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INFORMATION RESOURCES
The Commodification of Information and the
Marginalisation of Regional Cultures
Frits Pannekoek, Ph.D.Director of Information Resources
University of CalgaryAlberta, Canada
INFORMATION RESOURCES
Trends in Information
• Increasing importance of digital information
• Increasing gap between “haves” and “have- nots”
• Commodification of Information
• Rise of information monopolies
• Dominance of the English Language
INFORMATION RESOURCES
The Increasing Importance of Digital Information
• e-journals and e-books
• Pre-publication servers
• Digitization of public domain materials
• WEB based instruction
• Decrease in knowledge stability
INFORMATION RESOURCES
Commodification of Information
• Increasing restriction of access though user-id
• Rise in cost of information by several hundred per cent.
• Move from Information “haves” to information “have-nots”
• Decreasing attention to “niche market” knowledge
INFORMATION RESOURCES
Internationalization of Knowledge
• Fewer and fewer information providers
• Fewer and fewer information systems
• Dominance of English language in both
• Consolidation of unique providers
• Reinforced by tendency of academics to seek “validation” from international peers.
INFORMATION RESOURCES
Consequences
• “Marginalization of indigenous knowledge
• “Anglicization” indigenous cultures
• Concentration of “high” end information at a few “super” universities
INFORMATION RESOURCES
Solutions for Discussion
• State Involvement?
• Cultural stake holder involvement?
• University involvement?
INFORMATION RESOURCES
State Involvement
• State or National licences
• State support for national and indigenous cultural expression
• Problems?
INFORMATION RESOURCES
Cultural Stake Holder Involvement
• Understand the issues
• Seize opportunities
• Allow for dynamics
• Continue and reinforce traditional communication strategies
INFORMATION RESOURCES
University Involvement
• Be the intellectual host to the regions cultures
• Provide “information” stability
• Provide access point to information for the “community”
INFORMATION RESOURCES
Discussion
• What other dimensions of the issue need to be brought forward?
• How real is the problem?
INFORMATION RESOURCES
Discussion
• What other dimensions of the issue need to be brought forward?
• How real is the problem?
• What should be the involvement of the state?
INFORMATION RESOURCES
Discussion
• What other dimensions of the issue need to be brought forward?
• How real is the problem?
• What should be the involvement of the state?
• What should be the involvement of the universities?
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