WORKSHOP ON TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS IN CARIBBEAN LIBRARIES

June 25-29, 2007

Presenter: Fay Durrant

Accessing Caribbean e-government information

ABSTRACT

As Caribbean governments provide access to electronic information via the Internet as a means of delivering government services, strategic questions arise regarding the most appropriate means of information and service delivery. The questions include the most appropriate locations of public access points, the delivery mechanisms which match the users needs, and the training and guidance which should be provided by libraries and other intermediary institutions.

This paper examines the results of global studies of Internet applications used in e-government, and the potential of these websites to contribute effective access to e-government information. The research also assesses more closely a number of Caribbean portals or gateway websites which facilitate e-government and identifies roles for librarians and libraries in enhancing citizens access to e-government information.

Introduction

Libraries in the Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have been re-positioning themselves and are now seeking to be responsive to the issues and concerns of their societies. As the majority of libraries are government departments or statutory bodies, there is great potential for these libraries to participate actively in the development and delivery of government services via the Internet. Several national and public libraries such as the National Library of Jamaica (NLJ), and the National Library and Information System Authority (NALIS) are therefore incorporating access to government information via their own portals or gateways.

Libraries and e-government

E-government aims to provide all citizens with an efficient and alternative medium for accessing public services and for interacting with public sector agencies. These services are expected to result in improved access by citizens to information, government services at reduced costs, and efficient service delivery.

The Internet is an important vehicle in the development and delivery of e-government products and services and libraries and other institutions of access are challenged to exploit the potential of electronic networking to make information and services available to the general public. Crucial issues include the establishment of national e-government policies, coordination among government organizations, implementation of public information service delivery, the provision of guidance to relevant sources through libraries and other public access points, and regular evaluation and re-formulation of these e-government activities to match the changing needs of citizens.

Caribbean E-government Policies

Implementation of e-government is still in the early days in the Caribbean, and as yet policies are still fragmented. At this stage overall frameworks, strategies and benchmarks are needed to enable and rationalize the development of e-government facilities and functions. E-commerce is a related facility particularly as transactions require digital signatures to be valid.

An example of national e-government policy is reflected in the National ICT E-Powering Jamaica 2012 : The National ICT Strategy for Jamaica 2007-2012 (Presented to Parliament in Draft June 07)

This paper examines Caribbean and other initiatives which demonstrate some of the major features of e-government including government portals or gateways, privacy and security policies and protection,

clearly stated onsite identification of organizations, access to online databases and publications, links to government and non-government web sites, service delivery, and promotion of services and products. It also considers the ways in which the average citizen can be facilitated in obtaining access to e-government information.

Effective e-government

Effective e-government seeks to support social, economic and political development, to reduce social exclusion, and to contribute to the well-being of citizens. This requires decreasing separation between the Government and the citizens community groups, people in businesses, people in government, and in fact any member of the population. Strengthening of the relationships across ministries, across executive agencies and other government bodies, is an important factor, as well as the incorporation of knowledge assets, which provide positive contributions to e-government resources.

Governments globally and locally are undergoing change in their structures and are taking initiatives for addressing the issues of reducing costs, increasing efficiency in administration, functioning at the convenience of citizens, and increasing interaction among governments, citizens, business and other groups. In recognition of these issues, Caribbean governments are expanding their use of the Internet, and extending the facilities for interacting with citizens. Some of the important drivers of improving public information service delivery include the modernization of the State, the access to or freedom of information legislation, the increasing national and international stipulations for transparency and accountability.

Related developments include the passing of access to and freedom of information legislation in Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago, and draft legislation in Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and Guyana.

Defining e-government

E-government is a term which is increasing in usage, as a means of capitalizing on the dramatic increase in use of information and communication technologies to improve the operations of governments, making them more efficient and transparent. The general strategic objective of e-government is to support and simplify interaction of all groups within the society - government, citizens and businesses.

