Democratic and Educational Background of Information Poverty: The Case of Turkey

Information poverty is one of the most significant characteristics of developing countries and its causes include multiple complex factors, including educational, scientific and technological contexts, political, social and cultural structures, democratic quality, and humanitarian conditions. The purpose of this study is to examine the situation of information poverty in Turkey, focusing on its democratic and educational aspects. In the scope of the study the basic concept of information poverty is briefly introduced. Then, the particular case of Turkey is presented based on domestic and international literature and other public and official sources. The study concludes Turkey is one of the countries which suffers from information poverty, because of failing to fulfill minimal democratic and educational conditions. Associated problems covered do not seem to be solved in the short term. Recommendations are that the first step in the amelioration of information poverty must be awareness-raising by targeting all governmental and societal segments. A multidimensional approach that addresses all segments and policies of the country may be useful, because there is no single factor that explains the information poverty. Finally, librarians and other intellectual workers have a significant role to play in this process.