Environmental scan. A methodological framework to initiate digital library development for communities in Canada’s North
| Date | 16 January 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/AJIM-06-2016-0082 |
| Published date | 16 January 2017 |
| Pages | 76-94 |
| Author | Dinesh Rathi,Ali Shiri,Catherine Cockney |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management |
Environmental scan
A methodological framework to initiate digital
library development for communities
in Canada’s North
Dinesh Rathi and Ali Shiri
School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alberta,
Edmonton, Canada, and
Catherine Cockney
Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre, Inuvialuit Regional Corporation,
Inuvik, Canada
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to propose an evidence-based environmental scanning model that
will provide a methodological framework for conducting community-engaged and community-focused
research, with a particular emphasis on northern communities in Canada.
Design/methodology/approach –The study has adopted a multifaceted environmental scanning
approach to understand the Inuvialuit Settlement Region communities. The research design is informed by
various environmental models as discussed in literature from a broad range of domains such as business,
library and information science (LIS), and a sophisticated multimethod data gathering approach that included
field trips, observations, surveys, as well as informal methods of community engagement.
Findings –The paper proposes an environmental scan model as a novel approach to community-focused
digital library (DL) development. The paper identifies both macro- and micro-environmental landscapes as
applicable to the development of a DL for communities in Canada’s North. The macro-environmental
landscapes include: geograph ical, historical and sociocult ural, political and regulatory, e conomic,
technological, competition, and human resource. The micro-environmental landscapes include: stakeholder
and community, linguistic, information resource, and ownership.
Originality/value –The environmental scanning model and its key components presented in this paper
provide a novel and concrete example of a project that aims to organize information for increased access and
to create value through the design and implementation of an infrastructure for a cultural heritage DL.
The environmental scan model will also contribute to both research and practice in the field of Library
and Information Science (LIS), particularly in the area of DL development for rural, remote, and
indigenous communities.
Keywords Digital libraries, Canada’s North, Cultural heritage digital library, Environmental scan,
Indigenous communities, Inuvialuit Settlement Region
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Access to information and cultural heritage material in Canada’s Northern communities
has been limited for a number of reasons, including low availability of information resources
in digital formats, absence of digital library (DL) infrastructure, and the geographic
dispersion of the population. For example, the communities such as Paulatuk, Ulukhaktok,
Sachs Harbour, Tuktoyaktuk, Inuvik, and Aklavik in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR)
of the Northwest Territories (NWT) are spread across 91,000 km
2
(Inuvialuit Regional
Corporation, 2007).
The development of a DL infrastructure is critical to enhance the access to information
for the northern communities in Canada. However, it is particularly important to have a
Aslib Journal of Information
Management
Vol. 69 No. 1, 2017
pp. 76-94
© Emerald PublishingLimited
2050-3806
DOI 10.1108/AJIM-06-2016-0082
Received 13 June 2016
Revised 12 October 2016
Accepted 15 November 2016
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2050-3806.htm
This research was funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada
Insight Grant. The authors would like to convey special thank to Robyn Stobbs, Sandy Campbell,
Sharon Farnel, Anastasia Piltingsrud and Elaine Maloney for their invaluable contributions.
76
AJIM
69,1
holistic and deeper understanding of the environment, the available resources, and the local
context (e.g. community perspectives and local sociocultural aspects) to not only make
informed decisions but also to foster collaboration and build trust with local stakeholders
for the successful development and implementation of the DL infrastructure. This paper
argues that such an inclusive and culturally informed perspective can be gained through
conducting a comprehensive environmental scan.
Environmental scanning involves collecting and analyzing information related to factors
that are important for an organization (Dessler, 1998), i.e., assessing factors that may have
impact on “organization’s decision-making process”and identifying “emerging [trends and]
issues, situations, and potential pitfalls that may affect an organization’s future”(Albright,
2004, p. 38). Authors like Albright (2004) suggest that environmental scanning helps to
minimize surprises and provides opportunities to identify options to meet challenges.
Information collected, either formally or informally, through environmental scanning plays
an important role in developing plans and making critical decisions (Albright, 2004). Thus,
the use of an environmental scanning approach provides the foundational input to
formulate the next strategic steps to achieve the goal of creating a DL infrastructure for the
communities in Canada’s North.
This paper introduces a holistic and comprehensive environmental scanning approach to
initiate the development of a DL infrastructure. It draws on boththe existing literature in the
field and upon research conducted for the Digital Library North (DLN) project. DLN is an
ongoing projectworking to create a DL infrastructurefor the ISR in the Canadian NWT. The
project is a collaboration between the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre (ICRC) and
researchersand librarians from a large research-intensive university in Canada.The research
team on the DLN project became increasingly aware of the complex set of social, cultural,
linguistic, and political factors that may affect the process of DL development. It was
particularly evident that community consultation is critical for the DLN project and thus, a
significant amount of research time and resources should be devoted to a detailed and proper
understanding of those factors through close collaboration with the communities and
organizationsinvolved in the project. In addition,there is a scarcity of literaturerelevant to the
developmentof digital libraries for Canada’sNorthern communities. Therefore,environmental
scanning was considered to be the most appropriate methodologicalapproach to learn about
the previously noted environmental factors and to gain deeper insight into complexities as
well as the key stakeholders of this project, namely, users, communities, and community
organizations, libraries and information providers.
The environmental scanning approach builds on existing literature and the initial
experiential learning through field study, site visits and discussion with the local individual
and community partners and collaborators. The paper proposes an evidence-based
environmental scanning model that will provide a methodological framework for
conducting community-engaged and community-focused research, with a particular
emphasis on northern communities in Canada. The environmental scanning model and its
key components presented in this paper provide a concrete example of a project that aims to
organize information for increased access and to create value through the design and
implementation of an infrastructure for a cultural heritage DL. The environmental scan
model will also contribute to both research and practice in the field of Library and
Information Science (LIS), particularly in the area of DL development for rural, remote, and
northern communities. The next section in the paper provides a review of literature on
environmental scanning and its application in different areas.
2. Literature review
Environmental scanning has been a popular management approach used by organizations
since the 1970s (Robbins and Coulter, 1999). It is also viewed as a method of becoming aware
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Digital library
development
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