Policy formulation and implementation is a highly contested domain within the South African Higher Education landscape. This contestation can be attributed to the lack of wide stakeholder involvement and the architecture of the policy-making process. The contestation is also born of an absence of a systemic monitoring and evaluation mechanism to…

This report examines how new information and communications technology may affect the economic system in which knowledge-based products and services are created, produced, packaged, distributed, delivered, and used. The following issues are considered: (1) the economic basis for the system of property rights in intellectual property, copyrights,…

This paper addresses the very timely issue of national information policy, particularly in view of the pending second White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services in July 1991. Information policy is examined from economic, political, and social points of view and the national government is urged to address the challenging task of…

This article begins with an introduction to recent developments in information technology, including investment activities related to the technology in Europe, Japan, and the United States. It then deals with the challenging issues of access to electronic information of the U.S. government, fee or free for electronic information in publicly…

American copyright law provides a means of stimulating intellectual development and protecting the ownership interests of the authors of copyrighted works. Over the years, U.S. copyright law has evolved in order to respond to societal and technological changes. Under the copyright statute certain uses of a copyrighted work are permitted under the…

Discusses museum informatics that studies how information science and technology affect the museum environment. Examines digital technology; information organization and access; digitization, personal computers, and the Internet; data sharing; standards; social impacts of new technologies; collaboration; consortia; multimedia exhibits; virtual…

This publication details the critical issues being debated in telecommunications today and their impact on colleges and universities in the future. An introduction identifies important changes in recent years including technological advances, the digitizing of communication, privatization and commercialization of the Internet, possible significant…

Policy issues relating to the integration of information and communications technology into higher education are addressed, primarily for those with policy development responsibility at the state level. The following chapters are included: (1) "State Higher Education Policies in the Information Age: An Introduction to the Issues" (Robert…

The development of information technologies such as public access catalogs and online databases has greatly enhanced access to information. The lack of automation in the area of document delivery, however, has created a large disparity between the speed with which citations are found and the provision of primary documents. This imbalance can…