[Sigiii-l] Re: Plaza

[Nadia Caidi]

(student)

>My ideas of globalization and information society are an
>amalgam of the things I have read. To me, globalization
>means a mass proliferation of ICTs that is enabling the
>spread of western consumer culture, specifically
>American-style hyper-consumerism [Banerjee & Linstead,
>684], and the reactions against these forces. The concept
>of 'information society' seems to me to be a false one. Are
>we perhaps not still an industrial society that has merely
>shifted the dirty work, i.e. resource extraction and
>manufacturing, overseas, and information activities are
>just an expanding part of the service sector [Schement &
>Curtis, 84] ? 
>
>As an information professional, communications technology
>has already brought about radical change for me. It has
>provided me the chance to forge and maintain professional
>relationships with people thousands of miles away. It
>allows me to be flexible in my work space: to work from
>home, or hundreds of miles away from my employer. It will
>allows me to gather information from all four corners of
>the globe. But then, when I begin my working life as an
>information professional, will the work I end up doing –
>the ideas I help to spread, encourage the dissemination of
>consumerism to the detriment of local values and knowledge?
>
>As an information professional, the new means of learning
>and gathering information goes hand-in-hand with being
>over-saturated by the sheer volume of information. It means
>feeling pressure to constantly remain 'in the loop' – to be
>aware of the latest trends in my industry and in
>technology. As an information professional, people will
>look to me to mediate between them and the masses of
>information around them. I, in turn, will look to the
>information science community to provide skills and tools
>to filter information, to help me understand the context
>and impact of my activities... and the occasional reminder
>to breathe!
>
>
>*References*
>
>Bannerjee, S.B., Linstead, S. "Globalization,
>multiculturalism and other fictions: Colonialism for the
>new millennium?" Organization, 8 (4) (2001): 683-722.
>
>Schement, Jorge Reina. and Curtis, Terry.  Tendencies and
>tensions of the information age: the production and
>distribution of information in the United States. New
>Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1995.
>
>  
>