The Information Environment

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to

• Describe the concepts of information and the issues surrounding information in society in Aoteaora New Zealand, and globally.
• Explain, compare and contrast the roles of information organisations (such as libraries, archives and records centres), and of information professionals (such as librarians, archivists and records managers).
• Discuss and recognise the way professional ethics, values and foundational principles influences how library and information organisations and professionals function in society.

Course content

What is information?

• Defining and identifying ‘information’ 
• The information society
• Who creates information?

Library and information organisations in society

• The development of libraries, archives and recordkeeping through time, globally
• The development of libraries, archives and recordkeeping in Aotearoa New Zealand
• Different types of libraries and library services (including public libraries, school libraries and children’s services in public libraries, tertiary libraries, special libraries, national libraries)
• Different types of archives, records and information services (including national archives, collecting and in-house archives, community archives, records centres and museums)

Library and Information organisations and professionals in society, in local, national and global contexts

• Operating in a bicultural environment
• Te Tiriti o Waitangi 
• Operating in a culturally diverse context
• Operating within legal, economic and political contexts
• Operating within an evolving technological context
• Professional Associations
• Professionalism, codes of conduct and ethics
• Continuing professional development and transferable skills
• Future directions: challenges and opportunities

Assessment

100% internally assessed

Textbooks

No textbooks are required for this course

How to enrol

Before enrolling in this course you need to:

• choose the qualification you will study the course under
• check the order that courses in the qualification should be studied in the Qualification Structure table. This is in the Choose courses and apply tab on the qualification page.