PUBLIC LIBRARY AND INF'OR]VTATION SERVICE AND DEMOCMTIC DEVELOPMENT: AN OUTLINE F'OR A COMPARATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAMME BETWEEN SWEDEN AND INDONESIA

A Public library is an organization established, supported ancl funcled by the community, either through local, regional, or nationql government or through some other form of community organizations. It provides access to pnowl+ edge, information, and worlw of the imagination through s range of resources and sewices ancl is equally available to all members of the community regardless of race, nationally, age, genderi religion, language, disability, economic, and employment status and educational attainment IFLA/WESCO. *) Staff of The Departrnent of Library and Information Sciences, University College ofBoras, Sweden. **) Staff of The Faculty of Social and political Sciences, Gadjah Mada University


INTRODUCTION
The aim of this paper is to present the conceptual background ofcollaborative research prograrnme that is currently unda development as a joint venture between the Swedish School of Library and lnformation Science in Boras,

PROGRAMME BACKGROUND
Public library and public information services are important features in the structure of democratic societies around the world.The democratic system is dependent on citizens that are well educated and well informed.The democratic society has a responsibility to provide equal opportunities for its citizens to take part in its decision-making processes on local, regional, and national levels.It has also a responsibility to provide education and culture on equal terms for all, regardless ofetturic belonging, religious faith gender, or economic ability.
To day traditional democracies built on the national state are challenged by the em€rgence of a new form of Berkala Ilmu Perpustakaan dan Informasivotume r.Nomor r., 2003 @ social constructioR, by many referred to as the"'information society".Information and knowledge are seen as keys to social padicipation and political inlluence, ia a way.that is comparable to money in the industrial society and estafe in the natural society.In this the motion state is less emphasized, and instead there is more direct connection between global communication and the daily life of people in local communities, at least by the wide spread of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).This development places high demands on citizens to be information literate and it request of society that public information is distributed to all of its members equally.Regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion or political preferences.
' There is a widespread trust in that ICT will bring new parts of the closer together in a way that has impossible before.An interesting feature in this development is that the potential of ICt lies beyond the reach of governmental conhol which enables movements of different political, moral and religious standpoints to work globally without the risk of intemrption by public offrcials or censorship.We are seen several examples of this power of ICT during the last decade e.g. in the war at the Balkans, during the political hrbulences in Sri Lanka and East Timor and most recently in the war following the 9 I ll in New York and Washington.
ICTS provide not only opportunities for new relation and contacts betrveen people and grouping around the world, they also provide threats to the institutionalized order that has been developed in liberal democracies around the world during the last two hundred years.It in therefore time now to re-establish and act upon the new prerequisites that are under rapid development so that democratic ideals are not undermined to such extent that they pose an actual threat to basic human rights and the active political participation of citizens in the social development in cotrntries all over the world.In many countries in.e.g.within the European Union this is being made at present (Thorhauge et al. 1997), but in many other areas this works is to be commenced.Herein lies alarge opportunity for many countries to combine a political development into more democratic systems using the po-sibilities of ICT in creating locally viable and participatory environments, In this, the established of stable and widespread public library structures are ofcentral concern.

