Chapter 7: Is Digital Readiness in the 21st Century a Necessity to Establish Social Justice in Knowledge Societies? A Case Study of the National Library and Archives of Iran

Bridging the digital divide and promoting social justice in providing equitable access to information requires strong planning and strategy. To be successful, the strategy must focus on where the library value chain is vulnerable to disruption and can be made stronger and more economical through revision and relaunch. One of the challenges of overcoming the digital divide in libraries is to determine what infrastructure we need and which tools and services are needed, in addition to the ability of staff and related stakeholders to function effectively. Designing appropriate strategies will only be possible by carefully assessing the current situation. Therefore, the main goal of this chapter is to evaluate the digital readiness of the National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI) and introduce solutions that can be used to reduce the digital divide, provide access to information, and further social justice. Content analysis and survey methods were used in this research to achieve this agenda. The authors compiled a master list of potential dimensions that are widely recognized as having significant impacts on digital readiness. We also reviewed all possible components for each dimension and identified indicators that can be used to measure them. Then we evaluated the obtained indicators in terms of clarity of concept, distinctiveness from other criteria, their logical relationship with digital readiness, and their ability to be quantitatively measured. Internal and external validity were also considered.