Open AccessLearning from Pandemic Mode to Create a Sustainable Digital Future
Author(s) -
Kim M. Thompson,
Amanda Reed
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the international journal of information, diversity, and inclusion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2574-3430
DOI - 10.33137/ijidi.v5i3.36195
Subject(s) - pandemic , inclusion (mineral) , covid-19 , conceptual model , public relations , digital library , political science , computer science , world wide web , business , knowledge management , internet privacy , sociology , social science , art , literature , poetry , medicine , disease , pathology , database , infectious disease (medical specialty)
Public libraries are known as places for information, communication, and gathering, but what happens when a pandemic restricts social contact? In the years 2020 and 2021, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, libraries worldwide revised services and explored new ways to provide information and support to communities—primarily through digital services. This conceptual analytical paper responds to this approach by suggesting the use of a tripartite information access and digital inclusion model that can be used for evaluative processes related to ensuring ongoing physical, intellectual, and social access to public library services during a public crisis shutdown. We provide an overview of some of the new and altered services provided within the case of the Richland Library system in South Carolina, USA, and then discuss these changes using the tripartite model as a means to illustrate how this theoretical model can be employed for practical evaluation and decision-making.