[Sigiii-l] plaza

[Nadia Caidi]

(student)

Globalization, described in various terms, can be thought of as the 
increased mobility of goods, services, labour, technology and capital 
throughout the world. Information in the era of globalization has become 
a valuable and easily transferable commodity - a means for economic 
transformation. As a result of this relatively new climate, information 
professionals no longer operate in local, geographically discrete 
environments but in a global marketplace where the information needs of 
all peoples must be taken into account.

As an information professional, I must assist in developing affordable 
information technologies that serve the needs of all peoples, not only 
those within the ambit of my localized culture. Information 
professionals must educate themselves in the ways that people and 
cultures relate to one another to ensure that information is universally 
accessible and understandable. When information professionals 
acknowledge information’s inherent value, it makes its dissemination a 
value-laden exercise, and not a neutral activity.

My professional obligations in an information society are to ensure that 
information is delivered in an equitable fashion without artificial 
barriers. I must fight against legislation that might on the surface 
seem to further the cause of intellectual property, but in reality take 
information and its potential for creating prosperity out of the hands 
of the many and into the hands of the few. The information science 
community must secure free and efficient access to information when 
possible in order to advance the cause of the information poor.


The information science community must thus establish an ethical 
framework for these activities, without which the promise of a 
globalized information society might see tools of economic development – 
ICTs, biotechnology, agricultural techniques – used as weapons to 
extract wealth without recompense. Information is best used when it is 
the hands of as many people as possible; as an information professional, 
my duty should be to ensure that this end is realized.