Correspondence:
[**]
Correspondence to: T.E. Bearman, University of Pittsburgh, School of Library and Information Science, 505 LIS Building, 135 N, Bellefield Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
Note: [*] Paper presented at the ECLIPS '92 conference held in Amsterdam, 23–25 February, 1992.
Abstract: Improved access to information, through an expanded ability to find and use information effectively and the convergence of technologies, is transforming society. This presentation will describe several trends, including sociocultural and political, economic, and technological developments, and discuss the issues they raise for the global village. A description of challenges facing the information professions with recommendations for meeting them for the next decade will conclude the presentation. The trends will present a US perspective on national and international sociocultural and political changes, including demographic shifts to an older and more culturally diverse society in the US, a shift to visually-oriented from print-oriented information users, differing perceptions of the value of information, major international political developments, and a fundamental questioning of the notion of public good. Economic trends will highlight the effects of changing markets, fiscal constraints, and the shifting marketplace. Technological trends will focus on developments in networking and the convergence of technologies, especially those related to image databases. These trends provide the framework and background for a discussion to issues to be addressed and challenges to be met. The issues concern access to information and include policy and ethical concerns related to who should have access to what information, who should be responsible for information provision, who should pay for what information, and other topics. Particular attention must be paid to the widening gap between the information rich and the information poor. To address these issues will require meeting a number of challenges in the years ahead. The first challenge is to recruit and educate the information professionals needed to provide information products and services and access to them. Other challenges include building effective networks, developing and implementing standards, developing appropriate information policies, and, most importantly, addressing critical ethical issues. To meet these challenges will require strengthening existing and building new partnerships across organizational and institutional boundaries and across national borders.
