This is another useful and relevant work, now in its 5th edition, from the reputable house of Facet Publishing. The author is the well‐known and respected Professor of Library and Information Studies at Loughborough University. He writes clearly and authoritatively on the information society – its impact and role and the significant and far reaching developments it brings to all our professional lives.
A wide ranging, contemporary view is taken, dealing particularly well with such pressing subjects as information access and the ever present problems of the information rich and poor.
There are some important points made about the information profession and its changing role in our society. Information still needs to be organised and, above all, used and exploited. A more demanding clientele is placing greater demands on our profession and with these changes come challenge and opportunity. To quote the author: “It might be argued that information professionals will be able to move back to their central professional concern with information, information systems and information media if they no longer have to manage complex institutional libraries”. Flexibility and vision will be the key attributes of the modern information professional.
The author lays out an interesting and up‐to‐date chapter on further reading around the topics of the book; there is a good short index and the work meets the usual high standards of readability, clarity and production we have come to expect from Facet Publishing. This is a useful, timely and well‐written book that will prove to be of value and interest to LIS students in particular and the LIS profession in general.