Democracy, literacy and libraries in Indonesia
In new emerging democracies, the establishment of relevant public institutional structures that can support the democratic system is crucial (Held, 1995).In the face of the increased significance of information and literacy, one of the features that must be institutionalized public (and free) li brary and information service.There are however, in many countries, obstacles to this development, though our knowledge of these is much aspect scarce (Yilmas, 1999).
There are a vast number of ethnic groups and some 300 languages are spoken on a dailybasis beside the official Bahasa Indonesia.Not only do these conditions lead to consequences for the general democratic development in Indonesia, but they also stress many of the issues that make public library and information services a potentially viable part of this development.Unlike Sweden, with its small homogenous population and high literacy rates, where democratic processes are to high degree decentrahzedto regional and local levels, Indonesian goverffnental policies have been characteitzed by a strong centalization aim at keeping thus huge and diverse country together.It is only recently that political decision making e.g.such that concerns public libraries has been decentoalized to regional levels in an atterrpt to create a more sustainable and stable democratic participation of citizens locally (Indonesia, 2000).One of the main efforts by the Indonesian government is to implement a more accessible general educational systembased a nine year educati6n compulsory program for children.This is seen as the main key to decreases and, in the long run, erases literacy.In the.official descriptions of these processes public libraries, schobl libraries and others are virtually invisible (Indonesia, 2000(Indonesia, : 1661)).
Although Wilfr ed Plumbe ( I 9 87) describes lndonesia as a "land of libraries" very little is known about the conditions for librarianship and public library and information service in Indonesia, at least from a scientific point of view The development has, surprisingly enough, taken place a bit beside the general discussion oflibrary and information development in developing countries, even when this has focused on South East Asia.Extremely few studies even touches upon the condition in Indonesia (Retro Prabandari, 1993,Armuar 1985).Today Indonesia has some 8 600 publicly funded libraries, ThLpublic libraries are organizedunder 304 regional library systems, there are 25 "national libraries" on provincial levels and one national library, oflndonesia, located in Jakarta.
Furthermore there are about 930 public ally funded special libraries.There are 13 deparbnents that offerprogrammes in Library and Information Science at university levels' However, all the way up to 1998, many librarians were not educated as such.Instead there was a system in Indonesia, which allows civil servants working in libraries firnded by the government for at least two years.to be credited as librarians To become a librarian today, one has to hold a diploma (2 years) in Library and Information Science.This has mean tbat a distinction has been made between those who have diploma degree in library, and those who work in libraries but have no such.The latter group is today called Librarian As-sistanVAsisten Pustakawan.The Indonesian research activity within LIS is scarce.In 1998 there were 52 publications in Southeast Asian journals on librarianship and LIS by Indonesian researchers, all of them written in the official Bahasa Indonesian Language (Jaffe Yee Yeow-fei, 1999).

RESEARCH IN LIBRARY AND INFORMA. TION SCIENCE
The relation between librarianship and political development is well known and research has been carried out in settings in many, mostly developed and industrial, countries (Roberts, 1992).However, studies on the prerequisites and possibilities for public library and information services in more unstable political conditions such as those in young, developing democracies in undeveloped countries are less known to us.Because ofthese researchers have often failed to explain and be a part of the development of library and information services and librarianship in developing countries, not least when it comes to issues of equality and multiculturalism @yme, I 999).
In LIS a number of areas have been highlighted as specifically important in the analysis and development of librarianship in developing countries (Ruhig duMont, Butlar &Cayron,1994).

'
Liblqy.use studies 2. Availability of public library and information services and resources to marginalized groups in society.
Democratic development demands equal rights to social information.This is a general prerequisite for a broad popular engagement in society's decision-making processes.
Equal access to information throughpublic library and information services is, however, not obvious in nrost societies.2) The participation on an intemational level within the emergence of a global information society The case study setting will be implemented and discussed as a way of developing methodological tools in LIS and librarianship.This is particularly of value in the corrparative environment of the prograillme, where differences due to environmental and contextual factors may be approach.
The emphasis on gender issues in regard to the main objective of the programme will provide knowledge that can be utilized in practical librarianship in Sweden as well as in Indonesia.The intervention in Indonesia or gender equality and information access through public libraries will also provide professiorral tools for professional library practice.
The study of the relation between public library and information services and democratic development from an information literacy point of view will allow the programrne to develop tools and reconrmendations for the library profession on how to work with these issues pointing at the potential of the libraries as complementary institutions to schools in the work of increasing literacy in local community settings' Sweden and the Deparhnent of Library Science at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.The programme, entitled Public Library and Information Services and Democratic Development (PLISADD), is corrparative and contains plans for several studies ofthe role ofpublic libraries in local democratic processes in Sweden and Indonesia.Although the programme is comparative this paper will emphasize the prerequisites of the Indonesian institutional regarding librarianship and library education.The two departments that share responsibility for the progmfilme are in themselves as different as can be, thus creating specific points ofdepartures for collaborations.SSLIS is one of the largest LIS institutions in Europe with approximately 1500 students and a full postgraduate programme.SSLIS has a long hadition of international collaboration on both undergraduates level and in different research settings.Countries that have been parfirers are, among others, South Public Libra and Information Services .... / Joacim Hansson et.al. Africa, Vietnam and Moldsva.The Departrnent of Library Science at Gadjah Mada University in yogyakarta was estab_ hshed in 1992.Due to lack of funding far no research has been done, although most of the staff is reqtrired to carry out research as part of their duties.International collaboration such as the PLISADD prograrnme is a way to inaugurate research and thus increase quality of the department's activ_ rty.

