Table of Contents

Introduction. The information society: myth and reality
PART 1: THE HISTORICAL DIMENSION
1. From script to print

• The origins of writing
• The alphabet
• Images, sounds and numbers
• The first media
• The development of the book
• Printing: the first communications revolution
• The trade in books

2. Mass media and new technology

• The pictorial image
• The recording and transmission of sound
• Mass media: radio and cinema
• Television
• Computers: the second communications revolution

PART 2: THE ECONOMIC DIMENSION
3. The information market-place

• The publishing industry: a paradigm of information transfer
• Authors and publishers
• The diversity of publishing
• New directions in publishing
• The evolution of the e-book
• The interdependent media: convergence and change
• The market: definition and size
• Fragmentation or competition?

4. Access to information

• The price of books and the cost of broadcasts
• The cost of libraries
• Public good or private profit?
• Electronic communications: access and costs
• The world wide web
• Networks: an electronic democracy?
• Electronic publishing: towards a new paradigm?
• The cost of access: issues and problems

PART 3: THE POLITICAL DIMENSION 5. Information rich and information poor

• The value of information
• Information in developing countries: an issue defined
• Wealth and poverty: information and economic development
• Information delivery systems: some contrasts
• North and South: the world publishing industry
• Eastern Europe: a different poverty?
• The limits of wealth: information poverty in the West

6. Information, the state and the citizen

• The role of the state: an introduction
• The role of the state: the protection of intellectual property
• The role of the state: data protection and personal privacy
• The role of the state: freedom of information
• The role of the state: censorship
• Contemporary dilemmas: the issues redefined

PART 4 THE INFORMATION PROFESSION 7. The information profession: a domain delineated

• The role of the information professional
• The work of the information professional
• Librarians and libraries: archetypes in transition
• From archivist to records manager
• Information managers
• Managing knowledge

Afterword. An information society?

• Studying the information society

About the Author

John Feather BLitt MA PhD FCLIP is Professor of Library and Information Studies and Dean of the Graduate School at Loughborough University; he is a former Pro-Vice Chancellor of Loughborough University.

Reviews

There are very few books in the field of LIS publishing that can be said to be essential, but it is fair to say that The Information Society has been, since its first edition, one of them. Now in its fifth edition, the book continues to provide the definitive overview of the information society in an informed, thoughtful and insightful way - This book is a must buy for students on any undergraduate or postgraduate information course; it literally paints the picture of the macro-environment in which we work and live, and offers a thought-provoking foray into the ethical dimensions the information society provides. Highly recommended. - HEA-ICS (review of 5th edition)