Abstract
The new information age technologies influence and shape the social and business life of individuals. Technological changes and their impact on business and society are also seen in cities, countries, and even on a global scale to use resources efficiently and to increase social welfare. As the internet is a fast and convenient communication tool, it is important to make correct decisions by distinguishing functional information while adapting to this change. In the process of digitalization, it is necessary to cooperate with libraries and other memory institutions to interact with digital cultural heritage in obsolete or inaccessible formats. From this point of view, the smart cities are seen as the reflections of digitalization on social life; then the difficulties and opportunities encountered in the process are mentioned in this chapter. In this way, information awareness which can directly affect the level of the ability to use information effectively is expected to increase in the digitalization process.
TopIntroduction
The current and expected widespread reach of smart devices are possible with individual and institutional attention. The launch or use of a new technology product means that individuals make changes in their old habits and behaviors. With the aim of effective use of resources, increasing social welfare, sustainability, and development, high-tech products are being implemented in daily life, in cities, and all public and private institutions such as e-government and e-commerce (Adam & Alhassan, 2021). The success of this entire process does not depend solely on the advancement of technology. In addition, the individual should understand and adapt to this technology by improving the ability to use it. This new knowledge, which an individual must develop to adapt to the innovations brought by the age, is called digital literacy because its focus is technology. This is the process of awareness and realizing new knowledge, and it therefore involves not only reading or writing but also acquiring a new pattern or model of behavior. Many factors, such as the acceleration of globalization, changes in urbanization policies, and a productive, active life require such a change in behavior patterns.
In all this process of change, there are great inventions that mark all stages of social development, from people living in communities to agricultural life, industrialization, and the knowledge age. These inventions have radically changed the way of life, urbanization, state structure, and even global trade. Libraries, Archives, and Museums (LAMs), which are called cultural heritage or information providing institutions, record the journey of these developments by visual, written, or other methods. Transferring these nonrenewable or irreplaceable resources to new generations can only be associated with the cooperation of relevant institutions, keeping up with technological advancements and the current age (Trant, 2009). While increasing humanity’s knowledge, LAMs have made progress by adding new information from the past and sometimes by offering radical solutions. Digitalization has enabled the developments that humanity has experienced to date to progress much faster in the last century. This development has radically changed social life and removed boundaries in the business world. For this reason, the concept of literacy, which is one of the requirements of the age, is vital in terms of interpreting all these developments correctly and using information effectively. The importance of concepts such as digital literacy, which has many social, economic, and political consequences, has become even more prominent in the information age. Therefore, smart cities, one of the effects of digitalization on human life, is mentioned first, followed by the difficulties of literacy that emerge when pressuring society to change in the information age in this chapter of the book. Lastly, the importance of digital literacy education is emphasized and detailed. Handling the issue from this perspective is also important in terms of drawing attention to the impact of cultural heritage institutions on social structure.
Key Terms in this Chapter
ICT: Information and communication technology is a term that gathers the terms of information technologies and communication technologies under one roof and emphasizes the relationship between these technologies.
HCD: Human-centered design is an approach to problem-solving, commonly used in design and management frameworks that develops solutions to problems by involving the human perspective in all steps of the problem-solving process.
UID: A unique identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric string that is associated with a single entity within a given system.
Digital Natives: They are the new generation born into the digital age, while digital immigrants are those who learn to use computers at some stage during their adult life.
LAM: Libraries, archives, museums are considered as the information service providers and memory institutions.
IoT: The internet of things is a system of the capability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-computer interaction, provided by interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or humans, and unique identifiers.
KM: Knowledge management is the process of creating, sharing, using, and managing the knowledge and information of an organization.
SCW: Smart cities wheel is a smart city model with a total of eighteen sub-components since each component contains three sub-components.