Internet access in public libraries in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte: paths for the development of digital inclusion

Abstract

It starts with the importance of the public library as a training ground for people trained to use the information available in the digital environment. It addresses the expansion of the exercise of citizenship to electronic media, characterized as digital citizenship, and the obstacles caused by this type of access to activities due to the high rates of digital exclusion of the Brazilian population. The Internet is an important means of increasing access to information and exercising citizenship, but it requires navigation skills that can meet the user's information needs. In this sense, initiatives to promote digital inclusion are necessary to expand the exercise of digital citizenship. The public library is an institution that can provide this inclusion in electronic media, training users to search for and use information independently. With this in mind, the aim of this study was to identify, in the provision of computers with internet access by municipal public libraries in the Belo Horizonte Metropolitan Region, the presence of activities related to digital inclusion that develop skills for searching for and using information in digital media and contribute to the exercise of citizenship in this environment. Based on the assumption that actions aimed at developing citizenship must be anchored in public policies established by the state, a documentary survey was carried out of actions related to digital inclusion drawn up at federal level, in the state of Minas Gerais and in the municipalities of the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. After identifying and analyzing these policies, a semi-structured interview was conducted with managers of municipal public libraries in the region. The aim was to identify the managers' understanding of these guidelines and analyze the possible actions resulting from them, verified in the service provided by the libraries. The results show that the libraries surveyed offer initiatives related to digital inclusion. However, they include aspects related to technical inclusion, providing access to the internet and some possibilities for developing dexterity in handling machines. They do not, however, reach the cognitive dimension of developing information skills, which includes autonomy and critical positioning for the independent use of TIC.