The question of definition of these emerging concepts is still unsettled. Some of the contributions to the debate come from analyses done by Darrell M. West, of Brown University, Michiel Backus in an IICD Research Brief entitled E-governance in Developing Countries, and by Richard Heeks of the University of Manchester.

Heeks (1) defines e-government as the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to improve the activities of public sector organisations.

He does not support the concept that e-government should be restricted to Internet-enabled applications only, or only to interactions between government and outside groups but instead supports the inclusion of e-government of all digital ICTs and all public sector activities.

Michiel Backus (1) on the other hand defines E-government as a form of e-business in governance and sees it as referring to the processes and structures pertinent to the delivery of electronic services to the public (citizens and businesses), collaborating with business partners and conducting electronic transactions within an organisational entity.

Darrell West (2001:3) gives a more general definition, which states in that e-government refers to the delivery of information and services online through the Internet or other digital means.

E-governance on the other hand is sometimes seen as a concept which is very close or overlapping with e-government. Backus in seeking to establish a distinction between e-government and e-governance, explains e-governance as The application of electronic means in the interaction between government and citizens and government and businesses, as well as in internal government operations and further explains a main objective of e-governance as simplifying and improving democratic, business and government aspects of governance.

I suggest here that electronic government, commonly abbreviated as e-government, can be defined as use by governments of the new information and communication technologies (ICTs) to achieve efficient and effective administration of government, delivery of public services and interaction with citizens individually and as communities. In addition to the above expected components of e-government are enhanced democratic participation, and the facilities to conduct secure electronic commerce.

We are therefore seeing evidence of e-government facilitating a change in the way leaders function, and providing new avenues for discussion and consensus building. We are also finding that new media are being used to access government services, to do business with government, to access education and training. The facilities offered by ICTs now provide the basis for interactive dialogue with citizens and knowledge communities, and enable the introduction of enhanced methods of structuring content, making information available and delivering it in appropriate forms.

In Jamaica we see some examples of government ministers periodically appearing in chat rooms regularly organized by the Gleaner online facility. Citizens are therefore able to enter into discussions on topics of concern. To be effective these initial contacts must, however, be matched by an information base which can be accessed by government and by citizens.

Further discussion in this paper will use the term e-government, but will consider not only the use of ICTs for efficient and effective public administration, but also for facilitating government interaction with citizens, individually and in community groups, and with business.

E-government portals

One of the major objectives of effective e-government is to enable people who need to interact with government to be able to do one stop shopping via a single point on the Internet. While it is may be technically feasible to create a portal such as MyYahoo, the development of a government portal also needs collaboration and ongoing cooperation among ministries, and other agencies as current information from these organisations has to be regularly made available to the public via a unified operation. In the Caribbean portal or gateway websites are being established which enable citizens to make contact with a number of agencies via a single point on the Internet. Such sites include www.e-jamaica.gov.jm which provides links to a number of government sites such as The Jamaica Tax Administration site http://www.jamaicatax-online.gov.jm/ where citizens can transact business and make payments.

National portals or gateway sites provide citizens with access to a number of sites and can serve as the starting point of e-government services. The value of portals will depend on the linkages across various organisations which have already made some advances, in providing e-government information.

Studies on Global E-government

Governments worldwide have been using the Internet and particularly the World Wide Web to deliver information and services and to advance from the delivery of announcements and notices to interactive citizen and business participation. Darrell West in his annual studies of Global E-government, 2001-2006, examined the delivery of public sector information and online services through the Internet. In this annual exercise, he studies the features that are available online from the websites located for each government. He used a detailed analysis of government websites in 198 different nations, measured the information and services that are online, charts the variations that exist across countries, and regions.

West s study examined government websites mounted by Executive, Legislative, Cabinet and Judicial Offices and those of the major agencies mainly: health, human services, taxation, education, interior, economic development, administration, natural resources, foreign affairs, foreign investment, transport, military, tourism, and business regulations.

