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DRTC Workshop on Information Management

6-8 January 1999

Paper: AA

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT: Scope, Definition,

Challenges & Issues

I.K. Ravichandra Rao, Professor, Documentation Research and Training Centre, Indian
Statistical Institute, 8th Mile, Mysore Road, Bangalore 560 059 E-mail : ikr@isibang.ac.in

[Information, a key resource, plays an important role in

information society. Treating information as resource
itself is a change in information management. Different
issues in information management are management of
change, systems and services, technology, collection
development, personnel management, finance and
planning. Some of these issues are discussed in this
paper.]

Information is vital for managers, scientists, and for practitioners, in any organization
to take decisions, to prepare plans, to control activities, to ‘outcast’ competitors, to pursue
research at advanced level, to provide services, etc. Information, formal or informal, is
however to be managed. Information is now seen as a valuable resource within many
organizations. It is an organizational resource. It is a self-regenerative resource and it is the
key economic element. It can be accessed by anyone from anywhere, any number of times,
yet remain undiminished and unchanged; ofcourse, this requires intensive use of information
technologies. It is a resource that, if it is properly managed and used, can stimulate
innovation, speed product development, raise levels of productivity, ensure consistent
standards of quality and through all of these means raise the relative level of competitiveness.

Information plays an important role both in public and private sectors. In private
sectors, information is particularly important in
Ravichandra Rao I.K 2

i) Product design,
ii) Manufacturing process,
iii) Commercial / business transactions, and
iv) Marketing.

To meet the requirements of the customers, design and development of products need
a high level of market intelligence and an understanding of ways in which customer refuses
different products. Further, manufacturing approach of “just in time” production totally
depends on the processing and communication of available information. Commerce and/or
business transactions involve considerable clerical and administrative work. While these
transitions and work are automated, a large quantity of information is generated without
much difficulties and intern they can be used for decision making as well as for planning
purposes; for example, reservation system, financial transactions, etc. generate a lot of
information which are of high-value.

In many organizations decision support systems (DSS) are used as a part of

management tool to reduce risk. For example, an application for a personal loan can be
approved/disapproved even by a middle manager, provided the manager has access to a DSS
to obtain a “credit score” – applicants who score above certain level receive the loan. Success
of such a system is totally depending on the availability of information.

Extensive use of information is also made in marketing. Especially, information is

very much essential to promote products. The long term success of private sectors is
determined by their capacity to use and manage information to reduce costs, to extend their
range of services, to reduce risk and to become more sensitive to customer demands.

Thus, the information system of a company should totally involve in collecting,

storing, processing and retrieving of various product specifications, which are available in the
market. Even in manufacturing process, information is equally important.

Information makes a similar impact even on the public sector. Public servants are
now beginning to realize that information can change the way they work, quite dramatically.
Use of information at appropriate time in a right manner enables them to improve their
Information Management: Scope, Definition…. 3

general efficiency in ways that are similar to those used in private sectors – through
automation of their day to day routines, through decision support systems, through electronic
financial transactions, etc. In other sectors like, education, health, social security, public
servants ultimately handles information and their decisions are all depend on the available
information.

Ofcourse, it is needless for me to discuss here the information needs of scientists and
technologists. They use critically the existing data/information and in turn create information.

All this calls for a strategic approach to the management of information both in
private and public sectors and it is believed that to achieve significant productivity gains
particularly in industries it is necessary to develop a radically different approach to the
management of information.

1. WHAT IS INFORMATION MANAGEMENT?

Information Management (IM), a discipline emerged in mid 1980s, has firmly established
itself by now which is evident from the following two incidents:

-- Journal of Institute of Data Processing Management was renamed as “Information

Management Journal”

-- ASLIB, after fifty years of its establishment, changed its name from Association of
Special Libraries and Information Bureaus to the “Association of Information
Management”

These two simple examples signify the importance of IM. However, a critical question
remains persistent, asking as to “is there anything new in the concept of information
management?” or is it just a luxurious label for “library administration?” The concept of
information as a resource, the problem of information overload, the tremendous impact of IT
on the librarianship are the key issues in IM. On the other hand, library administration deals
with the day-to-day administration of the library procedures – executing and monitoring the
traditional library functions.
Ravichandra Rao I.K 4

