Personalisation & digital inclusion | 12 January 2009

I've received an interesting enquiry (which also ties in to a response to DCLG that I've been working on with CILIP on digital inclusion).

With the current Government encouragement for personalising services, a number of library services has started developing personalised library services via email (and, to a lesser extent, mobile phone). These include, for example, emailing people to remind them that material they have borrowed is becoming overdue; emailing people to notify them that items they have reserved are now available. Most recently, some have started contacting people to let them know that titles that might interest them have been added to stock.

However, is there an issue for us regarding those people who do not have email access? Is this leading, in effect, to a two-tier service, and one which is further disadvantaging people who are already digitally excluded?

What do you think? Has your service grappled with these issues - and, if so, what did you come up with?

I'll pull together all the replies I receive and circulate them and add them to the blog & website.

Posted in: Digital inclusion

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"Sharing Tongues" - Black LGBT Oral Testimonies | 11 January 2009

New project from rukus! Federation, which "will uncover and record a range of individual stories and experiences ..." of Black LGBT people aged 35+.

rukus! are also looking for volunteers to work on this HLF-funded project.

Posted in: Black, ethnic minority and mixed-race | LGBTQI | Volunteering

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Latest NEET statistics | 6 January 2009

The latest Quarterly Brief from DCSF (which applies to England only) shows that, at the end of 2007, there were 189,500 16-18 year-olds who were Not in Education, Employment or Training.

However, it also shows the Labour Force Survey figures (which fluctuate seasonally and are less definitive) at the third quarter of 2008 as:

16-18 year-olds: 256,000

18-24 year-olds: 820,000.

Posted in: Children & young people | NEET

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