The websites studied were evaluated on the basis of information available, electronic services delivered, and public outreach. The study sought to identify how citizens would find needed information on the websites of government agencies. These covered practical issues such as email, contact names, addresses, guidance to information, and databases, features that would facilitate access by special populations such as the disabled, interactive features that would facilitate outreach to the public, and visible statements that would reassure citizens concerned about privacy and security over the Internet.

Globally the 2006 survey found that while there have been expansion of e-government activities, only 29 percent of the 1,782 government websites studied offer services that are fully executable online.

Caribbean e-government

Caribbean governments have also increased their presence on the

Internet with a view to reaching citizens, disseminating information and facilitating interaction. West studied fourteen of the twenty Member States and Associate Members of the Caribbean Community. The results show that all fourteen countries provide access to publications while half provide access to databases, and have privacy policies. Those with security policies are slightly less than a half. Only one of the countries studied makes provision for access by the disabled.

The study by UNDESA entitled Global E-government Readiness Report 2005: From E-government to E-inclusion assigns scores to countries according to the stage of implementation of e-government. Stage I is limited provision of information which is limited and basic; in Stage II governments provide information including policies, laws etc and access to relevant databases. Stage III is categorized as interactive, with services convenient to the consumer while Stage IV allows two-way transactions. In Stage V governments enable citizens to participate in decision making (17).

The UNDESA study found that E-government readiness in the Caribbean region as a whole, improved only marginally even though it remained around the level of the world average. Half of the countries of the region were above the world average. Jamaica (0.5064) continued to be the regional leader in the Caribbean followed by Barbados (0.4920), Trinidad and Tobago (0.4768) and the Bahamas (0.4676). (54).

In a graduate research paper done in 2004 at the University of the West Indies, Kareen Bourne undertook a critical evaluation of websites in the Commonwealth Caribbean to determine the level of government information provision via the World Wide Web. Bourne examined seventeen Caribbean e-government or gateway websites, and found that of the seventeen country sites twelve could be considered portals or gateways to government services. Again Bourne s study examines the variables relating to identification, interface design, search options, ease of navigation, content, currency, and ranks the sites according to features. Four sites, were judged to be excellent sites, six good, and seven poor were rated as poor.

There still remains need for usability testing of these sites in relation to the concerns and needs of citizens. Bourne s recommendations include the need to purse further studies in accessibility and use of information by citizens.

The general principle of the right information, to the right user at the right time is impatient of debate. The need to match information provision to citizens requirements has to be factored into the process of developing and evaluating e-government applications. Priority needs to be given to information which will be used by citizens to undertake activities of immediate concern such as assistance in employment, social security, consumer concerns, meeting registration requirements, voting, and finding out about activities related to their own communities.

Libraries and Access to E-government Information

Libraries facilitate access by the average citizen to print and electronic information and increasingly through public access to the Internet. The reference services provided by librarians enable users to identify and evaluate relevant electronic and print resources. Librarians also support and facilitate the development of ICT skills and information literacy. The availability online of the Laws of Bermuda, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua and Barbuda are examples of resources which would have been held by libraries in printed form and which now also form part of the pool of e-government information resources.

Jennifer Berryman in an extensive global review of the implications of e-government for public libraries, separates the information and regular practice of libraries from the new activities which would be required if libraries are to participate fully in the delivery of e-government information and services. (3). The review identifies the current roles of public libraries in providing electronic access to government information resources as establishment of access points, provision of links to government web pages, training of users in ICT skills, and delivery of e-services in their own right. Public libraries may also be move from information provision and managing library transactions electronically to enabling users to effectively handle government business transactions as well.