Blaise Cronin (2) opines that there is nothing to stop librarians or information scientists
from retitiling themselves as Information Managers. But the change of title does not
necessarily imply change of activity or attitude. Further, he argues that IM is more than a
value added librarianship. In addition to the usual functions of library administration, IM
involves data processing, automation activities, systems analysis, information services,
management services, the new skills and techniques needed by the information managers to
deal with the IT and strategies for developing a corporate information plan. Martin White (6)
gives a working definition of IM as “the efficient and effective co-ordination of information
from internal and external sources. “As Peter Vickers (5) puts it “Management of
Information is not concerned simply with documents, message and data, but with the entire
apparatus of information handling. He identifies the characteristics of information
management as follows:

• Information has to be treated as a resource requiring proper management, like

money, manpower, and materials.

• At the simplest level, information management involves planning and co-

ordination (if not direct control or use) of the following:
-- information handling skills
-- information technology
-- information sources and services

• Information management requires a careful “watch on” new developments that

can contribute to the better management of information resources

• Information management requires an understanding of the patterns of information

flow within the organization and then it demands a systematic means of mapping
and monitoring such flows.

Information management is thus a means by which a centre maximizes the efficiency

with which it plans, collects, processes, controls, dissemination and uses its information and
through which it ensure that the value of that information is identified and exploited to the
fullest extent.
Information Management: Scope, Definition…. 5

But, on the other hand, a concept called Total Quality Management (TQM) is
increasingly becoming popular, particularly in industries. What is then TQM? It may be
defined as “a management philosophy embracing all activities through which the needs and
expectations of the customer and the community and the objectives of the organizations are
satisfied in the most efficient and cost effective way of maximizing the potential of all
employees in a continuing drive for improvement (1).

In some respects IM and TQM have evolved from a common management

philosophy in which the main trust was to increase productivity or cut costs or both almost
regardless of anything else. This approach is now changing to one which is more customer-
oriented-quality service; in case of libraries and information centres, it is user-orientated –
quality service.

It is in this background, DRTC together with SQC & OR Unit is organizing the
Workshop on Information Management with emphasis on ISO 9000 system.

In this Workshop, information management is discussed in an environment of special

libraries and/or information centres.

2. SPECIAL LIBRARIES

The term “Special libraries” generally refers to a library meant mainly for a group of
users – Children’s library, Hospital library, Prison Library, etc. Often, a special library also
means a library where (3)

a) emphasis is on providing information instead of documents

b) it is established in non-traditional settings – industries, laboratories, business
houses, etc.
c) it is catering to a limited number of homogeneous group of users.
d) the subject scope is limited -- plywood, leather, food science, etc.
e) the collection size may be very small
f) the users demand/need information on micro subjects.
g) emphasis is on collection of micro literature.
Ravichandra Rao I.K 6

There are other characteristics associated with special libraries, Seetharama (3) has
discussed them in detail.

2.1 Information Management in the Context of Special Libraries

The process of delivering information, rather than documents or bibliographic

information, begins with determination of the scope and type of information needed.
Between determination of ‘need’ and ‘delivery’, there is a process of gathering, evaluating,
synthesizing and packaging. These processes are basically functions of special libraries and it
is the task of the IM.

Further, when users’ demand information in traditional setup, librarians deliver

articles / books. Librarians rarely know whether or not user derived needed information from
them. Thus, to some extent, delivery of documents is expensive (infact, not necessarily be
effective and not necessarily satisfies users), as compared to delivery of information.

