The Information Society: A study of continuity and change

by John Feather

"What is information? Who are the information rich and who are the information poor? How can there be equality of access for users in the light of the economic and cultural pressures that are placed upon information gatherers and keepers?" "Set against a broad historical backdrop, The Information Society explores the information revolution that continues to gather pace. The commercial value of information becomes increasingly important in a world where data can be transmitted in a split second, information can become a political tool that can be abused as easily as it can be used. In analysing the different threads that make up the information society, John Feather looks at the ethics of information transfer in the context of the social relationship between the citizen and the state." This edition is fully updated to cover the latest research in major contemporary issues within the information society. This look at the information profession and its break-out from the traditional boundaries of librarianship will interest all information professionals. It is also invaluable for students on courses in information, librarianship and communications studies, where an understanding of the nature of the information society is an essential underpinning of more advanced work.

240 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

Reviews

[Mel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Feather rather got off on the wrong foot with me. He started by talking about the invention of printing, and got the date of printing in China wrong by several centuries! This really annoyed me, this is the 5th edition of the book, surely a bit more research needed doing! The whole first few chapters seemed full of manifest destiny, because they had an alphabet, and invented printing Europe was able to RULE THE WORLD! (que maniacal laughter here). It was so Eurocentric it hurt. Or rather it focused so throughly on England and the US it hurt. (As at one point he did actually say that only English language publishing of GB and USA were quality academic publishers! I think someone needs to explain to him that just because you can't read other languages doesn't mean that books aren't being written and published in those languages. This book was a terribly low quality. A librarian, who clearly as no concept of history, economics, sociology trying to explain these points and getting so much wrong! I mentioned the China mistake because it shows why it is so important for European authors to take a bit more of a global history approach to their work. He dismissed China in the history section and dismissed it in the current day. He seemed to be writing that Japan was part of the "developing nations". He talked about how well the economies of Japan, Korea (not North Korea or South Korea, just Korea), Singapore were doing, but not once did he mention the economy of China (which is doing much better than the economy of the US!). He also mentioned how these "third world nations" were not able to publish much, only India was able to compete with the US and the UK for publishing, completly ignoring the East Asian book market. There were so many things wrong and misinformed about this book. Despite it's attempt to be an academic work no footnotes or references were given, so it's impossible to say where he was getting this information. This book was suggested reading on my library course and I have no idea why. It really is the worst book I've had to read on this course so far. I'm sure Feather could write a decent book if he just stuck to his subject, how information changed libraries in the UK. But when he tries to incorporate the rest of the world, he fails. This book should really be avoided at all costs.

[Travis Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably one of the most accessible and useful discussions of the abstracted concept of the information society. Feather gets what matters in terms of how this will affect future cultures and political spaces an can speak both authoritatively and generally on the implications of changes in technology. Necessary reading for those inside the field of information sciences and potentially intriguing for those outside of the field.

[Claudio Laferla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, like the editions before it, is excellent. It is a 'must have' for every information professional.