Consideration of the issues identified by Berryman in relation to public libraries in the Caribbean, shows first that the public access points to the Internet, are beginning to enable Caribbean libraries to provide local and remote access to e-government information. Links from library websites to e-government resources are provided by libraries including the National Library of Jamaica the National Library and Information System Authority (of Trinidad and Tobago.) Delivery of e-services is also beginning to be done by some libraries and the majority are providing training in ICT skills to for librarians and users

E-government as a specialized area requires that librarians be able to develop reference services and training in information literacy in relation to e-government information. Reference librarians will require knowledge and understanding of the scope of e-government offerings, and the development of resource bases to facilitate access to the relevant sources and services.

Information Infrastructure

Effective e-government facilities depend on the availability and distribution of the information infrastructure. Citizens are located throughout each country, and while there is usually concentration in the major cities and towns, there is also need for ensuring that there is penetration of the Internet nationwide, development of reliable, low cost access, and the availability of public access points. Some of the initiatives in the Caribbean include the Jamaica Government s, negotiation in 2002 of a project with the Inter-American Development Bank for improving e-government, and for establishing about 60 telecentres throughout the country in libraries and other community facilities.

In considering the penetration of the Internet in the Caribbean, it is also important to factor in the development, availability and state of readiness of the public access points as found in libraries, community centres, educational institutions, public kiosks and other locations which influence access to e-government information. These public access points may not only enable users of the immediate communities to obtain access to government websites, to send e-mail and to access the Internet, but may also permit communities of practice to communicate, exchange experiences, and to develop and offer information resources relevant to their own areas of interest.

In considering the context in which citizens would be able to access e-government resources, it is recognized that there may be some barriers to use of the e-government resources which include basic information technology literacy, and lack of basic competence in using the Internet. David Bawden in examining the scope of information, computer, library, media, network and digital literacy, recognizes the relevance of all these concepts to the competence of people who are expected to be beneficiaries of e-government services and products. Information and digital literacy are seen as newer forms of literacy which rely on knowledge, perceptions and attitudes as well as the simpler skills-based literacies.

The development among citizens of information and digital literacies will certainly reduce some of the barriers to effective use of e-government services. Other barriers, however, which need to be overcome include the cost of computers, connections availability of software, and in some cases the lack of guidance to government websites, and information sources. The Internet because of its origin still tends to be oriented to education, and research and does not always provide the required user friendliness and guidance to the average citizen .

Reijo Savolainen identifies information literacy as the intersection of computer literacy, network competence, information skills, communications competence, and traditional literacy within the framework of information and communication technologies and the content of information. I agree with J skel inen, and Savolainen who identify four major requirements for network competence in information seeking as involving : knowledge of Internet information resources and their organization; ability to use of tools such as Internet search engines to locate information; ability to evaluate information, in relation to specific information needs; and ability to use messaging facilities to exchange information among relevant groups.

Further investigation into the role of competence in network use as a resource for citizenship, has been done in Finland by Pirkko J skel inen, and Reijo Savolainen. Their study addresses the questions of the ways in which perceived network competence correlated with the attainment of the goals of citizenship among various groups of people using computers and the Internet and the major implications of low network competence for the development of the digital divide.

Increasingly citizens need to access information for their functions in everyday life. People need information to find out about jobs, housing, and educational opportunities, registration, pension and social welfare benefits, consumer protection, markets for their products, and community and leisure activities.

Value Added Information Services

As evidenced by the findings of Durrance and Pettigrew it is evident that libraries have the opportunity to add value to e-government information. As e-government develops further, libraries must play a major role as institutions of access and must increase their production of value-added products and services. An interesting example of a value added product is the Topical Brief eGovernment Strategies and Practices prepared by the National Library Board of Singapore. This brief introduces the topic by providing an overview, and definition, of e-government. It uses a definition by Accenture, to explain the nature of an e-government strategy. A true Internet strategy, according to the report, must examine all aspects of the business model, including interactions with customers and stakeholders, and should identify those areas where more value can be created for all stakeholders, by moving processes and interactions online.