By considering these two factors, information management in special libraries by

combining the gathering function with analysis, synthesis and delivery in acceptable form
adds value in two ways:

i) the special libraries’ (or information centres’) output increases with minimum
possible input costs
ii) productivity will increase
iii) cost effective

Also, in addition to the users’ need, information management deals with the problems
of getting the right information to right users at the right time in the right form. Information
management processes in special libraries focuses on the information needs of individual
users and delivery of an information product or providing an information service to fulfill the
users’ need.
Information Management: Scope, Definition…. 7

3. MANAGEMENT AND CHANGE

The management of Change” is an important aspect of IM, particularly in the context

of media and technology, as applicable to information work and services. The changes can
clearly be seen in three different areas:

Information Generation Information Preservation Information Retrieval

a) Writing Paper Card-index
Microfilm/Microfiche Punched cards
b) Typing DBMS
c) Carbon Copies Magnetic storage DBMS with advanced features
d) Electro-mechanical Video discs Web pages, free text databases
duplications
e) Typesetting
f) Word processing
g) Word processing with
advanced features
h) Characters & Voice
recognition

Information systems have changed in structure/design from simple offline systems to

batch and then to online; now the information systems are designed for the Net environment.

All these changes have taken place in a span of 50 to 60 years; particularly, in the last
two decades, these changes are rapid and tremendous. We even notice that the
communication systems have changed from a simple postal service to telephones to telex and
then to fax; now the entire communication is centered around e-mail/document distribution
and computer conferencing. All these “changes” can be grouped as:

- technological changes
- socio-political, educational, and demographic changes
- changes in the Government policies
- changes in user needs and requirements
- changes in structure and dimension of information industry

The first in the string of changes, is marked by a movement of industrial society to an

information society. In information society, information technology plays an important role
and it is developing at a rapid pace and forcing a change in the structure and dynamics of
Ravichandra Rao I.K 8

information society. Introduction of technology reduces the functional boundaries, which

have been observed traditionally. IT thus forces us to a re-arranging the order of a working
environment by creating new relationships and alerting the existing ones within an
organizational framework. This calls for a dynamic leadership in quality with better
managerial skills and a different attitude. Further there is a fear that the trained intermediaries
may be eliminated in the years to come. The need of the hour is to respond to technological
changes. Users change their requirements very frequently for various reasons. Their culture
and demographic characteristics also changes. All these changes require a careful watch and
an information manager has to tackle these related issues. Changes in the structure and
dimension of information industry have direct reflect on information sources and thus have
impact on the information management. For instance, because of the fast emerging Internet,
the scope of the library automation is now being extended to

-- handling of electronic journals

-- online information search
-- handling of CD-ROM databases

This trend raises several issues in Information Management; they are related to:

-- selection of information resources in different media

-- collection development

Information is today available in different formats and media. For example, a

bibliographic database is available in paper form, microform, CD-ROMs, on online systems
and on the Internet. The important question is how far it is possible to predict uses of the
different types of information sources that exist today. Will we prefer:

-- Printed materials
-- Online databases
-- CD-ROM databases
-- Web sources

It is believed that the usage of printed materials are likely to decrease in favour of
electronic media. CD-ROMs are often preferred instead of printed media since the user
Information Management: Scope, Definition…. 9

interfaces are likely to allow end-users to search for themselves. On the other hand, online
services require unlimited budget and often these services are provided for a fee. Many
electronic journals are now available on the web; libraries therefore must have the
infrastructure to access web space. Under these circumstances, an information manager has
to make decisions about the purchase of online or CD-ROM or Internet sources. It is a
difficult task. One must come out with a plan to use all the three media appropriately. Such a
plan must provide flexibility, ease of use and access in a cost-effective way. These changes
are related to the media of the information research and have impact on information
management.

4. INFORAMTION MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

In order to achieve an effective IM, clear-cut strategies have to be developed. In order to

develop and implement strategies, an information manager must clearly think about:

i) what are the information required – in relations to users’ need?

ii) How good the existing information systems and services are?
iii) What are the sources? Where exactly they are available?
iv) Cost of obtaining, processing, delivering of information. Are they cheaper to
access instead of acquiring?
v) What are the penalties/loss if they are not obtained?

One has to study these factors and then appropriately apply IT in order to create and
implement information management strategies.

5. MARKETING

According to Smith (4), marketing is a stance and an attitude that focuses on meeting
the needs of users. Marketing is not separate from good practice. It is good practice. Some
times, marketing is also seen from a point of final results of a whole business. Marketing
offers both a theory and a process by which libraries can link products, results and roles.

