Growing user information dependence and its impact on the library field

Abstract

The now widely accepted description of the new post‐industrial society as defined by Daniel Bell clearly points to an emphasis on the provision of services rather than on the production of goods. In part this is true because improved technologies for agricultural and industrial production allow a smaller and smaller proportion of the population of the Western world to supply even the increasing demands for the food, the clothing, the shelter, and the material goods which at one time took all of our strength and all of our energies. The growing emphasis is on the provision of services—in part because having others do things for us is an indication of our growing affluence—in part because the number of potential services increases as our imagination and desires constantly stay one step ahead of what we have—and in part because increased efficiency and increased performance have also brought with them increased complexity.

Citation

White, H.S. (1979), "Growing user information dependence and its impact on the library field", Aslib Proceedings, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 74-87. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb050661