About the AuthorMeasuring the Impact of Information on Development. Edited by Michel J. Menou. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 1993. xiii, 188 p. ISBN 0–889–36708–6.
The decline of library provision in developing countries reflects the unwillingness of governments and institutions to provide adequate financial support. Libraries are no longer considered “a good thing.” But if it were possible to prove with facts and figures the value of information activities to development, then policy makers, development assistant agencies, and the general public might be convinced of the relevance, benefits, and viability of libraries. The money would begin to flow again. This book addresses the problem: it is a comprehensive review of all the issues associated with measuring information’ s impact on development in Third World countries.
The book starts by describing the problem and the subsequent investigation, which was funded and devised by IDRC. The chapter on Background Considerations contains an excellent resume of all the complexities involved in studying information provision in developing countries. At the core lies the lack of consensus regarding the concepts of development and information. Unstructured, informal, spontaneous, and personal information is deeply rooted in the cultural context of the Third World. Models of assessment evolved for the West cannot easily be applied. Causal links are difficult to establish because of the complexity of real–life situations and the number of non–information–related internal and external factors involved. The costs of providing information are difficult to compute, especially in the non–formal and less–structured formal systems found in developing countries.
But the main emphasis of the book lies in the chapters on Benefits, and Indicators and Assessment Methods. Rather than examining the value of information in general, different types of benefit are considered. The differential value of the same benefit is stressed; it may depend on the level of infrastructural development or the appropriateness of the information. Various models of assessing benefit are discussed, e.g., cost–benefit analysis. Purposes and types of indicators are listed, a model is provided for the collection of data on the information environment, and some examples of assessment methods are given. On the basis of all these ideas, a framework for impact assessment is outlined. The Appendices contain more concrete elaboration on benefit identification and the application of the assessment framework.
The discussion of the issues involved in assessing the value of information services in the developing world makes excellent reading. The reality of the socioeconomic–political context in which information exists is clearly conveyed. The weakness of the book lies in the proposed solution. The Griffiths/King model of performance indicators has been accepted and applied without much criticism or modification. Although it is now generally agreed that this model works well for assessing operations, output, and usage of information service or system, it has not yet been proved to usefully assess outcomes or higher–order macro–level impact. Yet it is this very level — the impact of information on development — that we wish to measure.
That said, the editor does clearly point out that follow–up activities and field tests, further studies, and additional research are required before further progress can be made. (Publication of handbooks on impact assessment methods would assist field testing, particularly in complex areas like cost–benefit analysis. I do not know if any have been published by IDRC.) Of note is the book’s 19–page bibliography, which is first–rate; it must be the most comprehensive listing available on the measurement of the value and impact of information.
It was also suggested that the ideas contained in the book would be actively disseminated. The book was written in 1992, published in 1993, and contains an Appendix on the identification of benefits arising from a rural community resource centre. But no mention was made of the book at the IFLA–ALP Pan African Seminar on Information Provision to Rural Communities in Africa, which took place in 1994, and which included a session devoted to research and evaluation. I therefore wonder how much dissemination has been achieved.
The methodology behind the book deserves special mention. The book results from a conference — not a conventional conference meeting, but a computer conference, the first–ever in information science. Sixteen specialists in the field spent nine months “brainstorming” over the Internet. An additional 13 specialists received printed copies of the various contributions and made comments. Finally, a post–conference workshop of 15 participants (most of them different from the conference participants), met face–to–face to examine the ideas raised and create the framework of assessment. The length of time allowed, and the fact that those involved in the conference worried neither about the need for diplomacy nor about preserving the image of their country or institution, does seem to have raised the level of discussion and encouraged speculative thinking. Editing must have been a mammoth task, however; congratulations go to Michel Menou for producing such a readable and organized text.
Is this the book librarians in developing countries have been waiting for? Yes and no! The problem of proving the value of information is one that must be faced by everyone working in the Third World. This book provides a starting point, but no real answers. The title, which fails to indicate that the book results from a conference, also does not make it clear that this book is no Lancaster. If you want to evaluate your library, this is a book of discussion, not a manual.
Diane Rosenberg is Head, Special Programmes, International African Institute, London. She was formerly Dean of the Faculty of Information Sciences, Moi University, Kenya; she has been a member of the TWL Advisory Board since the inception of the journal. Her recent monograph, Achieving the Optimum Curriculum, is reviewed in this issue.
© 1995 Diane Rosenberg.
Citation
Rosenberg, Diane, “Review of Measuring the Impact of Information on Development, edited by Michel J. Menou,” Third World Libraries, Volume 5, Number 2 (Spring 1995).