Nr 7/2001 (25). Biblioteki polskie po wejściu do UE. Artykuł
| | Nr 7/2001 (25). Biblioteki polskie po wejściu do UE. Artykuł |
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Maria Anna Jankowska, in a Global Information Highway | |
Advances in information and communication technologies reinforce economic and social changes. These changes have been creating a new informational economy that has replaced the old style capitalism based on mass production generated by human hands and machines. In a new economy the source of productivity is based on knowledge and information. Innovations are more important than mass production and human brains play a larger role than their hands. This new model of economy is transforming the society into one that is more competitive, more democratic, less centralized, and more able to address individual needs. It is also a society that has an increasing demand for information. Technology and new communication tools changed the way of obtaining and accessing information and created new demands on libraries. The Internet as the base of the global information highway dramatically enhanced information freedom and wider access to information in Poland. This article explores the issues surrounding the growth of the Internet and the World Wide Web in Poland and their influence on a service-oriented model of librarianship. It presents how the libraries through their home pages, or "new faces," are serving people's needs and stimulating new values in information retrieval. This article argues that the active participation of Polish libraries in the global information infrastructure will help citizens in the process of self-education in the time of the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy. Society and Economy in TransitionThe fundamental transformation from a state-planned economy to competitive-market capitalism relies on economic reforms and people. The process of economic reforms in Poland is progressing well. Economic trends and outlook for the Polish economy have looked promising, since 1994. Polish economy has been among the fastest growing in Europe. According to the Political Risk Services, in 1997 Polish GDP growth was second in Europe after Ireland1. On the other hand, the costs of economic transformation are painful for people. Before 1989, job loss (unemployment rate in 1998 was 10.2% of labor force), depressed wages, and reduction in welfare services were mostly unknown to Polish society. Changes in the structure of Polish economy diminishing the heavy industry, especially mining, reducing production needs of small farms, and rebuilding the new industries (the manufacturing of televisions, radios, and communication equipment was among the fastest growing industries; 52% as the first quarter of 1998 compared with the same quarter in 1997, during the same time period, business machines and computers grew by 31%), require changes in qualifications of the labor force2. Non-traditional means of information delivery that can help the society in the process of self-education and becoming more competitive in the new job market are needed. Global Information HighwayRalph Lee Smith in The Wired Nation in 1970 first used "information highway" suggesting an electronic highway system to facilitate the exchange of information and ideas. Vice-president Al Gore in the 1992 presidential campaign popularized the term. In September of 1993, in "Agenda for Action on the National Information Infrastructure (NII)" the NII was defined as "a system to deliver to all Americans the information they need when they want it and where they want it - at an affordable price"3. Since then the role of information exchange has rapidly grown and NII changed its name to Global Information Highway (GII). In 1993 the White Paper by the European Commission on "Growth, Competitiveness, Employment - the Challenges and Ways Forward into the 21st Century" developed a plan for the Common European Information Area. In 1994 the European Council accepted recommendations from Europe and the Global Information Society, known as the Bangeman Report. The Report emphasized an access to a network of networks available to all Europeans and the policy on forming the information society4. Poland's participation in a global information highway needed longer preparations. Since 1989, Poland has implemented reforms to catch up with the West in computerization, automation, and communication, collectively known as information technology. Today some indicators of the infrastructure for information are quite impressive. Poland ranks twenty-one among top twenty-five countries with the most computers in use worldwide5. The penetration of personal computers per 1,000 people in Poland is expected to grow from 25.1 in 1994 to 108.7 by 2000. Even bigger growth is noticeable in adopting the Internet technology. In 1994 the amount of Internet users per 1,000 people was 1.03 when by the year 2000 it is expected to reach 65.346. In 1997 the government approved plans to sell up to 25% of TP, the state- owned telecommunication operator, which speeded the development of mobile networks. The telecommunication sector has made remarkable progress in completing a construction of a digital network among Poland's largest cities and province capitals. Computers and networking technology determine infrastructure for information but the success of making information available depends on educated professionals and trained users. To meet the standards of an information society people need to be information literate. The question arises: where and who is going to educate and train them? Poland ranks third in the world in the number of public libraries (10,129) after Russia (32.000) and Germany (20,488)7. Will the libraries be capable of playing the role in educating the society in the use of information technology? Participation in Global Information HighwayThree major changes in Polish librarianship after 1989 simplify libraries' participation in a global information infrastructure:
