Libraries as bastions of freedom of information and culture in an information economy

Abstract

Libraries everywhere are suffering at the same time as the world is on the brink of an Information Society. Among the huge effects of globalization are rapid changes in the nature of work, immense pressures on education, and a continuing trend to judge everything, including information, in terms of cost and profit. Self-education and lifelong learning will be essential. The fact that most information comes from commercíal sources or consists of uncontrolled matter on the Internet makes it vitai that individuals develop the ability to select and discriminate and that there are places where access to information is free and balanced. No organization is potentially as well placed to perform this latter role as the library, which will need to develop accordingly.