Paper No : 01 Knowledge Society

Module : 01 Principal
GeneralInvestigator
Introduction to the Course on
Knowledge Society &
Subject Coordinator

Development Team
Paper Coordinator
Principal Investigator
Dr. Jagdish Arora, Director
&
INFLIBNET Centre, Gandhinagar
Subject Coordinator
Content Writer

Prof K S Raghavan
Paper Coordinator
Content Reviewer
Visiting Scientist, Centre for Knowledge Analytics
and Ontological Engineering (KAnOE), ES Institute
of Technology
Prof K S Raghavan
Content Writer Visiting Scientist, Centre for Knowledge Analytics
and Ontological
Engineering (KAnOE), PES Institute of Technology
Dr Sanjeevi Amba
Content Reviewer Retd Scientist, Central Leather Research Institute

Paper Coordinator
 General Introduction to the Course on Knowledge Society

Structure of the Module

1. Introduction
2. Factors of Digital Divide
3. Role of Librarian and information Centre
4. The Outline and Plan
5. A note for the students

1. Introduction

The world is in the process of structural transformation for nearly three decades.
This process is multidimensional and is closely associated with the emergence of a
new technological paradigm, based in Information and communication
technologies that took shape in the last quarter of the 20th Century. However the
diffusion of the technology has not been even around the world. Throughout
history societies and communities have shaped technologies depending on needs,
values, and interests of people who use the technology. ICTs are particularly
sensitive to the culture values and social uses on technology itself. The term
knowledge society certainly does not necessarily convey the same idea to all. This
should be evident from the history of the Internet; the first thousands of users were
mainly those who developed the technology. However in this 2nd decade of the 21st
Century network society is already a reality, at least for many segments of our
societies – academic, business, government, etc. It is certainly not as if the
transformations are in the future. What characterizes the network society is that it
constitutes a system of socialized communication beyond the mass media system
that characterized the industrial society. The network society is not the future that
we must reach by embracing the new technological paradigm. It is our society, in
different degrees, and under different forms depending on countries and cultures.
Our understanding of the notion of the knowledge society must start from this
basic fact. It is not any particular destination but is largely a point of departure.
People, institutions, governments, etc do not have to do anything to develop the
network society because it is already here. Policy makers, however, should realize
that not every individual is included in the network and the building of a true
knowledge society requires that everyone should be included in the network. In
societies that present unbalanced income distribution patterns, societies that have
not yet transited to democratic form of governance, in societies with large
proportion of population still functionally illiterate there is the danger that mere
technological modernization may further widen this divide. The statistical data on
access to the ICTs and opening to the global networks clearly suggest that in many
developing countries including the newly emerging economies of Asia such as
China and India considerable deficits and gaps exist. As such the perspective of
any discussion on knowledge society has to be necessarily cross cultural.
Technological innovations by themselves cannot bring about the needed
transformation. It necessarily has to be based in organizational changes and
institutional models that will lead to the utilization of the potential of ICTs in all
development-related activities.

2. Factors of Digital Divide

A UNESCO document identified the following factors as contributing to the digital

divide.

• Economic resources: The cost for individuals, in the developing and poorer
countries, of acquiring access to network

• Geography: asymmetries between the town and countryside. In India, for

example, 80 per cent of internet connections have occurred in the country’s
twelve argest cities.

• Age: young people are often at the forefront of the uptake of technological
innovation; but they are also the most vulnerable and most affected by
difficult social and economic conditions.

• Gender: gender inequalities with regard to the new technologies are another
aspect of the digital divide. Almost two-thirds of illiterates in the world are
women
• Language: It is a major obstacle to the participation of all. The emergence
of Englis has the lingua franca of globalization leaves little room for other
languages within cyberspace.

