2. Introduction
• The human civilization has passed through different
stages such as stone age, Iron age, industrial age, and
so on.
• Now it has entered the information age.
• One of the vital force of this age is information which is
the outcome of continuous inventions and innovations
that drive all human activities.
• Dynamics of inventions and innovations are gaining
momentum to relieve people from starvation, diseases
and miseries.
• Since the dawn of human civilization most societies
underwent several changes.
• Most remarkable changes noticed so far is the
transition from primitive tribal society to agrarian
society then to industrial society.
3. Cont…..
• An information society is a society in which the creation,
distribution, diffusion, use , integration and manipulation of
information takes place as a significant economic, political, and
cultural activities.
• A number of scholars, scientists and philosophers have been
predicting a revolutionary transformation of modern industrial
society.
• Now information, knowledge, ideas, skills, etc., have always been
at the heart of the growth, progress, and developmental process
of a society.
• The countries rich in information are today in a much more
advantaged position compared to those poor in information.
• In many cases the countries are obliged to purchase information
from the vendor sometimes with vary high cost.
• The advent of Internet has proved to be a great boon for access of
any information from any part of the world practically in no time.
• In other words in information has become a commodity.
4. Development of Information Society
• The concept of ‘Information Society’ emerged
during the 1970s and continued through out
the 1980s and rapidly gained popularity and
currency.
• The proponents of the concepts of
information society are scholars and academic
authors and popular writers.
5. Concepts of Information Society
• Concepts such as knowledge/information
economy, post-industrial society, post-modern
society, information society, network society,
information capitalism, network capitalism,
etc. show that it is an important sociological
question in which society we live and which
role technologies and information play in
contemporary society.
6. Features of Information Society
• One of the key features of information society is the networking
logic of its basic structures, which explains the use of the concept of
network society.
• The data explosion;
• The growing information consciousness and information
dependence of society at large;
• Accelerating developments in computing and communication
technologies.
• Science-based computerization, where computer is used
extensively in national-scale projects.
• Management-based computerization in both government and
business;
• Society-based computerization in which computer will be used for
the benefit of the society as a whole.
• Individual-based computerization where each individual will have
access to the terminal and computer information to solve
problems, creativities will flourish in this high mass knowledge
creation society.
7. Cont….
• That a high degree of computerization’
• Large volumes of electronic data processing and
• Shift from an industrial economy to an
information economy.
• A telecommunication based information service
infrastructure.
• A high degree computerization, large volumes of
electronic data transmission and employment of
IT;
• Characterized by the fact that the rapid and
convenient delivery of needed information is the
ordinary state of affairs.
8. Implications of Information Society
• Information and Knowledge
• Information Technology
• Change in resource structure
• Change in technological centers
• Economic Implication
• Professional implication
9. Cont….
Information and Knowledge
• Information and knowledge are generated by individuals and
groups in the social environments in which they live. These
get disseminated and grow with peer review and criticism to
get validated and to ensure quality. These get cumulated to
make a reservoir of knowledge.
Information Technology
• Information technology has enabled the wealth of
information and knowledge to become much more
easily accessible and available to all. It functions as a
powerful means to store larger volume of information,
store it for instant retrieval, provide ample multiple
outputs, transmit information irrespective of
geographical distances, etc. but the quality of contents
has to be ensured by those who input them.
10. Cont….
Change in resource structure
• Information and knowledge which grow phenomenally would
be the principal generators of wealth. This change in the
resource structure will effect a change in the power structure.
An ever increasing gap will grow between ‘information rich’
and ‘information poor’ globally and also within nations.
Change in technological centers
• Information and knowledge become the principal
generators of wealth in the form of educational
institutions, research and development
establishments, scientific and technological centers
and other similar knowledge-oriented bodies.
11. Cont…..
Economic implication
• Generally the state of information in the economy has
pervasive effects on working of the economy. It has great
impacts on those set that provide information products
and services such as press, TV, radio, film to libraries and
other information providers.
Professional Implication
• The information profession is the body of people engaged in
the generation, collection, codification, storage, retrieval,
manipulation, management, dissemination, packaging,
evaluation and marketing of information. The primary
function of the information profession is to ensure that
society will have the information it needs to function.
12. Conclusion
• In the information society profession must
engage itself in information mediation and
user empowerment. There are different ways
in which the profession may carry out the
process of mediation. One way is creating
databases and systems that use technology to
assist the user in searching for ex- for
providing appropriate metadata for electronic
resource to ensure that they are retrievable or
by using technology to group information of
different types and different locations.