The brief continues by summarizing selected country studies on e-government initiatives and providing references to websites. Online sources and recent hard copy materials allow the reader to go further into the topic. This type of value added product is presumably what the people interviewed by Durrance and Pettigrew ( )were talking about when they said

through the network they felt that they were able to access a 'higher quality' of information - more current, more comprehensive, better organized, and information linked to other relevant sources and sites.

Libraries and library networks therefore play the role of selecting and adding content, and presenting it to groups of users in appropriate formats. This is likely to result in the development of official portal sites and providing links to relevant e-government websites and sources. Users can also extend their interaction with the library staff through the electronic reference services and may participate in discussion groups with communities of practice.

Libraries may also extend the use of their websites to teach by example. The website of the National Library and Information System of Trinidad and Tobago (NALIS) demonstrates this as their frequently asked questions include questions such as the procedure to apply for a passport and access to other government services.

Communities of practice which may exist on a regular basis within organizations, or within the general public interact on a regular basis around a common set of issues, interests or needs. These groups play an important role in teaching and learning and not only the initial use of information, but also incorporation of experiences to inform further activities.

Libraries have also had alliances with governments and community groups but e-government now provides citizens with efficient and alternative medium for accessing public services and for interacting with public sector providers. Some of the areas where we can see potential for the further development of knowledge communities include those mentioned earlier as natural priorities for e-government.

A Single Point of Access via Portals

Citizens need a single entry point for accessing government services. Portals or gateways which are easily recognizable to the general public are the means of guiding citizens to the range of information and services which are available. Globally portals such as the Canada Portal Site http://www.gc.ca/main_e.html have features which demonstrate best practices in government portals.

Singapore e-citizen portal

Canada is the fourth ranked nation in West s 2004 survey and this is reflected in the well structured Home Page of the portal. Users can see links to directories of representatives and Federal employees and a scroll down bar provides another route to information through frequently asked questions. Privacy and security policy statements are also related announcements under "Important Notices".

Caribbean E-government websites

Caribbean governments have made significant advances in using the World Wide Web to provide information and services, to citizens. The Table below of Features of CARICOM E-government Gateway or Portal Websites summarises the current situation. The global studies of Darrell West and UNDESA show consistent developments in e-readiness within the government, and evidence of some advances in e-participation. Seventeen CARICOM countries currently have official government sites which contain features required for e-government, and which provide links to the websites of ministries and other government agencies. These gateway sites vary in the degree to which they support e-government and several demonstrate indications of best practices.

In the Caribbean several governments are developing portals as official websites to make information available to all groups of the general public. The question is how does an average citizen learn about the sites, identify the information required and take advantage of the one stop shopping facility being developed?

I suggest that the following additional features need to be taken into consideration in developing effective e-government portal sites.

Recognition of the portal or gateway website

The portal or gateway site should be recognized throughout the government agencies as the entry point to government websites and access to services. This should be supported by appropriate statements of policy.

Of the twenty Caribbean countries studied, seventeen have portals or gateway websites which enable citizens to move from the general access point to the specific websites which enable them to obtain information. The websites of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands, indicate that there is a national policy and positive interest in informing citizens of the government s desire to interact with its citizens.

The statement, on www.e-jamaica.gov.jm, from the Prime Minister of Jamaica includes the following quote:

The on-line service that are available from this E-Government facility will revolutionise public service delivery from a 9-5 week day operation to a globalised 24/7 business that will benefit our customers.

Each of the countries has a single gateway site except Jamaica which has four sites which provide links to ministries, departments and agencies. The websites of the Cabinet Office www.cabinet.gov.jm, the Jamaica Information Service www.jis.gov.jm, the National Library of Jamaica www.nlj.org.jm, and e-jamaica: government serving you online www.e-jamaica.gov.jm all enable a user to access some aspect of e-government information.

