Access to knowledge and
information : past, present and
future
Stefanía Júlíusdóttir, M.Sc.
Knowledge and information.
Of importance is:
• Purpose of generation
• Purpose of publication
• Bibliographic access in
– National bibliographies, subject indexes, catalogues, elsewhere
• Distribution and access to the “physical” items:
– Through commercial channels, e.g. book stores, vendors
– Directly from producer
– Through public services, e.g. libraries
– Delayed or no distribution
Purpose of generation of new
knowledge and information I
• For most part of the past century new knowledge and
information was, to a large extent, produced to advance
science for the benefit of mankind
• There were “free universities” e.g. the University of
Iceland, where professors were free to choose their
research topics and to distribute the findings and where
students could study “for free” so to speak. We were
taking part in making progress happen
Purpose of generation of new
knowledge and information II
• Around the turn of the millennium a shift took place.
Now an ever larger portion of new knowledge is
produced for the advancement of particular products or
services with the ultimate goal of benefiting shareholders
of the producing organisations. Public access to this
knowledge is either non-existent or delayed while
owners secure a patent
• Universities are changing. Funding by private enterprise,
heralds the loss of “freedom” both of choice of research
projects and of dissemination of findings, in the name of
economic growth
Purpose of distributing
publications
• Profit making. Publications are merchandise sold for profit
• Informing the public. Laws, e.g. distributed from governmental bodies
to the citizens
• Informing the public and to justify funding: e.g. publicly funded
research institutions distribute findings to the public
• Promoting ideas and policies, of various bodies, often to a large
audience
• Providing a working tool and informing. Various kinds of reports,
guidelines and other material, issued in a small edition for limited
distribution, NON-CONFIDENTIAL
• Providing a working tool and informing. Various kinds of reports,
guidelines and other material, issued in a small edition for limited
distribution, CONFIDENTIAL
Publishers: producers of publications
• Commercial publishers are in the business of
publishing books, journals, and other material
for profit. Publishing is their main activity.
Editions can be by the millions. Distribution is
through commercial distribution channels.
Bibliographic control is through national
bibliographies, subject indexes, publishers’
catalogues, and elsewhere
Publishers and producers
• Publishers of promotional material can be political parties, official
organisations, candidates running for office, religious
congregations, associations and others, publishing to promote and
support their beliefs, policies and activities. Publishing is an
auxiliary function. Editions are, in most cases, smaller.
Distribution can be through commercial channels, but is often not.
Sometimes delivered to homes for free or sold from door to door
for a modest price
• Bibliographic control can be in national bibliographies and
subject indexes. Often these publications are hard to come by,
especially the older ones because they escape bibliographic
control
Other publishers of knowledge and
information
• Various kinds of reports, statements, guidelines,
etc., NON-CONFIDENTAL, but issued for limited
distribution. Most often distributed directly from the
issuing organisation or the author. Not through
commercial distributors. Bibliographic control is
through the national bibliographies and in subject
indexes, when the material is available, for that
purpose
Still other publishers of
knowledge and information
• Various kinds of reports, statements, guidelines,
etc., CONFIDENTIAL, issued for limited
distribution or no distribution at all, controlled
by the owners. Not visible in national
bibliographies or subject indexes. Bibliographic
control, if any, is within the issuing organisation
closed to all others. As the economic value of
knowledge grows in the knowledge society the
will to share decreases
Access
Publications of commercial publishers
• Easy bibliographic access. Easy to find what has been
issued, in catalogues, bibliographies and subject indexes
• Easy access to the items themselves
– Easy to locate copies of needed items
– Easy to get needed items in home library, through
interlibrary loan and to purchase from commercial
vendors or directly from the publisher
• Hindrance
– Immense and growing costs
– The advent of electronic publishing makes it possible
for owners of copyright to monitor usage, limit it to
persons and locations, ultimately increasing costs of
access
Access
• Bibliographic access to publications of noncommercial publishers :
– Easy when recorded in national bibliography,
subject bibliographies or in publishers´ catalogues
and library catalogues
– Otherwise very difficult
• Why do people ask for items not visible in
bibliographies and indexes?
