INFORMATION-SYSTEMS PLANNING AND OPERATION IN LESS-DEVELOPED-COUNTRIES .1. PLANNING AND OPERATIONAL CONCERNS

Aimed primarily at academics working in the field of development studies, this paper gives an overview of the major issues involved in the diffusion of information to less developed countries (LDCs), and a review of the types of organization that operate in the field, their accessibility and specializations. It is hoped that this presentation will encourage academics to become interested in the value and power of information as a thing in itself, and correspondingly to dedicate greater efforts to making use of, and furthering the cause of, those information services which are appropriate and cost effective. Second, the paper is an attempt to pull together the various aspects of the subject of 'information for LDCs', encouraging librarians and information specialists to consider issues other than those concerned mainly with technical access to facilities.