[Asis-l] Questions for candidates

[nicholas belkin]

I believe that ASIS&T already does some quite substantial activities
with respect to both of the issues raised by Professor Carbo. Education
in information policy issues is served through the Annual Review of
Information Science and Technology, which almost every year has quite
strong chapters on information policy-related issues. Education has also
been served through several JASIST "Perspectives" issues, and through
focus on policy-related issues in the Bulletin of the ASIS&T. And, it
has been addressed through relevant sessions in the Annual Meetings. I
believe that ASIS&T has also had some influence on information policy
through official statements made with respect to specific issues that
have arisen, and membership on government and quasi-government
organizations concerned with information policy, although these have
primarily been only with respect to information policy in the USA.

I believe that with respect to educating the members about information
policy issues, ASIS&T is doing a pretty fair job already. Its activities
could be improved, of course, perhaps through a regular column on the
topic (probably by guest columnists, rather than one person) in the
Bulletin. With respect to influencing information policy, I believe that
ASIS&T could do better than it has done. This could perhaps be
accomplished by such means as entering into more active collaborations
with relevant national and international organizations to develop joint
positions on issues of significance to information policy, and
establishing a responsibility (perhaps through the SIG IFP) for making
sure that the Board of Directors is kept current on information policy
issues, such as proposed legislation, on which ASIS&T should consider
taking an official stance. In cases where ASIS&T does take an official
stance, it should be made widely available to the members, and they
should be encouraged to add their individual support, as appropriate.
Direct lobbying is probably not something that ASIS&T could, or should
do on its own.

Nick Belkin

Toni Carbo wrote:
> 
> I am pleased that we have the opportunity to pose questions to the
> candidates for ASIS&T offices. I would like to pose the following question
> to the two candidates for President-elect:
> 
> In light of the many critical information-policy issues facing the
> information profession, what can ASIS&T do to strengthen its role in
> educating members about information policy issues and in influencing
> policy?
> 
> Toni Carbo, Ph.D., Professor
> School of Information Sciences and
> Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
> University of Pittsburgh
> and Editor, The International Information and Library Review
> 605 LIS Building, 135 N. Bellefield Avenue
> Pittsburgh, PA 15260  USA
> email: tcarbo at mail.sis.pitt.edu
> PHONE:    (412) 624-9310
> FAX:      (412) 648-7001
> 
> ____
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> Asis-l at asis.org
> http://mail.asis.org/mailman/listinfo/asis-l

-- 
Nicholas J. Belkin
Chair, and Director of the MLIS Program
Department of Library and Information Science
School of Communication, Information & Library Studies
Rutgers University
4 Huntington Street
New Brunswick NJ 08901-1071 USA
tel: +1 732 932 7500 x8271  fax: +1 732 932 2644
email: nick at belkin.rutgers.edu
http://scils.rutgers.edu/~belkin/belkin.html