AbstractConsiders aspects of the “third wave ” in technology — the establishment of linked information networks — in the developing countries. Since governments are the financial base for library and information modernization in the Third World, it is natural that resource allocation has moved toward science and technology, the usual government priorities. In India the National Information System for Science and Technology (NISSAT), created in 1977, is a model for third wave activity: it coordinates the work of national agencies such as INSDOC (Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre) and DESIDOC (Defense Scientific Information and Documentation Centre). The work of NISSAT has been encumbered by many problems. In India and in most developing countries, electrical power is unreliable. And the cooperating libraries often lack adequate cataloging of their resources, so that merging their holdings into large databases is impossible. Government support has proved to be uncertain, despite good intentions. Whether the coming information society will benefit many persons in the third world is questionable. At present nearly 90 percent of the data flow via satellite systems is generated by transnational corporations, and is restricted in access. The prospect of further divided societies is disturbing: information users and non–users. However, it is possible for non–users (mostly those in rural areas) to benefit from the third wave, because technology offers the possibility of imaging media in the service of education. It is proposed that this path is the one likely to be most productive for public libraries in developing countries.
According to the Constitution of India, libraries are state–level institutions, except for a few that are specifically national. Schools, however, are operated concurrently by the national and state governments; so academic libraries are the concern of both governmental levels. Most of the 25 states have are public libraries in various jurisdictions, but only eight of the states have enacted public library legislation. There are about 2,500 special libraries and information centers.
As in other developing countries, libraries are dependent on the central government for planning and support. Although a number of committees and working groups have addressed the problems of libraries, and the 1985–1990 five–year plan included a library modernization component, no action has followed. The 1990–95 five–year plan also promotes library modernization, along with expansion of information networks. In the area of science and technology the government has been more effective. NISSAT (National Information System for Science and Technology) was authorized in 1977, with the aim of linking a large number of systems and services into an effective information network. NISSAT operates according to UNISIST recommendations [1]. It coordinates the work of many national agencies, among them INSDOC (Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre), DESIDOC (Defense Scientific Information and Documentation Centre ), and SENDOC (Small Enterprises National Documentation Centre). The various agencies under the NISSAT umbrella have created unique databases to meet the information needs of Indian industry (e.g., leather technology, machine tools, textiles, ceramics). INPAT is a database of more than 30,000 Indian patents. India also cooperates with international database producers by providing inputs in nuclear science, agriculture, food research, etc. The so–called Third Wave in computer/communications technology has arrived in India.
While considerable progress in the establishment and maintenance of databases has been made in India, major problems remain. One is the shortage and unreliability of electrical power. Another is the difficulty of bringing large libraries together in a national cooperative system, such as OCLC or RLIN in America (many libraries do not have machine readable catalogs — in fact, some do not have dependable card catalogs). Above all there is the question of sufficient support from the central government, which appears to think in long–range terms, but is not known for provision of adequate funds for present needs.
It has been said that everyone in the Third World will benefit from the coming information society. But most of the information activities in India, and in other developing countries, are concentrated on the needs of business. Nearly 90 percent of the data flow via satellite systems is generated by transnational corporations. Access to the data in those systems is restricted, and to share in it requires larger sums of money than governments of the Third World can afford. It appears that the new information infrastructure is useful to the elite but does not reach the ordinary citizen. The prospect is of a divided society: “If use of a medium spreads only to some community members and stops there, the community will risk disintegrating into two groups, medium users and others.” [2] As this division takes place in developing countries, one result is apathy of the “others” toward libraries. And the ruling elite, the users of media, will be reluctant to bear the costs of providing wide access to a public that does not seem to want it.
Nevertheless, rural people (who tend not to be users of libraries nor of electronic media) do require information. Research has confirmed the need for facts and data in matters related to agricultural productivity, marketing, health, etc. [3] Indeed, where such information has been provided, there is indication of tangible benefits; Haider reports that agricultural production increased in Pakistan with the spread of useful information to farmers [4]. The pervasive problem of illiteracy can be dealt with to some extent through television, and this has been demonstrated in India [5]. Even when television images are connected to printed texts, remaining in part literacy–dependent, they offer a psychological advantage over print media. “Information richness” — a term used by Daft and MacIntosh — increases along a continuum that has pure print media at one end and face–to–face personal communication at the other end. Imaging media offer the closest approximation to the satisfaction of face–to–face communication. Unfortunately, imaging media are at present employed primarily for entertainment, rather that for education and information access [6].
The traditional model of the public library, built around printed materials, has been transferred to the Third World without sufficient consideration of the environment. Library services are usually based on the media behaviors of the information rich, and therefore do not reach or serve the information poor who make up the majority in developing countries. A more suitable design would make use of the new technology, transforming the library into a new community centre, equivalent to the traditional village square [7]. Libraries have to be equipped with television and videocassettes, with equipment available on loan to the users. There should also be viewing programs for groups. The vast electronic networks and resources mentioned earlier in this article can be utilized to store and transmit appropriate programming to village libraries. Third Wave technology, at present restricted to elite users, also brings a ray of hope in providing information for all.
[1] M.A. Gopinath, “Guidelines for the Formulations of a National Information Policy,” In: Building Library Collections and National Policy for Library and Information Services; Thirtieth All–India Conference, Rajasthan University, Jaipur, ed. P.B. Mangla (Delhi: Indian Library Association, 1985), p. 17.
[2] M. Lynne Markus, “Toward a ‘Critical Mass’ Theory of Interactive Media: Universal Access, Interdependence and Diffusion,” Communication Research 14 (October 1987): 491–511.
[3] L.O. Aina, “Information Needs of Agricultural Extension Workers in Nigeria,” Annals of Library Science and Documentation 36 (1989): 28–31; R. Ramaraj Urs, “Survey Reading Habits of the Clientele of the Public Library System of a Rural District of Bangalore,” Indian Library Association Bulletin 20–1/2 (April–September 1984): 18+; K. Sarda, Library Services in India (New Delhi: Ess Ess, 1986), p. 202.
[4] S.J. Haider, “Some Aspects of Agriculture Information in Pakistan,” Libri (1985): 43–61.
[5] Surrendra K. Gupta and Indira B. Gupta, Conflict and Communication (New Delhi: Vikas, 1990), p. 20.
[6] R.L. Daft and N.B. MacIntosh, “A Tentative Exploration into the Amount Equivocality of Information Processing in Organizational Work Units,” Administrative Science Quarterly 26 (1981): 207–224; R.L. Daft and R.H. Lengel, “Information Richness,” In: Research in Organizational Behaviour, ed. L.L. Cummings and B. Staw (Greenwich, Conn.: Jai Press, 1984); R.L. Daft and R.H. Lengel, “A Proposed Integration among Information Requirer Media Richness, and Structural Design,” Management Science 3 (1986): 554–571.
[7] H.O.M. Iwuji, “Librarianship and Oral Tradition in Africa,” International Library Review 21 (April 1989): 201–207.
Kishni Navalani is Professor of Library and Information Science, Punjabi University, India; she was formerly Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the university. Her M.L.S. is from University of Delhi, and her Ph.D. from Karnatak University. Dr. Navalani is the author of seven books and more than 50 articles. She has presented papers at IFLA conferences and at many other national and international meetings. In 1981 she studied in Britain, on a UNESCO fellowship; in 1988 she conducted research in the US, on a Fulbright fellowship. Her interests are in information technology and information policy, and Indian reference materials.
© 1994 Kishni Navalani.
