The New Information Poor: How Limited Access to Digital Scholarly Resources Impacts Higher Education

Abstract

The “new” information poor are the individuals and communities who have computer and Internet connectivity, but cannot access scholarly information due to prohibitive costs. Pratt Institute's School of Information and Library Science (SILS) represents such a community and is the subject of this case study. Three measures were analyzed: SILS' four “core” classes were surveyed to determine how many required readings were available via the library; a survey was sent to 31 SILS instructors; and we conducted in-depth interviews with two SILS instructors. While “information poor,” the data suggest our respondents are resourceful in finding ways to cope with their disadvantage.

Keywords:

• information poor
• LIS education
• access
• higher education
• electronic resources
• subscription databases

Acknowledgments

We thank the SILS teaching community for their cooperation in helping us complete this study. Special thanks goes to Quinn Lai for helping us obtain the courses syllabuses and to Dr. Debbie Rabina for her guidance and extended help on this project.