A Pragmatic Approach to the National Information Policy Issue

• Main Author: Selma Aslan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Türk Kütüphaneciler Derneği (Turkish Librarians' Association) 1997-09-01
• Series: Türk Kütüphaneciliği
• Online Access: http://tk.org.tr/index.php/TK/article/view/1041

The paper argues that development of a national information policy in a country is closely related with other policies, priorities and preferences of governments. Recently developed national information policies have a tendency to concentrate on information industry and information society, where library and information services receive only lip service, if mentioned at all. Global trends p la y an important role in the way information policy issues are handled. Governments in some countries like Turkey have no wish to produce a comprehensive national policy, and some priority areas such as intellectual property or information infrastructure are handled individually in a piecemeal approach. Under these circumstances, it may be wiser for information professionals to discuss policy issues amongst themselves, develop views and work on individual issues rather than trying to impose that it is a need to develop a national information policy.