“Lose Your Time in a Useful Way”: Digital Inclusion of the Elderly at a Pensioners’ Club in Romania

Abstract

This chapter looks at the experiences older adults have using computers and the Internet in the context of one e-inclusion effort in Romania. Biblionet – Global Libraries Romania is a project that provides computers to public libraries throughout that country. One of Biblionet’s first public access computer centers located outside of a public library opened at a pensioners’ club in the city of Zalau. Local librarians who have taken Biblionet-sponsored “train the trainer” courses have adapted instructional methods for older users. Ethnographic research at the pensioners’ club has uncovered a variety of experiences around new technology, especially in how computer use is both informed by and extended kin or family work. The project is discussed in the context of NGO-led development initiatives to illustrate the importance of including the wider ICT development landscape (and methods) when studying users, ICTs, and information use.