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EuCoNet 2004 - Public Libraries - Places for Internet Education.

Jozef Liptak, Comenius University Bratislava, Slovakia


Before our accession to EU we have some problems in Slovakia too. One of them is unemployment. At the end of 2003 average rate of unemployment was over 15, 4 %. The highest rate of the unemployment in Slovakia is in the region of Eastern Slovakia. There is the highest rate of Gypsies among the population. They are mostly long-term unemployed workers. We must solve this problem, because it is one of the biggest problems in Slovakia. Government and Ministry of Labour an Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic have taken some decisions how to solve this issue in a new employment policy. See article in "News" - Slovakia and the EU A3-1 for details.

The labour market policy as a component of employment policy is a system of support and assistance available to all citizens and enabling them to occupy vacant jobs in the labour market. Its primary objective is to assure the right of citizens to appropriate employment which includes also the group of persons 50+. See article in "News" - Slovakia and the EU A3-2 for details.

Labour authorities cooperate in support of employment of this group with central and local public authorities. They are well aware of the problem and offers training and education programmes for them.

For solution of this problem with unemployment of people over 50 they have made some proposals and programs. Many of them are bad, only very few are better. One proposal we wish to co-ordinate with Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic, our Department of Library and Information Science Faculty of Arts Comenius University Bratislava, Public Library Vranov nad Toplou and University of Third Age Comenius University Bratislava - program of seeking jobs and learning people to Internet literacy at libraries.

One of that better we think is program has been taken and tested at the Public Library in town and region Vranov nad Toplou in Eastern Slovakia (director Mrs. Emilia Antalikova). They have used the place of their public library for place where they support activities of unemployed people to seek jobs. They have designed and developed open system included information about jobs for from different sources, including news, regional labour agencies, Internet. Librarians from this library give courses lasting some weeks. They are for unemployed people tutors and teachers for a job search. Some educated unemployed people help others as tutors too. They show and explain how computers and programmes work and prepare them how to use computer, how to search in Internet. For that they have here 4 computers. They assist their search, help them use information source, help them with computer and Internet technology. Librarians have very good experience with the searching and using appropriate dbases too. That is not a short process. Unemployed people are mostly with lower level of education and have no information literacy. They mostly do not understand how to fill documents. Librarians improve their skills, write and improve their CV and equip them better for the labour market. At the beginning people are afraid of computers and they do not always want to participate. Results show. that these project participants are more successful in seeking jobs then other unemployed. At the end of this period many of them have a job, some of them are able to read newspaper and journals from the Internet, some of them can use e-mail, because for the answers for their query they were given own post box in computer. They use mostly special Interenet job pages - for example www.profesia.sk, www.jobs.sk, www.jobserver.sk, www.nup.sk, www.oupvranov.sk. This education, training and searching service is not free of charge. Unemployed people pay registration fee at the beginning of course and search. After paying a fee, they are members of library for one year from the moment of registration. They have a library card and they can read journals, newspapers, books there and borrow books from the library home.

I would like to point to one very interesting experience of our learning older people Internet and use of computer. At the beginning of their course the people are afraid of a computer and they have big problem with how to use a mouse. But, during the course when they play some card plays with mouse at the computer, they have forgotten their fears. The same experience have had librarians from the library from Vranov nad Toplou.

We think, it is very good idea to organise courses of learning Internet literacy for older people at public libraries. Experience from Vranov nad Toplou shows, that it can be advantage for all interested partners.

I would like express our thanks to Mrs. Emilia Antolikova, director of Public Library Vranov nad Toplou and to Mr. Martin Danko, member of Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic.