INFORMATION SOCIETY

TABLE OF CONTENT

Contents
INFORMATION SOCIETY...........................................................................................................1
TABLE OF CONTENT...............................................................................................................1
TOPIC 1.......................................................................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
IMPORTANCE O INFORMATION IN THE SOCIETY...........................................................8
TOPIC 2.......................................................................................................................................9
SOCIETY.....................................................................................................................................9
Meaning of society...................................................................................................................9
TYPES OF SOCIETIES..............................................................................................................9
1. Preindustrial Societies........................................................................................................9
2. Hunter-Gatherer...........................................................................................................10
3. Pastoral............................................................................................................................10
4. Horticultural....................................................................................................................10
5. Agricultural.....................................................................................................................11
6. Feudal..............................................................................................................................11
7. Industrial Society................................................................................................................11
8. Postindustrial Society.........................................................................................................12
TOPIC 3.........................................................................................................................................13
INFORMATION NEEDS IN THE SOCIETY..........................................................................13
CATEGORIES OF INFORMATION NEEDS..........................................................................13
PROCESS OF ASSESSING COMMUNITY INFORMATION NEEDS.................................13
1. Define your community......................................................................................................14
2. Decide on scope..................................................................................................................14
3. Identify assets....................................................................................................................14
4. Make connections...............................................................................................................14
 5. Collect data.........................................................................................................................15
6. Analyze your findings........................................................................................................15
7. Present your findings..........................................................................................................15
FACTORS INFLUENCING INFORMATION DEMAND IN SOCIETY...............................15
TOPIC 4.........................................................................................................................................16
INFORMATION IN SOCIETY.................................................................................................16
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ILETERACY AND ADULT EDUCATION NEEDS IN A
SOCIETY...................................................................................................................................16
ROLE OF INFORMATION IN EDUCATION.........................................................................16
METHODS USED TO CREATE AWARENESS IN THE SOCIETY.....................................17
1. Initiate a referral program..............................................................................................17
2. Publish impressive guest information.............................................................................17
3. Create info graphics.........................................................................................................18
5. Pursue local partnerships................................................................................................18
6. Run social media contests................................................................................................18
7. Start with a social focus...................................................................................................19
9. Tell magnetic stories.........................................................................................................19
12. Try PPC advertising.......................................................................................................20
13. Use remarketing campaigns..........................................................................................20
14. Start a paid social advertising campaign.....................................................................20
15. Take advantage of controversy.....................................................................................21
16. Pursue influencer marketing.........................................................................................21
17. Gain access to earned media..........................................................................................21
18. Produce shareable video content...................................................................................22
19. Brand everything you release to the public..................................................................22
ROLE OF INFORMATION IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT............................................23
EFFECT OF INFORMATION ON SOCIAL CHANGE IN SOCIETY...................................24
ROLE OF INFORMATION IN COMMUNITY COHESION..................................................25
CONTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION In SOCIETY TO QUALITY LIVING....................25
TOPIC 5.........................................................................................................................................27
INFORMATION PROFFESIONALS IN SOCIETY....................................................................27
CATEGORIES OF INFORMATIONAL PROFESSIONALS..................................................27
FUNCTIONS OF INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS IN SOCIETY..................................27
ROLE OF INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS IN PACKAGING AND REPACKAGING
INFORMATION........................................................................................................................28
FUNCTIONS OF PACKAGING INFORMATION..................................................................28
ROLE OF INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS IN THE PROVISION OF INFORMATION
SERVICES TO THE SOCIETY................................................................................................28
TOPIC 1

INTRODUCTION
knowledge communicated or received concerning a particular fact or circumstance; news:
information concerning a crime. Knowledge gained through study, communication, research,
instruction, etc.; factual data: His wealth of general information is amazing.
Information as a Resource / Commodity:
The concept of information as commodity is wider than that of information as resource, as it
incorporates the exchanges of information among the people and related activities as well as its
use. The notion of information as a commodity is tied closely to the concept of value chains.
With commoditized information gaining in value as it progresses through the various steps of
creating, processing, storage, distribution, and use.

a) Information is a Resource / Commodity: Information possesses many characteristics that

are the same as those of some other commodities. When we consider such characteristics,
information can be termed as a resource and a commodity in a broad sense and people at large
have accepted this view.

i) Information is a Natural Resource: Many resources were earlier taken for granted as
common for all. For example, clean air and water. Information has also been similarly
understood. Whoever is interested can get enough information for his daily needs through
institutions established for that purpose. But specialized information is made accessible to those
who have special needs and can legitimize its claim by status or by money. Just like the
maintenance of clean air and water, the proper information demands some cost.

ii) Information is a Vital Resource: Information is looked upon as a resource like manpower,
material and money. Information is a resource created by ingenuity of man to be used by man for
the benefit of man; it can be used for the opposite also. According to K. J. McGarry, information
becomes a resource by analogy with the classic resources of labor, capital and material.
Management of these classic resources (man, material and money) now mutates to the
“management of information”. It is easy to see how information can be depicted as a resource as
essential to productive success as are raw materials and skilled staff. But information needs to be
controlled, manipulated and managed.

According to W. L. Saunders, information is that type of resource which is not scarce. It

has also economic value as when company uses the information effectively, the level of trade
and revenue are maximized. Information and knowledge become the principal generators of
wealth in the form of educational institutions of research and development establishment and
science laboratories.

            No national development programme can succeed fully without proper information
support. As such, it is regarded as a national resource like energy, coal, water, etc. vital for
national development. It is an important input for nation building. The impact of fast, reliable
and inexpensive information would be as great as that of electricity in national and international
economy. IBM, the giant computer company, says that information is like an inexhaustible and
renewable source of energy.

iii) Information is a Major Criterion: Information is vital for national development. The
backwardness or forwardness of any county nowadays is mainly due to the use of adequate
information, especially in the field of science and technology. Presently the world is divided on
economic consideration into economically developed and economically developing countries.
According to Herbert I. Schiller, in future the division will be based on possession of information
into information rich or data rich nations and information poor or data poor nations.

iv) Information as a Thing: Buckland points out that in order to communicate knowledge it
must be expressed or represented in some physical way as a signal, text or communication. Any
such expression would, therefore, constitute information as a thing. The notion of information as
resource attracts information economics and spreads to such diverse disciplines like
management, transport and communication, consolidation and repackaging, pricing, marketing,
distribution, exchange, etc.

v) Satisfies the Economic Principle: Information satisfies the economic principles of generation
or gathering, processing, storage, dissemination, etc.

* Demand / Market: Information has a wider market. All people need information for some
purpose or the other. There is a heavy demand for information from all around the world, so to
get profit out of it, its production rate must increase.

* Information Generation: Information is generated mainly through research activities and

research activities are highly price consuming business, which is just like other product whose
production or manufacture involves a high cost.

* Protection: Information as a resource has been well established which is evident from the
profusion of national and international laws and policies relating to storage, transmission and
information related services including trans-border data flow. Just as in the case of various
commodities or products, information is also protected by copyright and patent. However, the
property right of information is weaker than the property rights of other goods we possess.

* Consumption: Information does not always flow across market. Within some private sectors
information produced is entirely consumed within the organization itself, which is in the same
line of other goods.

* Different Forms of Products: For the different categories of users, different forms of
information are released into the market. In this regard it is just like any other services provided
in the market place. Information is provided through books, magazines, business, news,
investment, advice, legal advice, medical advice, consulting services, formal education through
school, colleges and universities, etc. So, we do have markets for information and people buy it
depending on its perceived value. In this respect information is like other goods and services.

* Transprtation / Communication: High cost is involved when we use the information

technology for communication and transportation of information just like any other product.

* Storage: If information is stored for a long period just like other consumable products it loses
its value because particularly in case of science and technology, historical information is
generally less valuable.

b) Information is not a Resource / Commodity: Judith Jordet complains about the notion that
information is a commodity.  According to him, this notion will not only interfere with real
knowledge creation, it will unravel what knowledge we have!  When information is seen as a
commodity, the users are seen as customers consuming a commodity identified as information. 
Users define usefulness.   If it is not used, it is not useful.  But in reality, how many users use all
the information that are the product of large research investment, is itself a question. Again,
against the view of information as a resource / commodity, the following arguments can be
offered-

i) Shareable and not Exchangeable (Public Good): Most of the goods and services have the
property that more for you means less for me; but in case of information, more for you does not
mean less for me. Passing of information is not losing it.

ii) Assigning Value: It is very difficult to assign values to ideas because different people need
information in different depth.

iii) Tax: Tax is not levied on information generation or its consumption; so it is not a
commodity.

iv) Publicity: Before buying any other product or goods people know ahead of time what they
are going to buy, but in case of information one will not be able to know the whole thing before
buying it. If one knows the whole thing, then they may not feel the need to buy it.

v) Expandable and Compressible: Information increases with use, it can be expanded and
compressed i.e it can be summarized, integrated, etc.

vi) Non Materiality Problem: The non-materiality of information creates several problems in
respect of measurement, appropriateness, ownership, impact, costing, etc.

Information does not possess each and every property of other general resources or
commodities but at the same time we also should not expect it to be. The people at large are
favouring the view that information is a resource and a commodity.

IMPORTANCE O INFORMATION IN THE SOCIETY

 Information is an aid in decision making, policy making needed for the policy makers,
decision makers, managers etc.
 Information will have a reinforcing/ trans forming effect on human beings on receiving it.
A great deal for change can be perceived in the human minds/ attitudes on obtaining the
information, as it increases the ability of personal knowledge for the recipient.
 Information generates new information. This is the existing knowledge/ information
helps in generating new information; new knowledge; new theories, etc.
TOPIC 2

SOCIETY

Meaning of society

A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social

group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority
and dominant cultural expectations.

TYPES OF SOCIETIES

1. Preindustrial Societies

Before the Industrial Revolution and the widespread use of machines, societies were small, rural,
and dependent largely on local resources. Economic production was limited to the amount of
labor a human being could provide, and there were few specialized occupations. The very first
occupation was that of hunter-gatherer.

2. Hunter-Gatherer

Hunter-gatherer societies demonstrate the strongest dependence on the environment of the

various types of preindustrial societies. As the basic structure of human society until about
10,000–12,000 years ago, these groups were based around kinship or tribes. Hunter-gatherers
relied on their surroundings for survival—they hunted wild animals and foraged for uncultivated
plants for food. When resources became scarce, the group moved to a new area to find
sustenance, meaning they were nomadic. These societies were common until several hundred
years ago, but today only a few hundred remain in existence, such as indigenous Australian
tribes sometimes referred to as “aborigines,” or the Bambuti, a group of pygmy hunter-gatherers
residing in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Hunter-gatherer groups are quickly disappearing
as the world’s population explodes.

3. Pastoral

Changing conditions and adaptations led some societies to rely on the domestication of animals
where circumstances permitted. Roughly 7,500 years ago, human societies began to recognize
their ability to tame and breed animals and to grow and cultivate their own plants. Pastoral
societies, such as the Maasai villagers, rely on the domestication of animals as a resource for
survival. Unlike earlier hunter-gatherers who depended entirely on existing resources to stay
alive, pastoral groups were able to breed livestock for food, clothing, and transportation, and they
created a surplus of goods. Herding, or pastoral, societies remained nomadic because they were
forced to follow their animals to fresh feeding grounds. Around the time that pastoral societies
emerged, specialized occupations began to develop, and societies commenced trading with local
groups.

4. Horticultural

Around the same time that pastoral societies were on the rise, another type of society developed,
based on the newly developed capacity for people to grow and cultivate plants. Previously, the
depletion of a region’s crops or water supply forced pastoral societies to relocate in search of
food sources for their livestock. Horticultural societies formed in areas where rainfall and other
conditions allowed them to grow stable crops. They were similar to hunter-gatherers in that they
largely depended on the environment for survival, but since they didn’t have to abandon their
location to follow resources, they were able to start permanent settlements. This created more
stability and more material goods and became the basis for the first revolution in human survival.

5. Agricultural

While pastoral and horticultural societies used small, temporary tools such as digging sticks or
hoes, agricultural societies relied on permanent tools for survival. Around 3000 B.C.E., an
explosion of new technology known as the Agricultural Revolution made farming possible—and
profitable. Farmers learned to rotate the types of crops grown on their fields and to reuse waste
products such as fertilizer, which led to better harvests and bigger surpluses of food. New tools
for digging and harvesting were made of metal, and this made them more effective and longer
lasting. Human settlements grew into towns and cities, and particularly bountiful regions became
centers of trade and commerce.

6. Feudal

The ninth century gave rise to feudal societies. These societies contained a strict hierarchical
system of power based around land ownership and protection. The nobility, known as lords,
placed vassals in charge of pieces of land. In return for the resources that the land provided,
vassals promised to fight for their lords.

7. Industrial Society

In the eighteenth century, Europe experienced a dramatic rise in technological invention,

ushering in an era known as the Industrial Revolution. What made this period remarkable was
the number of new inventions that influenced people’s daily lives. Within a generation, tasks that
had until this point required months of labor became achievable in a matter of days. Before the
Industrial Revolution, work was largely person- or animal-based, and relied on human workers
or horses to power mills and drive pumps. In 1782, James Watt and Matthew Boulton created a
steam engine that could do the work of twelve horses by itself.

8. Postindustrial Society

Information societies, sometimes known as postindustrial or digital societies, are a recent

development. Unlike industrial societies that are rooted in the production of material goods,
information societies are based on the production of information and services.
TOPIC 3

INFORMATION NEEDS IN THE SOCIETY

The term information need is often understood as an individual or group's desire to locate and
obtain information to satisfy a conscious or unconscious need. Rarely mentioned in general
literature about needs, it is a common term in information science.

CATEGORIES OF INFORMATION NEEDS

 Perceived needs are based on what individuals feel their needs are. Perceived needs are
very subjective, and the standard may change based on each point of view. However, it’s
important not to dismiss perceived needs as just opinion. Taking into account the feelings
and concerns of community members is an essential component of your assessment.
 Expressed needs are defined by what individuals have already voiced as a need. For
instance, community members may have complained to local officials about broken street
lights. These complaints are expressed needs and can help guide you to what needs to be
accomplished. However, make sure you’re mindful of the false assumption that all people
with needs seek help.
 Absolute needs are deemed universal, including those for survival (i.e., food, water,
safety, and clothing). If community members don’t even have clean, running water, this
absolute need should be a top priority to consider.
 Relative needs are rendered necessary based on equity and depend on current
circumstances and the norm. The standard may also vary based on population differences
and social context. For instance, providing students with access to computers isn’t
necessary. But with digital literacy now so important to education, the lack of computers
might be deemed a relative need.

PROCESS OF ASSESSING COMMUNITY INFORMATION NEEDS

Community needs are gaps between what services currently exist in a community and what
should exist. It may be helpful to categorize gaps based on these four types of community needs
— perceived needs, expressed needs, absolute needs, and relative needs.

1. Define your community.

Defining your community can give you a sense of why gaps may exist. It also helps identify the
group(s), or sub-communities, that tend to feel the effects the most. You can define the
community with:

2. Decide on scope.

Community needs are often interconnected and complicated. For instance, homelessness has
many underlying causes and effects.

The types of community needs you choose to address will ultimately depend on your
organization’s expertise and core mission. Does your organization address gaps in community
health? In education? You may want to address homelessness and its many causes, or you may
focus your resources on a smaller group that is disproportionately affected by a gap in services. 

3. Identify assets.

It’s important to figure out the types of assets you’ll need in your community needs assessment
to create your program. These assets, also referred to as resources, are necessary for your
program’s success. Assets can include:

 Organizations
 People (volunteers, community members, and experts)
 Funding
 Policies

4. Make connections.
To pull off your community needs assessment, you need to know the right people. As you
learned above, some of your greatest assets are just people, from students to governors.

5. Collect data.

To conduct a community needs assessment, you need data.

Your data will include statistics, but the numbers aren’t enough, especially when you’re dealing
with real people who have real needs that go beyond what is quantitative. You should also
collect qualitative data, like the thoughts and knowledge of community members.

6. Analyze your findings

Once you have a great resource of data, including notes from your interviews, surveys, and
observations, it’s time to analyze it.