Marketing begins with an investigation of users’ need, wants and demand. In the
context of marketing, information services are developed to fulfill users’ wants and
Ravichandra Rao I.K 10

sometimes services are priced appropriately and then they are delivered or distributed in a
manner appropriate to users’ need. Further, “marketing “ as such helps us in identifying
different services to different users/target groups. A marketing approach also respects
intelligence of the users rather than assuming that the potential users are ignorant about the
availability of the information. In a traditional set up, users satisfaction is equated with a
visit to the library or providing an answer to a reference question. Librarians usually justify
the level of service by size of collection, number of reference questions answered, number
of visits to the library etc. In marketing approach, these measures are useless and in such
environments, measures are developed based on the satisfaction derived from the purchase
of a service; it is closely linked with met and unmet needs, regrets, etc.

Thus, marketing is an important aspect in information management and success in IM

is measured by users’ satisfaction and in some instances by the earnings!

6 TRAINING AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPENT

For a successful implementation of IM programmes, there is a need for staff

development activities to improve the competence of information managers. The managers
must be trained to handle users, information, and systems. The ‘users’ part includes:

¾ skill to conduct user studies to identify their need , want, demand and their
information seeking behaviour
¾ patterns of information use

The ‘information’ part consists of

¾ Information transfer
¾ Information storage, records management, etc.
¾ Information retrieval, including the methods of classification and indexing,
information sources, etc.
¾ Communication; this includes various kinds of information services,
different forms of document delivery methods, reprography and
micrographics
Information Management: Scope, Definition…. 11

The ‘system’ part includes

¾ Information technologies, its capabilities and applications

¾ Automation activities related to both library and office
¾ Systems security

The managers must also familiar with the topics, such as research
methodology, methods of data collection and data analysis, systems analysis, marketing, etc.
An IM model is shown below:

Feed Back

“Users” I
Knowledge study their I N
of requirements N F.
Information F.
Science P
Information M R
-- collection G O
storage, T. D
retrieve U
evaluation Methodology C
Guidelines T
Knowledge of Specifications S
Management Techniques
-- personnel Information &
-- financial Technology
-- planning S
-- computing E
-- marketing R
V
I
C
S

A MODEL OF INFROMATION MANAGEMENT

Ravichandra Rao I.K 12

7. IT RELATED ISSUES

Technology, networking and media of information sources and services represent a

combination of factors which affect librarians. Because of the technological advances, the
nature of library operations and possible social role of libraries are changing. Technologies
which can be used to collect, acquire, process, store, transmit, and disseminate information
are usually known as information technologies (IT). These includes:
-- micros, minis, and mainframes with a variety of input, output devices, mars-
storage devices, multimedia kit, etc
-- data communication and networking devices
-- software

Devices related to reprography and micrographics are also considered as part of the IT.

An important component in information management is IT Management (ITM).

Further in ITM, the important issues are selection of hardware and software. In this section
an attempt has been made to discuss certain issues related to selection of hardware and
software.

7.1 Selection of Hardware

Depending on the requirements, the libraries/information managers must decide in

advance the various hardware requirements. Decision in this regard on the purpose for
which the hardware is being purchased. For example, the purpose may be to use the
hardware for

i) office automation
ii) library automation
iii) networking – local, national and international levels
iv) information retrieval

After determining the purpose, the next step is to decide the various hardware
requirements. For example, the following may be a checklist:
Information Management: Scope, Definition…. 13

i) memory and storage capability

ii) various input-output devices
iii) number of systems / terminals
iv) networking requirements -- hub, cables, modems, etc
v) cost aspects -- both in terms of foreign and local currency
vi) compatibility issues -- with the existing systems, if any
vii) facilities for upgrading the system, for AMC, etc
viii) details regarding the operating systems, -- whether they are good
enough for the library applications.

