Transcript Who is Young Scot?

© Young Scot 2008
“Developing Services for Digital
Natives”
Louise Macdonald
Chief Executive – Young Scot
© Young Scot 2008
Who is Young Scot?
• National youth information and citizenship agency
for Scotland
• Registered charity, based in Edinburgh
• Established for over 25 years
• Supporting young people aged 11 – 26
• “Its vision, values and aims exemplified an approach to
working with young people that valued them as equal
partners in activities and developments.”
HMIE Report 2007
© Young Scot 2008
Why “Youth Information?”
• ‘Children have the right to get and to share information, as long as the
information is not damaging to others.’
Article 13 – UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
• Children have the right to say what they think should happen, when
adults are making decisions that affect them and to have their
opinions taking into account.’
Article 12 – UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
• ‘All citizens should have access, in their own language to information
about the matters of public concern. This means information should be
made widely available through a wide range of channels, including the
mass media and new technologies such as the internet. It also means
that people from all walks of life in all EU countries should be helped
to develop the skills they need to access and use that information.’
White Paper on a European Communications Policy
Commission of the European Communities
© Young Scot 2008
Young Scot: Aims
To provide young people, aged 11 - 26, with a mixture of
information, ideas and incentives to help them become confident,
informed and active citizens.
Develop multiple-channels via a variety of formats so young people
can access information in a way they are comfortable with. It is our
hope that the information we provide will enable them to:
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Make informed decisions and choices
Turn their ideas into action
Take advantage of the opportunities available to them
Have the confidence and knowledge to take their place as active
citizens in their communities- locally, nationally and globally.
© Young Scot 2008
Services for Young People…
KM / Youth
Information
© Young Scot 2008
Key Statistics…
• 340,000 Young Scot cardholders across Scotland
• 10m hits per year on www.youngscot.org sites
• Partnerships with all 32 local authorities through Local
Authority Dialogue Youth partnership
• Young Scot card offers 1,200 discounts in Scotland
• 100,000 reciprocal deals with 42 countries across Europe
• 160,000 copies and 36 local versions of the Young Scot
Books published in 2007/08
• Extremely positive HMIE inspection in 2007
© Young Scot 2008
Young Scot
National Entitlement Card
• Jointly-branded cards with all Scottish
councils
• Voluntary “proof of age” (PASS)
• Cashless catering
• Leisure / Library facilities
• Loyalty / Rewards schemes
• Plus concessionary travel – buses,
trains and ferries for 16-18 year olds
and full-time volunteers
© Young Scot 2008
National Young Scot Discounts
© Young Scot 2008
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Young Scot is part of a European
network of 42 countries with youth
cards carrying the EURO<26 brand.
Over 4 million young people across
Europe carry EURO<26 cards like
Young Scot.
More EURO<26 information at
www.euro26.org
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F HERCULES
Young Scot Books
“Handbook to life”
• Includes health, relationships,
volunteering, sport, and
keeping safe information –
and much, much more!
• Checked and updated
annually with partner
agencies and experts
© Young Scot 2008
Young Scot Magazine
• New quarterly 16-page
glossy magazine
• Published in the Sunday Mail
• 600,000 copies per issue
• 50,000 run-ons to schools
and youth groups
• New interactive edition
available online via Young
Scot portal
© Young Scot 2008
National Youth Information Portal
www.youngscot.org
• The national youth information
portal for Scotland
• 16 channels of information
• Votes, competitions, consultations,
reviews, podcasts and much more
• Content written for young people,
by young people
• 32 local “sub-sites”
• Around 2m hits per month –
and growing
• Links to Glow being explored
© Young Scot 2008
Out of School Website
www.youngscot.org/infoline
• Information aimed at
those who have left
school
• Information on health,
arts, money, housing and
work, but currently being
developed to extend this
• In-depth information
available in
downloadable factsheets
© Young Scot 2008
Podcasting
• Alternative way of providing
information & exploring
issues
• Can include interviews and
discussions
• Young people are trained and
supported to make the
podcasts
• National Young Scot Podcast
Library
© Young Scot 2008
Young Scot InfoLine
• Free & confidential youth information line:
0808 801 0338
• Open 10am to 6pm, Monday to Friday
• Contact centre at Young Scot office with
specialist advisors
• Specialises in a broad range of info topics,
with focus on Money, Health, Housing,
Training and Work
© Young Scot 2008
Young Scot eRoadshow
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Mobile internet system
Two vans - 35 laptops
Broadband access
Creates instant cyber
cafés in any location
• 18,000 young people in
all 32 councils in two years
• New InfoMobiles
© Young Scot 2008
Young Scot Awards
• Promotes positive stories and
achievements of young people
• Extensive coverage in Sunday
Mail of nominees
• High profile event attended by
Scotland’s First Minister
• Categories include
volunteering, citizenship,
health, enterprise and
environment.
