The Information Society: A Study of Continuity and Change (3rd ed.)

Citation

Turner, R. (2002), "The Information Society: A Study of Continuity and Change (3rd ed.)", New Library World, Vol. 103 No. 7/8, pp. 297-299. https://doi.org/10.1108/nlw.2002.103.7_8.297.4

This fascinating overview of the information society in which we now live begins with the premise that we cannot understand the status quo unless we appreciate the history of the ways in which information has been gathered, analysed and disseminated throughout human history. We often accept that we are living within a technological revolution similar to the industrial revolution, but John Feather forces us to stop, take stock and evaluate whether we are truly living in revolutionary times. After all, hasn’t every human society been an information society?

The author repeatedly states that he did not intend this book to be a textbook, but rather an introduction to students who are new to the study of the information profession and sector. He does this by suggesting some historical, social, political and economic contexts for the study of the information society. In fact the two previous editions of this book have become essential reading for students of information studies, but Feather’s intended audience is much wider than this. His overriding concern is to wrestle with what constitutes a major change in the development of human history and technology, and what is merely a fad that seems significant but is forgotten or superseded within 12 months.

Feather argues convincingly that the changes over the last 20 years in technology, symbolised by the computer, have changed our whole way of life so fundamentally that they do indeed constitute a revolution.

The Information Society begins with an overview of the development of information in human history, first from the concept of writing and alphabets to the onset of the invention of printing. A further chapter explores how the publishing of printed books was for 400 years the major system of communication between literate peoples.

The second section of the book turns its attention to the development of other media in the last 150 years ‐ photography, film and video. This was accompanied by advances in the transmission of information ‐ telegraph, telephone, radio and television. Feather makes the point that “An increasingly literate society has, paradoxically, become more dependent than ever on oral communication systems”. It is only at the very end of this history that computers are reached.

At the end of this general, albeit interesting, history lesson, Feather proceeds to examine the economic implications of the information society, from an exploration of how the publishing world is developing with new media and in different markets to a consideration of the issues raised by access to information. He carefully explores the relative values and costs of access to traditional libraries and electronic communications, such as the Internet. The political implications of a society that is increasingly dependent on information access are made so apparent that they are considered in separate chapters.

Feather is concerned about the inherent problems of information wealth and poverty as information becomes simply a commodity, while access to it becomes a complex social indicator. Countries must have access to information if they are to develop, but this is easier said than done. Even in the West, there are information rich and information poor individuals. There is further discussion of the role of the state through the protection of intellectual property, data protection and personal privacy, and the concepts of freedom of information and censorship. What emerges is a three‐strand information society where there is public information, personal information and private information ‐ it is their interaction that is the complex conundrum for modern society.

The final chapter explores the role of the information professional, who should be the key players in the information society. Feather suggests that there are three interwoven aspects of information storage and provision: information sources; information networks and systems; information agencies. It is the distinction between these elements that Feather argues is critical to understanding the proper role of the information professional. The way in which the user rather than the source has become the driving force of the information sector is stressed. It is essential to think of libraries as concepts rather than buildings, librarians as information managers rather than collection archivists.

It is of course the use of computers to ease access to information that is the key to the information technological revolution and the society it shapes. The author concludes that we have always been dependent on information, but now we are also more dependent than ever on the technology that stores the information for us. This creates political, social, economic and moral issues for us.

John Feather also provides a brief note on further reading, including the suggestion that national newspapers are a great way of keeping up to date with technical developments. There is also an adequate index but it is possible, and maybe even desirable, to read the book in one go to fully appreciate the issues that are raised by an information society in its historical context. This is a very general book that, despite the protestations of the author, is very much geared for the student of information studies. However, it is such a general, well‐written and engaging book that it will be easily accessible and enjoyable for any reader with even a passing interest in the subject of how we have developed into an age of information revolution.