South African Journal of Libraries and Information Science - Volume 79, Issue 1, January 2013

The use of tools for development has evolved from the industrial revolution over time. The late 18^th and 19^th centuries saw the increased use of machines and developments in the mining industries; in the 20^th century, there was increased use of information and technology; and major breakthroughs sparked the evolution of the information and knowledge society of the 21^st century. The basis of the information and knowledge society revolves around technology's increased assimilation and diffusion in human society, particularly information and communication technologies and their rapid growth and use in the exchange of information and knowledge. This society offers many opportunities and benefits to people in terms of the facilitation of information creation, distribution, diffusion, access and use for growth and development in various spheres of life. In this paper we discuss the role of the information and knowledge society (IKS) for informal sector women entrepreneurs (ISWEs) and focus on what there is in the IKS that could benefit ISWEs, analyse the criteria, indicators and benefits of IKS and explore the challenges and opportunities of IKS. At the end of the paper we provide recommendations for the development of IKS for the benefit of rural women. The paper is informed by recent doctoral work on the role of the information and knowledge society in poverty alleviation and the economic empowerment of women entrepreneurs in South Africa's informal sector. We find that by using criteria and indicators of an information and knowledge society to assess whether or not South Africa meets these requirements, South Africa indeed meets some of the criteria. However, it does not, in many instances, satisfy other criteria, and thus cannot be regarded unconditionally as an information and knowledge society. We recommend that South Africa should work toward achieving and meeting the criteria of the information and knowledge society by assessing itself against the criteria and indicators of such a society. Doing so would enable informal sector women entrepreneurs to reap the opportunities presented by the information and knowledge society.

SAJLIS is pleased at this punctual release of its first issue for 2013. This, together with maintaining a high standard of quality in both the content and presentation of the journal, bodes well for its continued accreditation by the DoHET (Department of Higher Education and Training), for meeting compliance conditions to be hosted on the recently launched open access journal platform SciELO-SA, as well as for its aspirations for inclusion in at least one of the international journal accreditation lists, application to which SAJLIS is embarking on shortly.

In this article we consider the configuration of the South African library and information services (LIS) sector, and analyse the extent to which its structuring facilitates or hinders optimum service to the children and youth of South Africa. The background to our investigation is the crisis in public schooling and the plight of South African youth who suffer disproportionate rates of poverty and unemployment. In our investigation we examine the planning and practice in two new libraries - one a community library, and one a joint-use library for learners and local residents - in an effort to establish the extent to which libraries may partner with schools to take advantage of new thinking that recommends a whole system approach, encapsulated in the metaphor of LIS as an ecosystem. We conclude that this new approach might generate models of service delivery that transcend boundaries that traditionally delineate and confine sub-sectors in the LIS sector.

For the past twenty years phrases such as "stable information needs", "unstable information needs" or "information needs changing over time" are found in many contributions to information science. At first view these concepts seem to be easy and clearly understandable. However, after some considerations different questions arise: For which types of information need do we see that these needs are changing over time - for all types, or only for certain types? How do information needs relate to changes in the world, or to changes in the human understanding of the world? We will show that "information need changing over time" is a very complex concept and only understandable if we distinguish between changes in the world, situation/context, user, types of information need and interpretation of data. Clarity of writing is essential in scientific writing and authors using the concept "information needs changing over time" or similar phrases should clearly define what they mean by the phrases to ensure that no ambiguity exists when readers interpret their writings.

This paper explores and discusses the library and information science (LIS) job market in South Africa through an analytical literature review and the content analysis of recent longitudinal newspaper scanning (2009 - 2012) of LIS job advertisements in the country. We note that the LIS job market in South Africa experienced steady growth from 2009 to 2011, but declined in 2012. The results reveal that the public sector is still the main employer of LIS professionals. We also note the growing number of new job titles and functions relevant to the information/knowledge economy. Furthermore, information technology (IT) has become an important skill for LIS professionals to possess. We conclude that the study could inform curriculum review in LIS schools in South Africa, and recommend that LIS schools explore and exploit new directions and ideas as they prepare students for the library and general information service sector. The paper is divided into three parts: i) an overview of LIS education in Africa; ii) the LIS job market in Africa and South Africa; and iii) job trends in South Africa. Suggestions for further exploration are provided.

Do we think about the nature of our profession and its relations with the allied professions of archivist and museum curator? Perhaps, in those first lectures in our course of professional education we did, prompted by a list of the activities of each, and perhaps we concluded that there are substantial differences in approach. Kim Baker, in this well-written and fascinating book, challenges us to think further about this certainty and also suggests that many of our assumptions about the neutrality of our professional work may be considered mistaken.