DIGITAL DIVIDE: CHALLENGES FOR LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES PROVISION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Information provision in developing countries is still a serious issue of challenge, unlike the developed countries. The concept of the digital divide, digital gap or knowledge gap has made information provision in developing countries a serious challenge. Digital divide or knowledge gap implies that there exists a gap in the adoption and use of ICT between developing and developed countries. This gap has led to the unbalanced or unequal provision of information by libraries and information centres for their clientele.

So many reasons have been advanced for this issue in developing countries such as finance, illiteracy, cultural factors among others.

This paper, therefore, will be based on comparative analysis of ICT use in developed and developing countries. It will address the concept of the digital divide, challenges and how it affects information provision in developing countries. The paper will further address what steps developing countries are to take in bridging the gap so as to meet up with the current trend of information provision in developed countries and also be listed in the committee of information providers in this 21st Century.