Waubonsee Community College

Disconnected, haves and have-nots in the information age, William Wresch

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 249-257) and index

index present

non fiction

Disconnected

bibliography

34658916

William Wresch

haves and have-nots in the information age

In the Information Age, information is power. Who produces all that information, how does it move around, who uses it, to what ends, and under what constraints? Who gets that power? And what happens to the people who have no access to it? With vivid anecdotes and data, William Wresch contrasts the opportunities of the information-rich with the limited prospects of the information-poor. Surveying the range of information - personal, public, organizational, commercial - that has become the currency of exchange in today's world, he shows how each represents a form of power. He analyzes the barriers that keep people information-poor: geography, tyranny, illiteracy, psychological blinders, "noise," crime. Technology alone, he demonstrates, is not the answer. Even the technology-rich do not always get access to important information - or recognize its valueWresch spells out the grim consequences of information inequity for individuals and society. Yet he ends with reasons for optimism and stories of people who are working to pull down the impediments to the flow of information

Information Rich, Information Poor -- Ch. 1. World Media -- Ch. 2. Personal Information -- Ch. 3. Organizational Information -- Ch. 4. Professional Information -- Ch. 5. Commercial Information -- Ch. 6. Information Exiles -- Ch. 7. Tyranny -- Ch. 8. Information Criminals -- Ch. 9. World Education -- Ch. 10. Psychology -- Ch. 11. Noise -- Ch. 12. Reasons for Hope