Opportunities of Collaboration with Public Libraries on Government and Governance

Abstract

international level. In July 2013, Turkey became a part of this program with the “Librar-e Turkey Planning and Pilot Project.” The project was finalized on December 31, 2015 and as part of the pilot implementation, several works were conducted including trainings, workshops, online courses and webinars for library personnel. Experiences acquired during the project were shared in different platforms as reports, articles, and bulletins. As a result, the Project passed into history as the most comprehensive project for the public libraries in Turkey.

Works within the scope of Global Libraries Initiative have been carried out in accordance with the structures known as CIMS (Common Impact Measurement System) and PM (Performance Metrics). With PM, the effects/impacts of the support from the Global Libraries Initiative and other resources were questioned and with CIMS the work results of different countries were analysed in a standardized manner. There are seven research categories in CIMS, namely, digital inclusion, education, health, government and governance, economic progress, culture and leisure, and communication. For the analysis of the impact of project works in these impact areas, two basic questionnaires were conducted by the Project. The first of the library usage questionnaires was conducted in 2014 with 2670 participants and the other in 2015 with 2666 participants.

This study will dwell on the subject of government and governance, which is one of the impact areas in CIMS. In addition to the findings of the questionnaires, collaboration opportunities to attract potential public library users by way of their benefiting from the e-government services and using these services effectively will be discussed.