• Education: social and cultural background

• Employment: In many countries, internet access is limited to the world of

work. The exclusion resulting from loss of employment also means de facto
 exclusion from cyberspace. Some of the significant recommendations and
suggestions to overcome these barriers include:

• Invest more in quality education for all to ensure equal opportunity

• Increase places of community access to information and

communication technologies

• Widen the contents available for universal access to knowledge

• Making linguistic diversity a priority: the challenges of

multilingualism; support the creation of multilingual digital content

• Increase women’s contribution to knowledge societies

3. Role of Librarian and information Centre

Libraries and information Centre’s evidently have a crucial role to play, especially
as places of community access to ICTs in establishing inclusive knowledge
societies (KS). A number of forces are currently driving the development of
information society. These include globalization, economic liberalization,
extensive use of ICTS, digital knowledge resources, etc. Obviously these have
resulted in many parts of the world in uneven growth. Knowledge society requires
that we ensure equitable access to knowledge resources and supporting
technologies. A primary evaluation criterion for a KS should be the extent of
participation and contribution of all its citizens, irrespective of their economic
status, race, religion, educational level, and other differentiating parameters, to the
socio-economic development process and being a part of the network society and
benefit from it. It is difficult to imagine any institution other than the library –
especially the public library – which can effectively serve as portal of entry to the
digital information world for every individual. The advent of Web 2.0 brings in a
new digital life style affecting every aspect of functioning of individuals and
organizations.

The units in this course are aimed at addressing some of the major issues that need
to be examined. The issues are broad-based as they should be in any academic
programme, but where necessary, illustrations are particularly relevant to
developing countries such as India.
4. The Outline and Plan

Knowledge Society is indeed a very vast area and there are cultural, sociological,
legal, political, economic and technological dimensions. What has been attempted
in the units in this course is to give an overview of all the different dimensions of
knowledge society.

We begin by trying to understand the notions of Data, Information and

Knowledge. There is a unit on Theories and Models of Communication intended
to provide the broader context for all information transfer related activities
including what happens in conventional libraries and information centres. This is
followed by two units outlining the scope of Information Studies and Knowledge
Management. It is important for thes tudents of LIS to understand the changing
and widening scope of the domain of Information Studies. Knowledge
Management which has emerged as a major activity especially in the corporate
world represents a new dimension of Information Studies. The area is increasingly
being seen as a specialization within the i-school curricula. We then proceed to
understand the various notions associated with and related to knowledge society.
The purpose of the unit is to make the students obtain an idea of ‘What a
knowledge Society is’.

There are several closely related concepts and terms some of which are used
interchangeably and it is important for students to have an idea of all these related
concepts. The notion of Digital Divide and factors contributing to digital divide
are examined and explained in the subsequent unit. The legal aspects of
information are a major area, more so in a knowledge society and, particularly
after the establishment of the (WTO) World Trade Organization regime and
(WIPO) World Intellectual Property Organization. These have implications for
library and information services. There are three units that exclusively and
elaborately examine these aspects. The units explain intellectual property rights
related issues, viz., Copyright, Patents and related aspects, and Right to
Information and Censorship. The effort has been to provide an understanding of
all the associated issues and highlight the implications for libraries and information
centres. An Information Society seeks to look at information and knowledge as
major economic factors. One unit exclusively examines Economics of
Information.
Two important characteristics of an information society are the extensive use of
ICTs in governance and commerce. One unit examines the scope and meaning of
E-Governance and E-Commerce. Social Media and Social Networking is an
important characteristic of knowledge & information societies. Two units examine
these. Again there is emphasis on how libraries and information centres could
utilize social media to enhance their reach. In a network society the importance of
Information Security cannot be over emphasized. The various security issues are
examined in a unit. Finally, as information is widely seen as an economic factor,
Information Industry has come to be the focus of large industries from databases
to e-commerce to search engines. The last unit in this course examines the nature
and contours of the information industry in India.

5. A note for the students

A large amount of valuable information in the form of reports is available on the

Internet on the subject of Knowledge Society. Students are advised to read the
UNESCO report; reports of other major international bodies including the World
Summits on Information Society (WSIS) are particularly important. Students are
also advised to visit the website of the United Nations Group on Information
Society ([Link]

Sources for further reading may be added here.