(
pustakawan).As stated in a degree fromthe minister of Civil Servant Enpowerment 1n 1988, the only prerequest in that they have a formal education minimum at senior high school level (SK MEMAN Number: 18/1988).In 1998 this was shanged as new governmental deccess emphasized the professionalism of librarianship (SK MENPAN Number 33/1 998).
direct its interest to these issues.In sstafllshing research and educational collaborations between LIS institutions in Sweden and Indonesia issues of public library and information services may be focus for analysis in relation to the general development of Berkala ltmu Perpustakaan dan Informasi -Volume 1. Nomor 1., 2003 @ information and cultural infrastructures supporting democracy in one oft the largest counhies of the world. of PLISADD is to analyze the relation between public library and information resoruces and services and democratic development in two distinctly differentpolitical contexts, Indonesia and Sweden.Special emphasis is put on issues regarding gender and ethnic equality in access to these resources and services.Scientifically, the programme spans over several problem areas and methodological approaches a currently in use with Library and Information Studies.The overall methodological strategy of the progralnme is a model for naturalistic case study inqulry wittt emphasis on qualitative analyses in local and regional settings (Elloa 1990).The programme willbe inrplemented tlrough empirical studies concentrated around the following three themes: L lnstitutional Prerequisites ofPublic Library and Information Services on Local, Regional, National, and Global Levels .The main issues in this theme are to survey and analyze the publicly frnded ffiastructure oflibrary and information services in Indonesia and is Sweden.Comparisons will be made in order to access the potential of these service and resoluces as aids to c\schools and other institutions that increase information literacy among the population in a way that is beneficial to the specific prerequisites oflndonesian and Swe{en democratic development.The main methodologies will be: a. Document analyses of gathered statistics and policy statements on different political levels and professional statements within the library and information sector, both on national and international levels.b.Interviews with agents in relation to the theme, for example, local and national politicians responsible for library and information issues, librarian in different kinds ofpublicly funded libraries and owners oi Internet Caf6, among others.
Sweden and Indonesia represent two different democratic settings in which marginalized groups must be treated in different ways.The aim of this part of the prograrnme is to identi$r such marginalized groups and analyze the relation between their position in society and the availability of public and information resources. .Beside the various groups that be identified in the course of the programme special focus will be put on gender analyses of the availability of and access to public library and information resources.Methods used will, primarily, be interviews with relevant professionals such as librarians, and focus group intewiews with representatives for different groups in society.Based on the knowledge gained under theme one a case sfudy setting will be constructed focusing on one chosen city or region in Indonesia and in Sweden.3. Barriers totwards equal access to public and information services qnd resources.This theme will develop the previous two by analyzing specific barriers towards equal access to public library and information services in a case study setting in one chosen city or region in Indonesia and in Sweden.Comparisons of how professionals within public library and information services deals with the questions of inequality will be made.Berkala Ilmu Pcrpustakaan dan Informasi -Volume 1. Nomor. 1, 2003 @ and Information Services .... / Joacim llansson et.al. Methodologically a case study model will be used in order to identify local public library and information resource and service infrastruchres and place them in relation to experiences of library and information professionals and representatives for different groups in society.An intervention will be made in a chosen area in Indonesia that elevates the professional's practices in relation to woman and information access through public library.The design of the intervention will depend on the local environment.TITF' SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL VALUE OF THE PROGRAMME The relation between public library and information resources and services and the development of a viable democracy will be emphasized.Through the comparative imperative we can be able to formulate knowledge from the experiences made in two very different political and demographic contexts ofSweden and Indonesia.This knowledge can be utilized on both Sweden and Indonesia when developing librarianship and adjusting professional practice to: l) The requirements of equal access to information and culture on a local community level,