Alistair Duff

The literature search: a library‐based model for information skills instruction

It is expected that instruction in information skills (formerly known as bibliographic instruction) will be an important function of libraries in the “information society”. Describes a model for teaching the core informational skill of library‐based literature searching (information retrieval). It centres on a flow chart of the main stages in a systematic search: create set of search terms; formulate logical search statement; estimate parameters of search; search information sources; and record and evaluate references. The flow chart is flanked by two columns. One contains conceptual frameworks which illuminate aspects of the search process, such as the information chain and QRAQ (quantity, relevance, authority and quality), a simple schema for evaluating bibliographic references. The other column identifies library tools and services which can assist the end‐user at various stages of a search, such as search analysis and bibliographic instruction. The model was developed primarily in an academic, health sciences environment, but operates at a sufficiently high level of generality to be of wide applicability in information skills programmes.

Monitoring information security risks within health care

This paper presents an overview of possible risks to the security of health care data. These risks were detected with a novel approach to information security. It is based on the philosophy that information security risk monitoring should include human and societal factors, and that collaboration between organisations and experts is essential to gain knowledge about potential risks. The methodology uses a mixed methods approach including a quantitative analysis of historical security incident data and expert elicitation through a Delphi study. The result is an overview of the possible socio-technical risks that a panel of experts expect to materialise in health care organisations in the near future. These risks include (amongst others): staff leaving data assets unattended on the premises and these assets consequently go missing, staff sharing passwords to access patient data and staff sending email containing personal patient data to the wrong addressee thus disclosing data to unauthorised persons. The expert panel recognized risks from current discussion topics such as outsourcing, but these risks are still considered to appear less frequently than the more traditional information security risks. Furthermore, the panel did not estimate a high frequency of occurrence of socio-technical information security risks caused by new technologies such as cloud computing or RFID.

Social Engineering in the Information Age

This article explores the relevance of social engineering for the postindustrial epoch. The concept of social engineering has been dormant in recent years, stained by the behavior of police states in the 20th century. Yet stripped of its excesses, social engineering still represents a defensible moral and political enterprise. What is needed for the 21st century, however, is a chastened, deontological theory of social engineering, one that accepts the inviolability of the person while still pursuing ambitious long-term teleological strategies through state action. For its content, progressive information society policy should revisit the ethical norms developed by the left-liberal tradition, as articulated by the late John Rawls and others. The article concludes that the information age offers a new opportunity to engineer a just social order, or, at any rate, that the policymaking community needs to reevaluate the idea of social engineering.

Daniel Bell's theory of the information society

Daniel Bell is recognised to be the foremost writer on the information society. The paper expounds his writings in detail, showing their development from the 1960s to the 1990s. It is argued that his position has always contained three distinguishable strands or elements: one relating to the post-industrial information workforce, a second dealing with information flows (particularly scientific knowledge), and a third concerning computers and the information revolution. Bell’s information society thesis is best understood as a synthesis of these elements. His arguments are also evaluated. It is suggested that the information economy element is not satisfactorily supported by the evidence cited and that his emphasis on theoretical knowledge may also be excessive. As regards Bell’s account of information technology, his position shifted from a technocratic preoccupation with mainframes to an uncritical enthusiasm for the micro-computer. In spite of such shortcomings, Bell’s synthetic information society thesis is the strongest available.

The Past, Present, and Future of Information Policy: Towards a normative theory of the information society

The profile of information policy in academic and policy-making circles has been rising in recent decades, a function, presumably, of the expansion of an ‘information society’. Nevertheless, there is widespread confusion over its meaning and purpose. This paper seeks to produce a clearer picture, building on useful groundwork in information science and other disciplines. The history of information policy is traced, featuring exposition of the pioneering contribution of Marc Porat in the 1970s. The present state of information policy is then described, with particular reference to some salient themes of current literature: issue inventories (i.e. the scope of information policy); academic identity (including a critique of attempts to appropriate information policy for one discipline); and the ideal – or, it is argued, illusion – of a ‘national information policy’. In the final section of the paper, some suggestions are made for the future direction of information policy. First, information policy should engage much more thoroughly with the tradition of political philosophy. Second, information policy may benefit from more forays into the field of futures studies. Finally, it is proposed that information policy could be positioned as a subset of the interdisciplinary specialism of information society studies, in which case its definition might be resolved in terms of the ‘normative theory of the information society’