7. Present your findings

After conducting a needs assessment, organizations typically produce a community needs

assessment report

FACTORS INFLUENCING INFORMATION DEMAND IN SOCIETY

 Structure of the society

 Size of the society

 Amount of information

 Method used in passing infromation

 Importance of the information

 Technology

 Urgency
TOPIC 4

INFORMATION IN SOCIETY

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ILETERACY AND ADULT EDUCATION NEEDS IN A

SOCIETY

ROLE OF INFORMATION IN EDUCATION

1. Learning resources are often considered as educational materials for instance long and
tedious printed classroom textbooks with outdated information and content which can
primarily covers the breadth of any particular subject but it often fails to cover the depth
of the subject. Learning resources are more than that and it can be summed up as various
tools that provide the teachers with the opportunity of teaching effectively in order to
offer an easier learning process to the students.

2. Teaching materials or learning resources are designed mainly to support teaching and
learning in different contexts. The major purpose of learning and teaching resources is to
provide a source of learning experience that is effective enough to invoke interaction
among students and teachers in the learning or teaching process (Savery, 2015). An
effective learning resource has the ability of helping the students in the learning process
and broaden the learning experience of the students along with meeting the learning
needs of the students. 

3. .Effective usage of proper learning resources help the students to construct more than
superficial knowledge that is building in depth knowledge on a particular subject and also
 developing their individual learning strategies, values, attitudes and generic skills. It is
important to use proper learning resources in the teaching process in order to build a solid
foundation for lifelong learning

4. To give direction to learners and teachers.

5. For future reference

6. Information entertains people through reading.

7. Brings people together in education sector

METHODS USED TO CREATE AWARENESS IN THE SOCIETY

1. Initiate a referral program

Referrals, as mentioned above, are great ways to make awareness in the society. When someone
you know recommends a product, you feel obligated to at least check it out.

You might not buy right away. However, if the desire for the product crops up in the future,
you’ll know just where to look.

Referral programs are great marketing strategies because they incentivize word-of-mouth
advertising. Instead of just asking people to spread the word, you offer some type of reward,
such as a discount off a future purchase.

These programs work best when you reward both parties in the transaction. In other words, but
the person who makes the referral and the new customer receive some type of reward for the
effort.

2. Publish impressive guest information

You might have heard that you can generate leads by guest posting on other people’s blogs.
However, the strategy also works in reverse.
Maybe there’s a semi-popular blogger who writes about topics related to the products you sell.
You ask her to create a post for your blog in exchange for a link back to her website.

That’s great for the blogger, but it also helps you. After the post goes live, she will likely link to
it from her own website. You get referral traffic, brand awareness, and potential leads.

Guest post exchange programs can work extremely well. The other blogger writes a post for your
blog, and you create one for theirs.

3. Create info graphics

We’re becoming an increasingly visual society. People like to consume information as quickly as
possible, and while text-based content performs well, it’s most effective when you balance it out
with visual content, too.

Infographics are relatively easy to create, especially with free tools like Canva. You can collect
data points and other interesting information from around the web (or conduct your own study),
then arrange it in a visually pleasing way.

You can generate leads and more brand awareness with infographics because other people will
embed your images on their sites. Brand your infographics to make sure it’s obvious where they
originated. You should also ask people to include a link when they publish your image on their
sites..

5. Pursue local partnerships

As a Knowledge Commerce professional, you might occasionally feel lonely. You’re spending a
lot of time by yourself, marketing your company and creating new online courses.

Partnering with other professionals in your industry can help chase away the loneliness. It’s also
great for creating awareness.
When you partner with someone else, you expose each other’s brands to your respective
audiences. Sure, there might be some overlap, but you’ll get your products in front of new
consumers’ eyes.

Maybe you could create an informational product together, or perhaps you’ll do a YouTube
conversation and post it online. Use your imagination!

6. Run social media contests

Contests are another great way to create awareness and generate leads for your brand. People
love to compete, especially when there are free prizes in the offing.

Give away a free month of access to your membership site, for instance, or a free upgrade to one
of your premium courses. Whatever gift you choose, make sure it’s related to your industry —
and preferably created by you.

7. Start with a social focus

Some people love social media. Others find it confusing. Wherever you fall on the spectrum,
don’t discount it entirely.

A social focus for your brand can vastly improve brand awareness. After all, you want to venture
beyond your owned properties to get your content in front of new people.

But don’t just post links to your latest blog posts on social media. Interact. Join conversations.
Leave positive reviews of your favorite products.