Polish libraries' participation in a global information infrastructure requires coordination of technology, people, and funds. Inadequate funding is a serious obstacle to effective communication, processing, management, dissemination, access, and information retrieval. Despite the difficulties, the new technologies are coming to libraries and making electronic access to information possible. The basic automation of libraries in Poland is almost completed. The libraries are making their Online Public Access Catalogs accessible to remote users. The networking connections with full Internet services are becoming a standard. Access to electronic, online sources, and virtual resources is becoming more popular every day and digital libraries are being built. Polish libraries were among the first institutions, after universities and research departments, to take advantage of the most popular services available through the Internet--the World Wide Web (WWW). The creation of homepages for the libraries is expending rapidly. In 1995, when the author started Polish-English "Electronic Guide to Polish Universities and Research Libraries" only a few libraries had created their own home pages9. Currently, almost all universities, and some research and public libraries have their own home pages, "new faces". The development of home pages helped libraries to provide the users with easily accessible information about their collections and services. An Active, Service-oriented Model of LibrarianshipNew information technologies, institutional changes at universities, and continually evolving users' needs have been pressuring libraries to reevaluate their organizational structures, missions, and service orientation. All those changes created an active service-oriented model of librarianship. The model forces dynamic organizational, personnel and technological changes in the profession and recognizes such elements as collaboration, resource sharing, and bringing libraries to their users. In realization of this model such factors as automation of library catalogs, automation of reference services, access to local and wide-area networks, changes in the librarians' responsibilities, revisions in bibliographic instruction, and reconstruction of the curriculum for the library and information science schools are considered. The model emphasizes work with the public through reference services, Internet training, and bibliographic instructions. Computer and communication network based information technologies and increased user expectations have forced changes in the profession: new job titles, responsibilities and changes in job descriptions. New tasks such as delivering and accessing the virtual resources, navigating the Internet, evaluating virtual information resources, developing and maintaining home pages, cataloging websites, and making the right choices between printed and electronic resources are becoming the permanent elements of the librarian's job description. Additionally, remote reference, bibliographic instruction, orientation, and Internet training are becoming more popular in the library world today and put more demands on librarians. The active response of librarians to the phenomenon of the Internet is evident from the number of virtual reference desks, listservs, electronic publications, and home pages providing ample links to a large number of virtual sources and cataloged Internet resources. |
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Polish libraries are participating in a global information highway by adding virtual resources such as: | |
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Future TasksOur profession has to be aware that economic power comes from information. The continuation of this trend hints at electronic networks and digital databases becoming the dominant means of information sources. In a global network, society is producing vast amounts of information; the world will require services, both automated and human, to filter the tremendous amount of available knowledge. People who can creatively analyze, edit, and access needed information will be valuable. In the time of economic transition, that are hard on people, Polish libraries have an unique opportunity to help society by providing wider and easier access to information for people; the information that will help them change their qualifications, open small businesses, learn basic Internet skills. It is expected that wider and more effective participation of Polish libraries in a global information infrastructure will help citizens in the process of self-education in the time of transition from a centrally planned to a market economy. The libraries could serve the public by training the users, supporting their demand for information, helping the public in the process of self-education, promoting the Internet as a new information carrier and tool for research and learning. Paying special attention to the needs of the public, rather than focusing on collections, will help generate support for libraries. More customer-oriented work with patrons could help change libraries' image from information storages to publicly accessible centers of information. Polish librarians could become more involved in building a global information infrastructure and information society by:
Maria A. Jankowska
References
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EBIB 7/2001 (25), Biblioteki polskie po wejściu do Unii Europejskiej - szanse i zagrożenia.
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