The sites of the Cabinet Office, the Jamaica Information Service and the National Library of Jamaica each offer links to over one hundred sites of government ministries, departments and agencies. They also provide some background information on these agencies, and access to official documents. The E-jamaica website, however, while providing links to only eight organizations, is aimed a delivering services and at enabling users to undertake transactions online. This site has recently been promoted on banners in the reception areas of the Inland Revenue Department, and the URL for the site http://www.jamaicatax-online.gov.jm/ appears on the printed bills which are distributed by mail. A graph on the site shows that as of November 22, 2006, there were 5,600 people registered to pay taxes online.

Mnemonic URL Elements

The URL should consist of elements readily recognizable by members of the general public. The URL is likely to be recognized by the average citizen if it includes government, .gov or other official designation. National symbols, flags and or colours also aid in recognition of an e-government site.

The URLs of The Bahamas, Barbados and Jamaica are more likely to be recognized by the average citizen as e-government sites, than those of Grenada and the Cayman Islands.

www.bahamas.gov.bs Bahamas

www.barbados.gov bb Barbados

www.e-jamaica.gov.jm Jamaica

vs

www.gov.gd Grenada

www.gov.ky Cayman Islands

Links to sites of ministries, departments and agencies

There should be a clear indication on the Home Page that the portal provides links to the sites of other government organizations. The names of agencies hyperlinked to other sites provides a fluid means of access and navigation.

Of the twenty Caribbean countries studied, seventeen have portal or gateway sites which are hyperlinked to the sites of government organizations.

In some cases the existence of the links is understated and but in others the user can quickly reach the site required.

Site Map

The Home Page should permit the user to have access to a good site map as one means of locating required information and services. The seventeen sites with portals or gateways, show six site maps of varying degrees of complexity. The Cayman Islands and Saint Lucia classified hyperlinked site maps, which other sites have simple listings of the topics or subjects on the sites.

Search Facility

The ability to do searches on the website provides an additional facility for locating information. The Home Page should permit searching to enable the user to have alternative means of access to information and services. Ten sites permit searching and the site of the Bahamas provides very detailed indexing terms and results sorted by relevance.

Directory of Government Agencies

Understanding of the areas of responsibility of each ministry, department or agency can aid users in getting to the desired location. The Home Page should facilitate contact with agencies and officials through directories of street addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses. Fourteen of the seventeen sites show government directories or statements of responsibility of each ministry. The website of St Kitts Nevis provides a good example of detailed contact information for each ministry and related agencies.

Use of Colour and Design

Colour layout and design of the Home Page should provide an attractive and functional graphical user interface. The designs of the sites studied are all colourful and attractive in terms of design.

E-government forms

The portal should provide access to forms and the ability to transact related services online. Thirteen of the seventeen portals provide forms to enable citizens to initiate applications for transacting business with the government. Forms accessible on these sites include those for registration of births, deaths, marriages, companies, and applications for passports, permits, licences.

On the website The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Online, application forms for passports, visas and restoration of citizenship can be downloaded but completed forms must be submitted in person. Similar facilities are provided by the website of the Registrar General s Dept of Jamaica which is accessible via the portal sites. It provides forms online but requires visits to the offices for completing the transactions.

Privacy and Security

As e-government develops citizens need to be assured of privacy and security relating to the information posted on e-government sites. Of the seventeen portals studied three sites provide privacy or security statements.

The site of the Cayman Islands has the most extensive statement regarding privacy as follows:

the Cayman Islands Government Portal does not store or capture personal information, but merely logs the user's IP address that is automatically recognised by the web server.

We do not use cookies for collecting user information and we will not collect any information about you except that required for system administration of our web server.

This privacy statement only covers the Cayman Islands Government Portal at http://www.gov.ky.

Access to Full Text Documents

The portal should provide access to full-text documents of laws, regulations, commission reports etc. All the sites studied offer access to current documents and publications such as budget speeches. These documents are rarely part of an organized digital library and as these sites are developed there is evidently need for organization of this material and adoption of systems to make the information in the documents more accessible.

Online transactions

E-government, if developed to its final stage, will enable citizens to conduct business online without any face-to-face interaction. Four of the seventeen portals studied provide access to the sites which permit online transactions.