Social interaction is very similar online as it is in real life. If you attend a party and never leave
the snack table, you probably won’t get much social interaction out of your time. However, if
you introduce yourself to new people and mingle, more partygoers will know your name.

9. Tell magnetic stories

Storytelling is an underrated art. If you’re good at spinning magnetic yarns, you can keep people
coming back for more.
Additionally, good storytelling makes you more memorable. Stir consumers’ emotions with your
stories so they think of you when they need a product you sell.

Develop your unique personality

Think about some of your favorite media personalities. What draws you to them? Why do
you continue to seek them out?

People with unique personalities are like magnets. They attract attention everywhere they go. If
you showcase your own unique personality, you’ll create more awareness and become more
memorable.

You don’t have to be fake or emulate someone you like. Let your own qualities shine through.

12. Try PPC advertising 

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising has become more competitive, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t
worth your consideration. And despite the name, clicks aren’t the only things that matter.

People might see your ad and not click. They still saw your brand name and offer. If they
remember it later, they might seek you out.

In that way, you can generate leads without paying for them. Of course, you’ll have to pay for
the people who do click, so make sure you have a top-notch landing page and a great offer for
them when they arrive at your site.

13. Use remarketing campaigns

We already touched on this, so we’ll be brief.

Think of remarketing as a way to lure back customers who bounced. They weren’t ready to
convert then, but maybe they are now.

The trick with remarketing is to present a can’t-miss offer. It could be a discount, a free bonus, or
something else you cook up. Just make it as enticing as possible.
14. Start a paid social advertising campaign

Paid social can work just as well as PPC. It’s a way to push your content in front of people who
don’t already follow you.

Again, some people won’t click or convert. That’s okay. You’re still using the platform to create
awareness. Plus, you never know when those non-converters will come back to your site and
check out your products in the future.

15. Take advantage of controversy

It sounds insidious, right? Maybe even a little tacky. But when approached the right way,
controversy can create awareness for your brand faster than any other strategy.

You just have to avoid stepping on your own tongue and ruining your brand. It’s a fine line to
walk.

Below, we’ll show you an example of controversial content done right. For now, though, it’s
important to realize that everyone says something controversial from time to time.

Maybe you create a piece of editorial content in which you espouse an unpopular opinion. You
believe in it, though, and you want others to know it.

Or perhaps there’s some sort of scandal occurring in your industry. Lend your voice to the issue
to not only make yourself heard, but also to create awareness.

16. Pursue influencer marketing

Influencers have become their own form of currency. They have dedicated followings, which
means that lots of consumers listen to what they have to say.

At one time, influencers were celebrities. They signed multi-million-dollar endorsement deals —
and still do — to represent an already successful brand.
Today, though, influencers are everywhere, and in every industry. Some have follower counts in
the thousands, while others have reached the six and seven figures. Regardless, they can help
speed up your goal to create awareness for your brand.

17. Gain access to earned media

Earned media refers to any media attention that comes not from paid ads or other incentives, but
from good-old-fashioned hard work. A journalist uses your product, for instance, and
recommends it to her readership.

You can get earned media through product reviews, press releases, and dozens of other methods.

One relatively easy way to gained earned media is to sign up for HARO (which stands for “Help
a Reporter Out”). It’s a website that connects journalists with industry experts.

You sign up for the list, then receive a daily digest full of requests for quotes. If you’re chosen,
you’ll get featured in the associated publication.

18. Produce shareable video content

Video gets bigger every day. It makes sense. Many people are visually oriented, which means
they learn better when they can see what’s going on.

You might create a tutorial, record a webinar, or create some other type of video for your
audience. But you want it to be shareable.

Make it short, sweet, and to the point. You might include some controversy for extra measure,
but only if it makes sense in context.

19. Brand everything you release to the public

This might seem obvious, but entrepreneurs often forget. If you publish something on the
Internet, send something out in an email, or otherwise make something available, brand it.
This includes your products, email marketing newsletters, free downloads, and more. Include
your logo and web address at a minimum so people know where to find you.

20. Through radio

21 . Through magazines

22. Through Barazas

23. Through door to door enrichment

ROLE OF INFORMATION IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Access to information is critical to development; thus information and communication

technologies as means of sharing information are not simply a connection between people but
also a link in the chain of the development process itself.

