The Power of Nine
Introduction and background
1.1 In the first two decades of access to digital information through personal computers and similar devices, the primary cause of "social exclusion" has largely been defined as a set of problems revolving around the design and cost of hardware and software. However, the entry into the market of technologies such as digital television and WAP-enabled (Wireless Access Protocol) mobile telephones is likely to bring digital information to the whole population at a cost which is affordable and this will, in turn, generate a new kind of social exclusion based on varying abilities in information handling.
1.2 Carey has postulated1 that there are five key characteristics in information handling, namely:
- Access
- Apprehension
- Navigation
- Interaction
- Expression
and he has identified the third of these, navigation, as having received far too little attention.
1.3 In attempting to consider social exclusion as defined in this new paradigm, it is clear that the way that information is designed and located is critical to achieving optimal access.
1.4 In order to address some fundamental issues in information navigation, the Library and Information Commission (LIC) under the project title "Preliminary Investigation into Navigation Strategies for the New Library with Special Reference to Disabled People" commissioned the following Deliverables:
- Deliverable 1: Data on the Ability to Navigate Information Systems.
- Deliverable 2: Factors in Deriving an Optimal Information Navigation System.
- Deliverable 3: Overview of Information Navigation Options.
- Deliverable 4: Research Proposal Based on Deliverables 1-3.
Parts 2, 3 and 4 of this Report correspond with Deliverables 3, 2 and 4 respectively. Deliverable 1 will be issued at a later date as an Appendix to this Report.