© Young Scot 2008
Young Scot WOW
© Young Scot 2008
• Young Scot WOW (What’s On Where) is Scotland’s new and
innovative youth opportunities search engine
• Developed with support of a National Advisory Committee with
representatives from Local Authorities, Government, Voluntary
and Statutory sectors and young people.
• Established as part of the youth work strategy : ‘Moving
Forward: A Strategy For
Improving Young People’s Chances
Through Youth Work’.
© Young Scot 2008
• Local and national opportunity information on a whole
range of subjects open to young people aged 12-26.
• Opportunities organised into ‘super categories’
including Get Active; Entertain Me; Cultured and
Creative; Get Involved; Volunteer and Learning Zone.
• Streaming video and audio for young people to access
additional info about their chosen opportunity
© Young Scot 2008
Dialogue Youth
Dialogue Youth is a partnership between Young Scot,
COSLA, Scottish Government, Local Authorities, their
Community Planning Partners and young people.
A national strategy delivered through local action.
© Young Scot 2008
Local Authority Network
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Dialogue Youth
• Smartened Cards & services – including local
discounts
• Local information development - www.youngscot.org;
books and WOW
• Citizenship & youth engagement
• Resource & Research base on youth issues
• Involving young people, sensitising services and
influencing Community Planning
© Young Scot 2008
Young Scot – The Future & The
National Youth Information Framework
• Young Scot now moving to a new phase of development, based
around a number of key impacts:
– a nation of informed young people
– increased opportunities for young people to access and influence relevant
services and facilities
– young people as capacity builders and activists in projects, activities and
decision-making processes
– A step change in the public, media perception and image of young people
– Taking a lead in Europe
• The development of a National Youth Information Framework is an
important element in Young Scot’s contribution to the creation of ‘a
nation of informed young people’.
• Supports a number of the SG Strategic Objectives and initiatives, such
as A Curriculum for Excellence.
© Young Scot 2008
National Youth Information Framework
• The potential of a National Information Strategy for Scotland was
proposed in the paper ‘Enabling Seamless Access’ published by the
Scottish Library Information Council (SLIC 1999).
• This paper suggested a strategy was needed to bring together key
information providers and networks to work closer together to bring
added value and meet the challenges of more personalised and
individual learning.
• Since then SLIC has made a significant impact on the development of
information services in Scotland and is committed to working with
Young Scot and others to focus on the particular needs of young
people through the development of a vibrant new framework
approach.
• Young Scot asked to develop a National Youth Information Framework
by Scottish Government, for delivery by Autumn 2008.
© Young Scot 2008
National Youth Information Framework
Information Literacy - current issues:
• Information literacy of young people, has not improved with the
widening access to new technology;
• Internet research shows that the speed of young people’s web
searching means little time is spent in evaluating information, either for
relevance, accuracy or authority;
• Young people have poor understanding of their information needs and
thus find it difficult to develop effective search strategies;
• Faced with a long list of search hits, young people find it difficult to
assess the relevance of the materials presented;
• Young people have unsophisticated mental maps of what the internet
is and as a result, Yahoo or Google, becomes the primary brand that
they associate with the internet.
Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future
University College London 2008
© Young Scot 2008
National Youth Information Framework
Key Elements:
– Empowerment – creating models which help young people take
their place as responsible citizens, effective contributors,
successful learners and confident individuals
– Access – covers a whole range of issues, but equality issues are
paramount in taking this Framework forward, with a particular
focus on those who are not just ‘hard to reach’ but for some, we
have ‘failed to reach’
– Quality – SLICs ‘Building on Success: A Public Library Quality
Improvement Matrix’ and the Improvement Service’s ‘Public
Service Improvement Framework’ self assessment toolkit provide
a valuable starting point to develop quality measures in relation to
youth information providers
© Young Scot 2008
National Youth Information Framework
• Learning from the European network of youth information services.
The ERYICA paper on ‘Structure and Financing of the Youth
Information Systems and Classifications of Youth Information’
published in March 2008 provides a useful picture.
• The Finnish model offers a simple but effective categorisation.
• The model identifies three different kinds of needs of young people for
information services:
– Young people who are able to find information independently
• (young people who already know what kind of information they need and are able to
find it on their own)
– Young people who feel that they need/want something
• (Someone to help them clarify their own needs. The most important source and tool
to help them are professional support workers)
– Young people who have problems and face challenges
• (Young people who need help with difficult situations and problems - helped by
professional support workers and signposting to relevant services)
© Young Scot 2008
National Youth Information Framework:
Our Aspiration
• A framework which has knowledgeable and informed young
citizens at its heart - with access to quality information and
skills
• Working to develop effective partnerships and particularly
focussed on the pivotal role that libraries can play
• Would welcome your ideas…
– About the Framework and it’s development
– How Young Scot and our services can support you in your role
• [email protected]
© Young Scot 2008
© Young Scot 2008