information source has placed the traditional role of librarians as information gatekeepers and guardians under scrutiny with much of the professional literature suggesting that librarians are polarized over the issue of whether Wikipedia is a useful reference tool. This qualitative study examines the perceptions and behaviours of National Library Board (NLB) of Singapore librarians with regards to information seeking and usage of Wikipedia. It finds that instead of polarized attitudes, most librarians, although cautious about using Wikipedia in their professional capacity, hold a range of generally positive attitudes towards the online encyclopaedia, believing that it has a valid role to play in the information seeking of patrons today. This is heartening because it suggests the existence within the librarian population of attitudes that can be tapped to engage constructively with Wikipedia. Three of these in particular are briefly discussed at the end of the article: Wikipedias ability to appeal to the socalled “digital natives,” its role as a source of non-Western information, and its potential to enable a revitalization of the role of librarians as public intellectuals contributing to a democratic information commons.

Wikipedia, collective memory, and the Vietnam war

Wikipedia is increasingly an important source of information for many. Hence, it is important to develop an understanding of how it is situated within society and the wider roles it is called onto perform. This article argues that one of these roles is as a depository of collective memory. Building on the work of Pentzold, I present a case study of the English Wikipedia article on the Vietnam War to demonstrate that the article, or more accurately, its talk pages, provide a forum for the contestation of collective memory. I further argue that this function is one that should be supported by libraries as they position themselves within a rapidly changing digital world.

Is the library a third place for young people

Despite some previous contributions from the library and information science community to the ongoing scholarly discussions of space and place, the research on ‘library as place’ in the context of young people has received scant attention. To address this gap, a case study of the Jurong Regional Library as place for young people in Singapore was carried out. Oldenburg’s third place concept was deployed as a framework to explore the meaning and role of the Jurong Regional Library for young people in Singapore. Although we found that the library does not function as a third place as advocated by Oldenburg in the strictest sense, it does show that the library is a relevant and engaging place for young people in Singapore. For young people in Singapore, the library is also a social place, study place, as well as information and/or entertainment place. As a social place, young people socialize with others from diverse backgrounds via the library. The ambience of the library creates conducive environment for young people to stay and study diligently. Imbued with collective knowledge, the library is also a place where young people can satisfy their needs for information and/or entertainment.