1. Information is obviously central to activities that have come to be known as the

"information sector including education and research, media and publishing, information
equipment and software, and information -intensive services such as financial services,
consulting , and trade. But information is also critical to other economic activities ranging
from manufacturing to agriculture and resource extraction, for management, logistics,
marketing, and other functions .

2. Information is also important to the delivery of health care and public services .I For
individuals, access to information can have personal, social and economic functions,
often accompli shed using the same devices . An individual can summon help in an
emergency via telephone; she may stay in touch with friends and family members and
arrange appointment s by telephone or e-mail and may find the Internet a more efficient
means of tracking down consumer information on products and services than the mass
media. Entrepreneurial sole proprietors, ranging from programmers and consultants to
small farmers and craftspeople, can set up global store fronts on the Internet. In general ,
 the ability to access and share information can contribute to the development process by
improving:

3. efficiency , or the ratio of output to cost (for example, through use of just-in-time
manufacturing and inventory systems, through use of information on weather and soil
content to improve agricultural yields);

4. effectiveness , or the quality of products and services (such as improving healthcare

through telemedicine) ;- reach, or the ability to contact new customers or clients (for
example, craftspeople reaching global markets on the Internet ; educators reaching
students at work or at home)

5. equity, or the distribution of development benefits throughout the society (such as to rural
and remote areas, to minorities and disabled populations.

6. information brings people together so that people work to achieve certain society goals in
relation to development.

7. information makes people were of what is going on in the society in terms of

infrastructure development

8. Information helps people in society to chose wise leaders to manage the ongoing projects
in the society

EFFECT OF INFORMATION ON SOCIAL CHANGE IN SOCIETY

Much of the work in MIND-SETS has focused on the interplay between mobility and society. It
has underlined that social forces play the major role in determining mobility patterns and the way
people mould their identities and form values. The social dynamic is strongly entwined with
people’s mobile lives – in thinking and in action – physical and virtual – physical and mental.
1. Information in Society has moved from an emphasis on social support to one of
individual responsibility. This has served to widen the gap in society between the
mobility rich and poor.

2. Information has an important impact on the primary mental and physical problems facing
society – loneliness, fear of abandonment, agoraphobia, obesity, sedentary behavior etc.
Expanded to whole communities, mobility deprivation exacerbates social tensions and
continues to provoke social disorder.

3. Information has led to gap between how old and young people access it in the society.
The majority of young people access information faster than the old. The benefits of
information technology.

4. Information has lead in building relationship between people of different tribe hence
enhancement of trade between different communities

5. In the current enthusiasm to investigate those mobility innovations popular with the new
digital generations, the importance of an ageing society can easily be forgotten. While the
‘older’ generation are more mobile than ever the ‘oldest’ generation requires social
support for their mobility needs.

6. Information reach the rich people more faster than the poor people through this the poor
act on information shared with delays.

7. Social change has been rapid in recent decades, with new family and kinship networks,
changing roles of individuals within society. The pace of technological innovation is
faster and faster. A mobility rich population, unwilling to forego the mobility freedoms
with age and with young digital generations with different value sets which demand new
types of mobility – a new world where transport modes become attachments to
smartphones; and the whole locus of mobility control and seamless movement transfers
to the user.
 8. Information well managed can be accessed from one organization to the next
organization. Information has lead to continued in togetherness in working.

ROLE OF INFORMATION IN COMMUNITY COHESION

1. Brings People of all ages out on streets without fear.

2. Promotes Tidy streets, gardens, parks and public areas.
3. Makes people Houses and flats lives in and cared for.
4. Makes People mix in shops, cafes, and parks freely
5. Low levels of discrimination and racism among people.

CONTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION In SOCIETY TO QUALITY LIVING

1. People live together in peace so there is no robbery because people know their rights and
where to report such matters.

2. Through getting information people engage in trade activities where by selling what they
have to others so as to earn living.

3. Information has lead to electing visionary leaders who bring developments to the people
of the community.

4. Information reached to people pertaining employment reach people , through this people
get employed and earn living.

5. Information promotes civilized settling of community disputes arising from different

individuals in the society hence building unity.

