Inequality in information provision: the case of school governors

Abstract

Explores the proposition that inequality in information provision exists at the level of the individual user, in the context of state school governance in England and Wales, and examines the nature of the inequality and methods for investigating it. Constructs a model of the inequality, with scenarios, using data provided by 2 research projects undertaken at the Department of Information and Library Management, University of Northumbria at Newcastle: a British Library funded project ('School governors' access to information' (BLRD Report 6179)) and a South Tyneside Education project ('Identifying the training and information needs of school governors in South Tyneside'); involving questionnaire surveys of school governors in the South Tyneside area, UK. Results of the data analysis are used to generate a picture of the user needs of school governors as seen from the individual user's point of view. Concludes that strategies for overcoming inequality in infor mation provision at the level of the individual school governor can be suc cessfully developed and implemented and will result in a more flexible response from the designers and providers of services to individuals. A British Library Research and Development Department (BLRDD) contract has recently been awarded for a follow up study to 'School governors' access to information' (BLRD Report 6179) to investigate ways of overcoming the inequalities described here.