In 1984, a group of Asian countries began exchanging television news stories via the Pacific Ocean and Intelsat satellite networks. Similar news networks are in the planning stages among other developing nations in the Middle East and Caribbean. Such exchanges give Third World countries a way to break out of the usual dominance-dependence…

Discusses the use of global computerized information networks through statistics and examples of the involvement of various countries. Topics addressed include growth of the global network; countries that lack any connections; the value of information; librarians and the network; and exploring the Internet, including gopher sites. (Contains 29…

Considers differences between and among nations according to their access to information and their ability to use it. Concludes that world populations may soon be divided into the information elite and the information ignorant. Discusses the increasingly important role of computers in technological advancement for developing nations. (DB)

Discusses underlying assumptions and prerequisites for information development in Arab countries. Administrative and environmental impediments which hinder the optimum utilization of available resources and suggestions for improvements are outlined. A brief bibliography is provided. (Author/RAA)

Discusses the concept of information value and presents major findings of user studies and collection evaluations. A case study describing the implementation of networks for information in the areas of biomedicine and agronomy in Brazil in the late 1960s is presented. (35 references) (MES)

This paper examines information services and resource sharing within New Zealand with a view to future participation in a Pacific resource sharing network. Activities of the National Library, the New Zealand Library Resources Committee, and the Information Services Committee are reviewed over a 40-year period, illustrating library cooperative…

Discusses the need of developing countries to set up local databases and exchange information; outlines Unesco General Information Programme's role in this context; describes a specific Unesco program to help member states acquire and use microcomputer software; reviews criteria for software selection; and describes the program's implementation…

Discusses processes involved in development, operation, and utilization of bibliographic databases--design, data collection, processing, access, and use--and assesses their relevance to developing countries. Utilization of other countries' databases, use of services of organizatons in other countries, and participation in a cooperative system are…

Current international communication is typified by flow of information from the northern to the southern hemisphere, dominated by the developed nations in information gathering and dissemination, and intensified by technological advances. The imbalance of communication flow, considered by developing nations as responsible for political, economic,…

For over 30 years the installation of information systems has been promoted in developing nations by international organizations and international consultancies in order to transfer technical expertise from the industrialized countries to the Third World. While some have questioned the value of indiscriminately transferring scientific and…

Four papers discuss both perceived and tested uses of communications satellites for amplifying access to information and for fostering networking among higher educational institutions around the world. Derived from the work of the Foundation for the International Exchange of Scientific and Cultural Information by Telecommunications (FISCIT), a…

Commenting on the trends toward the interlocking of emerging information societies and the growing interdependence of countries, this paper suggests the role that "informatics" (the rational and systematic use of information for planning and decision making) may play in the transition of societies into the information age. Two paradoxes…

Examines microcomputer uses by United Nations to make information accessible to users in member states and steps promoting international information system microcomputer use. Discussion covers bibliographic and nonbibliographic applications, related software and hardware information handling packages, and problems of linking microcomputers with…

The field of international telecommunications, especially that of direct broadcasting by satellite, has attracted increasing attention over the past decade. This aspect of communication technology has also become a part of the larger debate at the United Nations, Unesco, and the International Telecommunication Union concerning issues of access and…

This monograph is a history of the Caribbean News Agency (CANA), which is jointly owned by private and public mass media of its region and independent of both governments and foreign news agencies. It is proposed that CANA may provide a unique model of an independent, regional third-world news agency. Sections of the monograph examine (1) CANA's…