The portal www.e-jamaica.gov.jm provides access to the website of the Jamaica Customs and to CASE the Customs Automation Services.

This Internet-based system enables the global trading community to have online interaction with the Jamaica Customs, and since 2003 has permitted e-payments and querying the status of transactions.

Interaction with Policy Makers

In addition to accessing documents and services, e-government is expected to provide for e-participation citizens interaction with policy makers. Of the seventeen portals studied, none seem to be set up to facilitate regular interaction with senior officials or policy makers. At the same time occasional discussions in chat rooms enable citizens to interact with ministers and other senior officials. The chat sessions organized by Go-Jamaica www.go-jamaica.com are mainly interviews with policy makers among others, with questions or comments via email.

Strategic Issues for Libraries and Librarians

The advances in the implementation of e-government programmes in the Caribbean, raise strategic questions as to the roles of libraries and librarians.

Academic, public and special libraries have traditionally collected, organized and disseminated published and unpublished documents produced by local and central governments. Their reference and user services provide citizens and researchers with information from printed and electronic sources.

Jennifer Berryman, having reviewed the literature on the implications of e-government for public libraries, points out that these libraries provide access points, identifying links to government websites, and training citizens in using information and communication technologies.

She concludes that public libraries as e-government service providers are clearly significant players in e-government. (3-4).

Access points

While governments are increasing the development of their websites, access to the information and services provided is dependent on the availability of reliable and affordable access to the Internet. In the Caribbean libraries are expanding the number of access points and are providing access to the Internet at no or low cost. NALIS is one of the public library systems which provides free access to computers and to the Internet.

Guidance in locating and using e-government websites

The average citizen will benefit from guidance in identifying and locating e-governments websites and the information required. This guidance may be face-to-face or remote. Libraries should use their own portal websites to identify and enhance the e-government information available. Reference and Customer Service Librarians can offer guidance, pathfinders and other aids in finding and using e-government, information. Several Caribbean libraries provide links to government websites including NALIS and the National Library of Jamaica.

There is an important role for libraries to play in enabling users to locate and access these services. As an example of the library s extended role, The National Library and Information System of Trinidad and Tobago which is linked from the main e-government site does provide a link to answer the question: How do I apply for a Passport? and could go further and make the another link to the passport application form which can be accessed from the e-government portal http://www.ttgov.gov.tt/services/eforms.asp.

Feedback on use and usability

Librarians in discussing the information needs of citizens,
informing citizens of the availability of relevant information including e-government information on the Internet, and providing guidance in access to and use of the information required, are well placed to assess the usability of these sites and to provide feedback to the originating organizations.

Ongoing evaluation when instituted can be a major contribution to improving the accessibility of e-government information and services. The user surveys done by libraries can be extended to e-government issues, to determine how e-government information is meeting the needs of individual citizens and communities of practice which may function in areas of interest of citizens.

Evaluation may also take the form of usability studies where librarians can gain empirical evidence of citizens competence in seeking and locating information in public access centres, or over the community information networks. These usability studies are important to guide librarians and governments to the ways in which e-government services can be further developed in collaboration with libraries and community groups.

Resources for e-government

The issue of human, technical and financial resources required for rolling out e-government also need to be assessed in relation to the quality and quantity of information resources required. Training of librarians, and other library staff in locating e-government information, needs to be factored into the process. Technical resources in terms of computer systems and affordable Internet access, and training users in gaining and applying ICT skills should also be included in the scenario for enabling citizens to access and use e-government information resources.

The teaching and research of the University of the West Indies, Dept of Library and Information Studies has begun the study of e-government and the Internet in the Caribbean and is permitting the development of capacities of librarians to participate in the delivery of information services related to e-government.

Conclusion

Libraries in the Caribbean are at an exciting crossroads where the opportunity exists for them to play a greater role in delivery of a new area of information service which enable citizens to find appropriate paths to e-government information.