Some post-war models of the information chain

Reviews the literature of the information chain, analogous to ecology’s food chain, taking the Royal Society Scientific Information Conference, 1948, as the seminal point. Describes eight successive models of the information chain each incorporating contemporary thoughts and experiences. Each model is labelled with the year to which it may be said to refer: Distribution of Scientific Information 1948; Document Network 1967; Dissemination of Scientific and Technical Information 1978; Structure of Scientific Literature 1979; Ecosystem of Scientific Communication 1980; Information Chain 1988; Information Chain 1989; Pathways of Information Flow 1993. Although of wide applicability, the focus of interest for information scientists tends to be the communication of learned information.

The Rawls-Tawney theorem and the digital divide in postindustrial society

The digital divide continues to challenge political and academic circles worldwide. A range of policy solutions is briefly evaluated, from laissez-faire on the right to “arithmetic” egalitarianism on the left. The article recasts the digital divide as a problem for the social distribution of presumptively important information (e.g., electoral data, news, science) within postindustrial society. Endorsing in general terms the left-liberal approach of differential or “geometric” egalitarianism, it seeks to invest this with greater precision, and therefore utility, by means of a possibly original synthesis of the ideas of John Rawls and R. H. Tawney. It is argued that, once certain categories of information are accorded the status of “primary goods,” their distribution must then comply with principles of justice as articulated by those major 20th century exponents of ethical social democracy. The resultant Rawls-Tawney theorem, if valid, might augment the portfolio of options for interventionist information policy in the 21st century.

Higher Education Teaching A Communication Perspective

This article explores the relationship between communication theory and higher education teaching, with the work of speech communication scientist Frank E. X. Dance singled out for exposition, evaluation and application. It is argued that Dance has made three contributions of potential relevance to university pedagogy. First, his helical model of the communication process illustrates the interactive and cumulative nature of successfulclassroom teaching, giving rise to the concept of a ‘classroom helix’. The second contribution is the speech theory of human communication(STHC), which places spoken language at the centre of the human experience.The STHC, if not scientifically proven, is salutary in emphasizing the importance of speech as distinct from written communications and electronic media. Finally, Dance supplies a body of practical advice, grounded in the oratorical tradition, regarding communication with mass audiences.

Four “e”pochs: the story of informatization

Informatization is a term of Japanese provenance denoting major systemic change resulting from the application of information technology. At the macro (economic and sociological) level, authors such as Fritz Machlup and Daniel Bell have outlined the shape of a supposed new order. In modern librarianship and information work, too, the effects of informatization have been pervasive. The paper articulates a simple synthetic theory of post‐war informatization with special reference to information services in libraries, and specifically computerized information retrieval. It is suggested, on the basis of primary and secondary research, that the “story” of informatization can be broken down into four electronic epochs: offline, online, CDROM, and the Internet. Each epoch is described and evaluated, focusing on the practical effects on British librarians (national, academic, and public) and their patrons. It is hoped that the use of primary sources enables the account to capture something of the sense of revolution accompanying the arrival of new epochs. Advice on a future fifth “e”poch is not supplied, but it is acknowledged that the prospects for a global reference system seem more hopeful than ever before.

Powers in the Land

The expansion of opinion is one of the key developments in the British press, as elsewhere. The article analyses the role of one of the most important types of commentator, newspaper political columnists, examining their credentials, sources, information society prospects, and putative impact. Using data from interviews with some of Britains leading journalists, the study is able to corroborate findings from a wide-ranging literature review. In addition, it formulates some preliminary hypotheses: that the effectiveness of a so-called pundit is a function of his or her willingness to remain focused upon a theme; that there is a positive correlation between a columnists political impact and the factual or informational content of the columns; and that a columnist is most powerful when complying with a broader newspaper campaign.