6. Through getting of information good infrastructures and social amenities are build for
people to get quality services from different government sectors.
TOPIC 5

INFORMATION PROFFESIONALS IN SOCIETY

An information professional or information specialist is someone who collects, records,
organizes, stores, preserves, retrieves, and disseminates printed or digital information.

CATEGORIES OF INFORMATIONAL PROFESSIONALS

1. Information Scientist - An official who provides Science of an information service than

knowledge of traditional science.

  2. Information Officer –An official works in close cooperation with librarian and gives
information from his own knowledge and from documents collected and administered and made
available by the librarian.  
 
  3. Information Specialist – A person who is primarily concerned with the processing of data in
a particular area of knowledge rather with the control of document.
 
  4. Information consultant -A Staff member who offers advice on the selection and use of
databases and information services.

FUNCTIONS OF INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS IN SOCIETY

 Promotes the idea that an information professional is the right person to offer support in
the knowledge economy
 Provides guidance on how to provide and develop a scientific culture in an institution
 Identifies information competencies that are important for information managers in
scientific communication
 Redefines the profile of professional information graduates and identifies this new skill
set as a job opportunity
 promotion of digital humanities content for research
 teaching society
 learning new and current information in the modern academic library.

ROLE OF INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS IN PACKAGING AND REPACKAGING

INFORMATION

Information Repackaging • Repackaging information is about reprocessing information into a

form that can be readily understood by , and is usable b y, a specific user .
• It is an information service which selects appropriate materials, re-processing the information
in a form that can be readily understood, packaging information , and arranging all these
materials in a way that is appropriate to the user
• Two essential concepts inherent in the term repackaging ( re-processing and packaging ).
Packaging
• The physical container or wrapping for a product.
• Packaging is the bundling of products and services to address specific needs. It can be done by:
Reformatting and synthesizing raw information;
Combining expertise or consulting on a subject with access to relevant information sources;
Providing training or assistance to a user in accessing an information product.

FUNCTIONS OF PACKAGING INFORMATION

• Promoting the Product/service;

• Defining Product Identity;
• Provides Information – symbols, contents, value;
• Meeting Customer Needs – various sizes, etc.

ROLE OF INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS IN THE PROVISION OF

INFORMATION SERVICES TO THE SOCIETY

The role of the information profession in this ‘information society’ is sometimes uncertain and
can be ambiguous.

The institutions and organizations through which information has traditionally been provided—
libraries—have themselves undergone profound change. Nowhere has this been more obvious or
perhaps more radical than in the health sector. The traditional medical library has all but
vanished. Indeed, medicine and law were in the forefront of the professional domains which
rapidly took advantage of the development of networked ICTs (information and communication
technology). It has been credibly argued that the development of meddlers and Medline
represented a major advance in information service provision, which in turn had a profound
effect on the education and training of future generations of information professionals.

The information professional in the health sector has become a part of a multi‐disciplinary care
team which serves a patient. But the use of informatics has not been confined to finding more
efficient ways of providing traditional information services to clinical professionals. Health
institutions—from community‐based primary care services to hospitals engaged in teaching and
research as well as patient care—are largely dependent on information systems for their effective
functioning. The management of patient records, of supplies and indeed of people has been
transformed by ICT.
The information professional—the former librarian—is not always the key player that the
dependence on information systems might suggest. The management of information, as well as
its acquisition and use, has become part of the toolkit of every professional. Across the whole
range of the information professions there has been concern that distinctiveness is being lost, and
that the professional ‘mystery’ is being exposed to the light.

The information professional—of the present, not some distant future—is not so much a
gatekeeper (the traditional metaphor) as a guide through the information jungle. The role is to
help clients to refine their questions so that effective searches can be conducted, to ensure that
digital resources are not merely technically but intellectually accessible through the provision of
user‐friendly front‐ends and high‐quality, well‐informed and comprehensive metadata, and to
ensure that clients are aware of the range of information resources available to them.

Information professionals—the experts in information storage, organization, retrieval and

dissemination—are central to the effective functioning of the information society, and yet their
work is far from being universally recognized as a critical role. Information professionals are
now typically working in a multi‐disciplinary environment in which they provide only one
dimension of the overall mix of skills necessary to deliver services.