January 25, 2021
Right to information, role of libraries
By Abid Hussain
https://pakobserver.net/right-to-information-role-of-libraries/
Information is a great source of mind mapping, decision making, problem-solving,
and knowledge updating. The Webster dictionary defines that “Information plays an
important role to achieve the goals and objectives of society.” It is said that since
ancient times, Information has been recognized as of vital importance for the
development of economic, political, social, and environmental activities. For each
Information accessed could be granted to the public, and there should be rights of
access to common people. For this, the first act was introduced in 1766 in Sweden.
The purpose of this act was to grant free access to the Information by common
people.
There are numerous terms used for access to Information, such as the Right to
Information (RTI), right of access to Information (RAI), freedom of Information
(FOI). These rights are for the people of any country who can retrieve Information
from the government departments in prescribed ways. Right of access to Information
is the act of human right and a fundamental right for the people who can retrieve
Information for understandings. Right of access to Information is playing a pivotal
role in empowering the people of states to promote democracy, accountability, and
transparency in government organizations.
In 2019, there were one hundred and forty- five developing and developed countries
in the world that recognized this right (Global Right to Information Rating, 2018,
2019). In Pakistan, the history of acknowledgement right started in 2000 by
promulgating the Freedom of Information Ordinance (FIO). Whereas the Provincial
Assembly of Baluchistan acknowledged this right in 2005, the Sindh Provincial
Assembly recognized the same right in 2006, the Punjab province and KPK provinces
passed the right of information bill in 2013.
All five Acts on “right of access to information” in Pakistan the provision of the
“right of access to information, “has positive gesture among researchers. For
provision such information there is extreme need to provide a good information
service by designated, trained, and expert information professionals monitor their
information services. Moreover, these Acts elaborated that PIOs are supposed to
provide Information in time and accurately. It is important to offer citizens the right
of access to Information (RAI); simultaneously, it is important to ensure the
information service quality under the Right of Access to Information (RAI) . User’s
perceptions about products, services, and experiences value a lot.
Information service is divided into four units: (1) information providing services, (2)
information retrieving services, (3) information individual services, and (4)
information organization services. Both types (information providers and seekers) of
respondents highlighted that there was an extreme need of: (1) utilizing information
communication technologies in the Information provision services and information
organization services as well, (2) regular annual reports about information services
must be published by the government bodies, (3) there must be proactive disclosure
of Information that relevant to citizens of Pakistan under the law, (4) list down the
exempted Information in detail to avoid any ambiguities in information provision
service, and (5) there was an extreme need to publish all relevant facts, important
policies, and decisions of government organizations on its website. There is a simple
formula which equates the library with the concept of freedom of Information.
Modern libraries are an agent of the provision of information resources and services.
It has universally been recognized that libraries are agents of freedom of Information,
especially national libraries.
The freedom of Information in the libraries is different from libraries to libraries for
many reasons, as we know that in modern democratic society, freedom of information
has central principles . So, we should know how it functions. In second aspect it
should be noticed that what should realistically be claimed for libraries and what is
best perceived as unhelpful rhetoric. Modern Libraries are well-stocked, but, given
that the stock of libraries is usually the result of a selection process, we should
confirm from the information providers how to make this Information effective to
help the people find the right Information.
—The writer is working as Library Officer in Institute of Strategic Studies, a thinkthink based in Islamabad.