7.2 Selection of Software

Software is a collection of programs required for the computers to manipulate the

data to produce desired results. The software mainly grouped as operating systems,
programming languages, and application programs. Software requirements vary from
library to library. Some large library may require integrated software package to be used on
multi-user environment. On the other hand small libraries may satisfy with those software
which performs one or two specific functions. General criteria for software selection are:

i) it must have been tested, and a widely used package, from software users’
points of view
ii) cost consideration
iii) manufactures – are they well-known in the field? Their credentials!
iv) ease of use, compatibility, and quality of the ‘interface’, etc.
v) availability of manual and its quality
vi) is special training required for its use?

The other aspect of IT management is to keeping track of the `development’ in the

industry. This helps us in planning of upgradation, AMC, etc. Finally, the ultimate aims of
the IT management are to reduce the mannual work related to repetitive jobs, to collect a
variety of information to use the systems effectively for communication as well as for
transfer of information.
Ravichandra Rao I.K 14

8. COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT

Collection Development is not any single activity or group of activities but a

planning and decision making process. Its key functions are planning and policy making,
collection analysis, materials selection. Maintenance, resource sharing, etc. Each one of
these functions involves several; activities and they are interrelated. The impact of
information technology (IT) on collection development is related to several issues such as
ownership vs access, co-operative effects and evaluation. Because of the recent advances in
IT, librarians are now able to give importance to accessing the other libraries collection
rather than trying to posses almost all documents. Recent advances in IT have thus resulted
into bringing together the libraries allover the world and thus the librarians have
opportunities to use the available collection world over for providing a verity of services to
users. This requires several initiatives on the part of librarians and there are several
challenging issues. These are to be tackled by an effective IM.

IT has its impact on collection development. It is necessary to monitor what is

available on the Net. It may also be necessary to search frequently the Net and download
the relevant records, depending on the local interest. Effective techniques may have to be
developed for storing and searching such downloaded data. Since electronic publications,
including the CD-ROM database, are increasingly becoming popular, the collection
development policy should take care of such trends.

9. CONCLUSION

Information is a key resource. Several agencies in private sectors offer alternative

information services and public funding is dimingling every year; end users approach directly
information suppliers for their requirements. In corporate, academic and public sectors,
information (both internal & external) is handled and managed without specialist support.

“Information Management” is now becoming necessary and it is no longer simply

materials and handling techniques that libraries deal with. It is an independent body of
knowledge and sophisticated structures that are at the heart of the `information industry’. It
is of central importance to most aspects of life in `information society’
Information Management: Scope, Definition…. 15

Research, development and innovation in IM have not been limited to the

presentation of data in new formats (-- online sources, CR-ROMs, records management,
optical storage and retrial) The IM extends its scope through out the information industry by
making possible the co-ordination and management of productive activities (-- total quality
control, planning of information systems & services, just-in-time approach) An effective IM
ultimately aims at providing faster and more effective exchange of data by electronic means.

Information management involves management of change, management of

information system and services, management of sources (-- basically it involves collection
development as such, collection evaluation, etc.), management of information technology,
personnel management, finance and planning.

If we briefly sum up, information management is user driven; it has long-term

objectives and goals; decisions are taken based on data / information; it eliminates waste;
high employee participation is expected; preventive measures are given importance;
managers must have the leadership quality.

10. BIBLIOGRAPHICIAL REFERENCES

1. BRITISH STANDARDS INSTITUTION. Quality vocabulary. Part 2: quality concepts

and related definitions (BSI, Milton Keyenes, 1991) (BS 4778: part 2: 1991).

2. CRONIN (B). Information Management from strategies to action, London; ASLIB;

1985.

3. SEETHARAMA (S). Guidelines for planning of libraries and information centres.

IASLIC, Calcutta. 1990.

4. SMITH (Duncan). Practice as a Marketing Tool: four case studies. Library Trends; vol
43, 3; Winter 1995, 461-2.
Ravichandra Rao I.K 16

5. VICKERS (P). Information Management. Setting a concept. In information

Management: from strategies, Edited by Blaise Cronin. London. ASLIB. 1985. pp 49-
60.

6. WHITE (Martin). Intelligence Management. In Information Management: from

strategies to Action. Edited by Blaise Cronin . London. ASLIB. 1985. pp 19-35.