2-1-1 Information services: Outcomes assessment,benefit–cost analysis,and policy issues

This study investigates policy issues surrounding the implementation and assessment of 2-1-1 information and referral services. More specifically, the study explores the benefits that users receive from 2-1-1 referral services that are distinct from the actual social assistance provided by various service agencies; what policymakers should consider when funding and implementing 2-1-1 services; and the operational structure and interagency relationships that can maximize the benefit of the referral service to both individuals and existing social service agencies. Researchers conducted an extensive literature review and case study to examine dimensions of service performance, benefit–cost, and user outcomes of 2-1-1 services. This study further identifies potential measures and protocols for developing a holistic assessment program that goes beyond the reporting of quantitative inputs and outputs associated with a 2-1-1 agency. The centerpiece of this study is the creation of a logic model that identifies benefits and costs at three different levels: the individual, organizational, and societal. In addition, the model incorporates the dimension of time in order to distinguish between short-, medium-, and long-term benefits. Thus, the model provides a basis for incremental and flexible assessment of service performance that can lead to the creation of a culture of continuous improvement and ongoing evaluation for 2-1-1 services.     

The Political Economy of Information: Malawi Under Kamuzu Banda, 1964-94

The importance of power relationships in defining information, governing its availability, and prestructuring its effect are illustrated from the experiences of Kamuzu Banda's Malawi. Attempts to develop a national information policy were rendered irrelevant by official suppression of information and the surveillance of the population to prevent dissent. Even when there were information systems to serve national planning and decision-making, Banda and his advisers ignored them and allowed them to wither away. Access to information was effectively denied to excluded social groups including members of opposition political movements, speakers of minority languages, Jehovah's Witnesses and Muslims. Only an alliance of political cronies, business associates and officials had full access to vital market, technical and agricultural information, despite the existence of extension systems with an ostensible role to disseminate information. Women, in particular, suffered deeply embedded structural discrimination that limited their information access. On the basis of this study, information professionals are advised to develop strategies based on analyses of real information and communication patterns, in preference to the facile optimism about the power of information that is common in the literature of librarianship.     

The Political Economy of Information: Malawi Under Kamuzu Banda, 1964-94

The importance of power relationships in defining information, governing its availability, and prestructuring its effect are illustrated from the experiences of Kamuzu Banda's Malawi. Attempts to develop a national information policy were rendered irrelevant by official suppression of information and the surveillance of the population to prevent dissent. Even when there were information systems to serve national planning and decision-making, Banda and his advisers ignored them and allowed them to wither away. Access to information was effectively denied to excluded social groups including members of opposition political movements, speakers of minority languages, Jehovah's Witnesses and Muslims. Only an alliance of political cronies, business associates and officials had full access to vital market, technical and agricultural information, despite the existence of extension systems with an ostensible role to disseminate information. Women, in particular, suffered deeply embedded structural discrimination that limited their information access. On the basis of this study, information professionals are advised to develop strategies based on analyses of real information and communication patterns, in preference to the facile optimism about the power of information that is common in the literature of librarianship.     

Consequences of Federal Government Information Policies, 1981-1986

Prompted by ideological considerations, the Reagan administration, during the period 1981-1986, fostered policies to restrict, control, and manage the flow of information produced by and for the federal government. By means of misinformation, censorship, and selective dissemination, the Reagan administration successfully abridged public scrutiny of government decisions. Five aspects of these policies are examined: mandatory reductions to achieve a balanced budget, elimination and curtailment of statistical surveys, reduction in funding for United Nations research, private sector distribution of government products and services, and elimination of substantive government publications. This course of action subverts the concept of information as a public good and threatens the democratic ideal of full access to government information.     

混乱中的秩序:Internet信息自组织

阐述Internet信息自组织概念,并对Internet信息自组织现象进行探索。     

嵌入式信息素养教育——信息素养教育的新途径

文章分析了嵌入式信息素养教育兴起的背景,概述了国内外嵌入式信息素养教育的现状,归纳总结了嵌入式信息素养教育的几点启示。