When a book reaches its sixth edition (and presuming it is not a reference text), it is reasonable to assume that it is well-written, filling an ongoing need, and up to date. So it proves with the latest edition of John Feather's study of the information society, first published almost 20 years ago. This is a thoughtfully updated and readable evaluation of the information society, and the changes in the way information is produced, managed and used as well as the continuities.
Opening with a summary of the historical dimensions of the information society, it moves from the origins of writing to the first communications revolution (printing) to mass media and the second communications revolution (computers). Part two covers the economic dimensions in more detail, considering aspects such as changes in publishing and in the way we access information. Part three evaluates the political dimension, looking beyond the UK and the US to highlight the value of information, as well as varying levels of information wealth and poverty, both between and within different countries. The final part considers the role of the information professional, a key player in the information society. Drawing on three aspects of information (public, personal and private) and three aspects of its storage and provision (information sources, networks and systems, and agencies), Feather scopes both the needed changes as well as the continuities in the roles of librarians, archivists, information managers and records managers.
Throughout the book, Feather explores a paradox: technology, he suggests, has made more information available to more people than at any time in the past; at the same time, technology has made access to information more difficult. In the afterword, he notes that “We have indeed always been dependent upon information, but we are now also depending upon a technology that stores that information for us. […] the computer is much more than a passive store like a book or a library” (pp. 202-203). The issues of access and control are, he suggests, the central dilemma of the information society.
The book is, of necessity, an overview and explicitly aimed at the novice rather than the expert. It is nonetheless thorough and wide-ranging, and will be of interest to a much broader audience than students or those new to the information professions. While the focus is primarily the UK (and to a lesser extent the US), the globalisation of publishing affects more than just the English-speaking world, and there is plenty that is relevant to readers from other countries. The “Further reading” is well worth mining for other classic, standard and important titles, as well as for how to keep up to date with the issues raised in the book.
Feather's expertise and scholarship is matched by his clarity of expression and well-turned phrases that neatly encapsulate the changes he discusses. The challenge with such an overview is to avoid the trite, and he does this well, setting the familiar in a wider context that enables the reader to see with greater clarity both the changes and the continuities. This is an invaluable overview of the information society that is informative and enlightening, and deserves to be read beyond the information professions and the information industry.
