PUBLIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION & ICTs PHASE II REPORT Bangladesh
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Development Research Network (D.Net)
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Technology & Social Change Group, University of Washington Information School
Abstract
Public Access Information Venue came into lexicon in the backdrop of changing
information and knowledge landscape followed by emergence of Internet in early 1990s.
People started to behave differently in terms of accessing information knowledge.
Communication pattern of citizens across the globe also started to evolve. For accessing
knowledge and information, along with libraries, people started to access Internet. As it is
not possible to buy all books and journals for an individual and the obvious choice is to visit
library, similarly not everybody can afford a PC and Internet connection, thus cyber café
has become people’s obvious choice for accessing knowledge and information. The
difficulties in accessing computer and Internet were more severe for the citizens living in
developing countries. Furthermore, these difficulties were multiplied for people living in
non‐urban areas. Thus, new choice emerged for them in form of “Telecenter”. As a whole
the information and knowledge access landscape changed dramatically during last one and
half decade. This study is an attempt to investigate all types of public access venues,
including traditional libraries.
Description
This research focuses on the public access to information and communication landscapes in 24
countries, with specific focus on public libraries, to understand the information needs of underserved
communities, public access to information and communication venues, and the role of ICT.
Through field research in 24 countries conducted by local research partners, and cross-country
comparative analyses based on common research design elements (see list of countries and research
design overview in Appendix), the project aims to contribute to the knowledge in the field of
information and ICT for development. Of particular interest and value are: the comparative look at
key venues (libraries and other), and the mix of depth of in-country knowledge with breadth of global
comparison to elicit success factors and scenarios to understand how diverse populations can and do
access and use ICT to improve their lives. All outputs of this research will be broadly disseminated to
interested stakeholders and placed in the public domain.
Citation
Development Research Network (D.Net) (2008). Public access to information & ICTs: Bangladesh. Public Access Landscape Study final report, presented to University of Washington Center for Information & Society (CIS), Seattle.