Information is the currency of democracy: a New Zealand perspective

Proposes to provide some New Zealand public sector examples that reflect the ideas contained in the quotation “information is a currency of democracy”. The discussion in the first part of the paper concludes that in modern democracies such as New Zealand, information is used as a currency for democracy. The second part of the paper provides specific government initiatives that support this argument through their key government goals founded on the ethos of social inclusion. The National Library’s contribution to these goals is illustrated by the advent of the new National Library of New Zealand Aotearoa (Te Puna Ma¯tauranga o Aotearoa) Act 2003. The second part of the paper also carries an overlay of the national information strategy framework devised by the wider library and information sector through their professional organisation the Library and Information Association New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) and Te Ro¯pu Whakahau (Ma¯ori Library and Information Workers Association).