– These publications are visible in reference lists of
other publications (they are cited)
– People know about them through hearsay
Access
• Access to “physical” items issued by noncommercial publishers :
• Can be much easier through e-publishing when items are
current and available on the homepage of the issuing
organisation
• Can be extremely difficult and expensive when on other
media:
– A lot of time has to be spent on ordering such items, by the
library, or,
– A lot of money has to be spent on ordering such items through a
commercial distributor
• Hindrance
– Used to be the cost (in time or money) of ordering current items
– Might be the cost of accessing archival items in the future
Effect of electronic publishing on
access to knowledge and information I
• Electronic publishing
• Commercial publishing: E-publishing makes it possible for owners
of copyright to:
– Introduce different means of charging whereby more revenue is harvested by
the copyright owner
– Selling access to smaller items for a shorter amount of time
– Monitor usage
– Limit use to persons and locations
– Increase restrictions to access, which leads to increased costs for the users
– Distribute directly to users, eliminating book stores and vendors
– Use new methods of distribution. It is common to have the latest e-issue
accessible free of charge. This will ensure that items get cited which leads to
continued use in the future. Some works never cease to be cited
Effect of electronic publishing on access
to knowledge and information II
• Grey literature*: E-publishing makes:
– Access to current items easier while they are current, if accessible on
homepage at no cost
– It is not known what will happen with access when the items get archived.
High cost may have to be paid for access to compensate for the cost of
archiving
– If these items are cited heavily at the beginning, there will be a future
demand. Providing access, when it no longer serves promotional purposes of
the company, will be a financial burden to the owners, charging will be
necessary and reasonable
•
*Definition on the Grey literature page at The New York Academy of Medicine:
http://www.nyam.org/library/greylit/index.html. "That which is produced on all levels of
government, academics, business and industry in print and electronic formats, but which is not
controlled by commercial publishers."
The way of citations
• As we librarians know, getting the first citation is of
utmost importance, for an item to be used in the future.
It is best for an important citation to be made right after
publication, then the accumulation will be speedier
• The more numerous citations, the greater the impact
and fame of the author and the more abundant the
wealth of the publisher or the shareholders in the
publishing company
• “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance:
but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath”.
(New testament, Matthew 25:29)
Distribution and access of
knowledge and information
• Services of libraries and information centres
• Services of publishers and distributors
• In both of these sectors tremendous changes
have happened or are about to happen in the
electronic environment of dissemination and
access
Services of libraries and information centres
• Benefits
• Provision possible irregardless of location of the inquirer and the
respondent
• Provision possible irregardless of time of day and day of month
• Provision possible irregardless of location of the respondent, who can work
from home, when e-material is used as a resource for writing responses.
The Library does not have to provide housing for such staff
• Bias can be eliminated, the respondent and inquirer do neither see each
other nor hear each others voice. It is possible to have tele-services where
the inquirer and respondent will see each other on the screen. That has not
caught on in library settings
• Possibility to archive answers for later use on a global scale will make
these services efficient and less expensive
• Electronic translation increases feasibility of this service
• Co-operation, on providing access to e-resources and a means of writing
technically perfect papers, with service providers like e-brary and Questia,
will make life easier for librarians and users alike
Services of libraries and information centres
• Drawbacks
– Lack of face to face and spatial closeness of personal contact, makes the job
of the information provider more difficult and contributes to human
loneness, a problem of the future
– Possibility to archive answers for later use is likely to standardise or petrify
answers. This is especially unattractive on a global scale, if answers to
particular questions are shared by all major providers in the world. Only one
answer might exist to any particular question. At present there is more than
one truth and more than one “correct” answer to many questions
– With services like e-brary and Questia sources, essays are based on and the
way they are written will also be standardised
– These developments may lead to changes in use of space. Less space being
provided for customers, increasing the isolation of humans even more
– Vulnerability of such services to misuse
A historical perspective
• Absolute power calls for absolute control over knowledge and
information, control held by worldly and religious rulers in the past
• The freedom of direct public access to primary and secondary
sources was one of the most important public rights won in the
French Revolution
• Surely it must have been the intention that the public would have
access to original resources from which to draw their own
conclusions, not to have standardised answers, on a global scale,
handed out world-wide
• This freedom was won with a boom. It might be lost in rejoicing
silence
Summary
• There are changes in:
– The purpose of knowledge generation. An ever larger part is
being privately produced for the producers’ private use
• Probably applied research is being increased at the cost of basic research
– Publishing and dissemination, some items are easier to come
by, others harder due to restrictions of use and high costs
– Information services:
• Easier to use remotely, elimination of bias
– But bring about human isolation
• Standardisation on a global scale
– The same kind of access to the same pieces of knowledge to be
offered all over the world, bringing stagnation to thought and
paralysing creativity
Outlook for the future
• The possibility to have, on a global scale, one
standardised truth in every matter is now being
introduced and developed in a world-wide cooperative project. The service will be available
twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week
• A standardised way to present the standardised
truth and new thoughts that may spring from it,
does exist
• The question is: Which powers will control these
facilities and for which purpose?