Information Policies and Strategies

Citation

Robertson, P. (2012), "Information Policies and Strategies", Library Review, Vol. 61 No. 1, pp. 58-59. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242531211207433

If, like me, you picked this book thinking it would give you the answers to all your questions regarding how to create an information strategy or policy for an organization then you will be a little disheartened. However, the book does give a comprehensive run through all areas of information governance. Information professionals and students should therefore find this text helpful to gain a better understanding of the wider context of information governance. The author discusses information from a human rights and civil society point of view and explores how information regulation and policy can have a direct effect on individuals.

The book will be a useful tool for information professionals in arguing the importance of policy and governance of information within their organizations. Cornelius has some good examples of governance at work and of the effect governance can have from all sides, be it from a governmental, commercial or a human standpoint.

The main themes of the book cover information society and globalization and the effect of government and non‐governmental agencies in regulating and caring for personal or non‐personal data and information. I found the section discussing Ann Wells Branscomb's information rights and the notion of “common good” of particular interest and the author suggests the list “gives us a working base for calculating what an information policy might contain if it were based on information rights for individuals”.

The author really brings to life the idea that all information governance can have a direct effect on everyone, giving the reader some certainty as to the reasons why all individuals and governments “do not naturally behave in a way that ensures our information rights are protected”. He also explains that, for example, where some countries may not have a defined intellectual property rights policy, and then there are still international human rights principles that apply “without distinction of any kind”.

The second part of the book looks at specific information policy sectors covering, censorship, freedom of speech and expression, arguments for protecting speech, privacy and data protection, freedom of Information and intellectual property. These sections were of less interest to me having to work with data protection and freedom of information every day. Already possessing a sound background and knowledge in these areas I did not feel a sense of gaining any new insight or of a new way of presenting these for my own needs as an information manager. I did find chapter six on arguments for protecting speech and the discussion on Cohen's analysis of freedom of speech thought provoking.

There are certainly areas of the book that I will apply within my own organization and I hope it will help give strength to the requirements of good information policy and how crucial this is to an organization's effective operation.

To conclude, I think the book is a good starting point for anyone interested in information rights and the author's discursive style of writing gives the reader the ability to consider their opinions and thoughts on certain topics that they may or may not agree with.