The Role of Libraries, Archives, and Museums for Metaliteracy in Smart Cities

Abstract

The concept of smart cities is gaining popularity within academic, practice, and policy circles. Smart cities are intended to be self-sufficient via cutting-edge technologies, purposive innovations, and inventions. However, while technology is growing at an unexpectedly fast pace, one of the essential components of smart cities ‘humans' is lagging behind. The need for and scope of literacies to survive in smart cities pose challenges for their citizens. This study aims to identify the range of literacies required in smart cities and the roles of libraries, archives, and museums (LAM) in supporting citizen literacies for social and digital inclusion. The LAM sector is one of the major stakeholders in the digital transformation sphere. Therefore, the LAM sector must identify the nature of required literacies, the roles and strengths of other stakeholders, and the opportunities to increase its presence in the process. This study systematically identifies and addresses these issues through a conceptual framework process and proposes future research directions for the LAM sector.