Evolving paradigms in the networked world and their implications for information management in African libraries

Abstract

The networked world is characterised by the ubiquity and ever increasing application of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) in various sectors of an economy, including education, government, libraries, businesses, healthcare and homes. The networked world generates and moves large amounts of electronic information in the form of text, video, audio, graphics, and animations. A networked world affords opportunities for people, for example, to use e-mail for communication, use Web portals to access government information, access digital libraries from any point with a Web connection, and undertake formal and lifelong learning electronically. The evolving networked world has fuelled several paradigm shifts that are greatly impacting the way information and knowledge are created and managed. These paradigm shifts include information society, e-government, digital divide, and e-learning/digital scholarship. This paper provides an overview of the paradigm shifts sweeping the information landscape in the networked world and the implications for the creation and management of information, especially in African libraries