Consumerwelfare and community Information System: the evolving role of libraryprofessional
Tulima Dey
Librarian, Kalyani Mahavidyalaya
E-mail:
tulima73@yahoo.co.in
Abstract:
All consumers are subject to
the influence of several environmental factors and these have an important
bearing on their behaviour. The economic, social and cultural factors are
important to maintain attitude and behaviour of consumer. In a dynamic and
complex socio-economic environment, the consumer of today is exposed to a large
variety of new products and services. Consumers today are also conscious of their right and wants to
be assured of right quality of goods being available at the right price.
Whereas globalization has placed the consumer
in the wider international market. Consumers are one the most important
resources of the country and any country is
committed to guarantee their welfare and protect their rights. Right to
be informed, is another the
responsibility of society. From this aspect Public library system could provide
the requisites institutional mechanism for the community information support
system. Public libraries had long been a ‘Free Space’ or a neutral place in the
community, which welcomed people from different walks of life. Therefore,
libraries (Public) became a wider platform as a community information center
through which different consumer welfare issues are distributed and circulated
to the whole section of the society irrespective of rural and urban and remote
places. This paper highlights the
organizational issues to be considered for consumer welfare and protection by
providing a structured community information service.
Keywords:
Community Information Center,
Consumer Protection, Globalization, Human
Development, Social responsibility, Social inequalities.
1. Introduction:
Beginning of the 1990s
saw a major change in the Indian economic policies. A higher growth rate was
needed, that required not only higher investments but also larger imparts capital
goods. The policy makers India realized the disadvantages of the trade restrictions’.
Consequently the economy was opened up enabling the inflow between foreign
capital and industrial investment.[1]
Which is the phase of globalization of trade
and commerce. Globalization describe the process by which regional economics,
societies and cultures have becomes integrated through a global network of
communication, transportation and trade. From information points of views, it
increase in information flow between geographically remote locations. Arguably
this is a technological change with the advent of fiber optic communication,
satellites, Internet.
2. Consumerism and consumer protection:
Another impact of globalization of trade is
the new perspective consumerism emerged. Consumerism is a social and economic
order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to
purchase goods or services in ever greater amounts. This is seks to protect
inform consumers by requiring such practices as honest, packaging and
advertising, product guarantees and improved safety standards and after all
consumer protection consumer protection in state of laws are designed to ensure
fair competition and free flow of truthful information in the market place.
2.1 Human welfare:
This approach has
gained popularity with maturity of the modern welfare states. It looks at human
beings more as the beneficiary of development rather than participants in the
process.
Human development or welfare is a process of
enlarging people’s choices. The most critical of those wide-ranging choices are
to live a long and healthy life, to be educated and to have access to resources
needed for a decent standard of living. Additional choices includes political
freedom, guaranteed human rights and personnel self-respect.[2]
2.2 Consumer protection as a focal point:
All consumers are
subject to the influences of several environmental factors and these have an
important bearing on their behaviour. The economic, social and cultural factors
are important to maintain attitude and behaviour of consumer. In a dynamic and
complex socio-economic environment, the consumer of today is exposed to a large
variety of new products and service. Todays consumers are also conscious of their rights and wants
to be assured of right quality of goods being available at the right price.
Whereas, globalization has placed the consumer in the wider international
market. Liberalisation privatization and economic reforms brought multi
nationals and have also ushered in technical collaboration and joint ventures.
It is society, its responsibility to maintain, protection to consumers against unfair
practices of products and suppliers of goods and services. The consumer today
is not static, but highly volatile
and fast changing. Consumers are one
the most important resources of the country and any country is committed to
guarantee their welfare and protect their rights. Consumer protection involves:[3]
i. Right to safety
ii. Right to be
informed
iii. Right to
choose
iv. Right to
hear
v. Right to seek
redressal
From above, five R- to be protected and maintained by society. It is
society, its several institution have a prime responsibility to protect five
–R.
2.3 Library as a social institution:
Modern society has
various needs like education, cultural, technological advancement, information,
spiritual recreational etc. In this regard library as a social institution
occupies a prominent place provide all types of needs of human societies.[4]
It plays an important
role in supporting the education (life long learning), research and
developmental activities of the societies, promoting culture, dissemination
information, catering to the spiritual and ideological instincts in man and
building up a value system for him and providing recreation.
Another important
status is given to public libraries as a Community Information Center.
3. Community Information Center:
Towards building
inclusive knowledge societies, we must accord high priority to providing and
strengthening communication and information facilities at the level of local
communities. Community Information inherits some of the vagaries of two
component terms- Community and Information. Community Information Services is of recent origin as a facet of public
library system in the developed counties; with UK and USA taking the lead in
this regard.[5]
3.1 Objectives of Community Information
Center:
Community Information is information that
assists people to identify and gain access to services and programs to meet
their basic needs and to participate in their local or wider community. At the
same time it assists individuals and groups with daily problem soling and with
participation in the democratic process.
Beside this in general, community
information describes government, non-government, community based and similar
private sector organizations that provide services for the community in the
areas of health, welfare, housing education, community participation,
information, legal services and recreation.
The management of
community information is labour intensive work that requires continuous
maintenance. This involves regular direct contact with every organization
represented in a particular dataset and close attention to every information.
3.2 Components of Community Information
Center:
Schematic representation of components of
CIS as follows:
Local Information:
Defined
as information appropriate and useful to the community, including a calendar of local events,
courses and other educational and employment opportunities, and basic
information such as those concerning government agencies fraternal groups and
clubs.[6]
Trans – local – Information:
Defined as
information appropriate and useful to the community pertaining to the
localities beyond the local area or community concerned (i.e. local information
of neighborhood localities and/or trans-local area.
Public Policy Information:
Defined as
information about the government, and its operation, programmes, plans,
schemes, activities, agencies etc.
General Information:
Defined as
awareness generating information on important subject areas, such as health and
hygiene, environment , conservation of energy and resources, agriculture,
animal husbandry useful arts and fine arts technology as well as political and
socio-economic awareness etc.
4. Roles of Public Libraries as Community
Information Center:
The roles of public libraries and voluntary
sector agencies play in the provision of such services these are entered on these general axes;
-
Social responsibility and social change
-
Foster the welfare of the working classes, the
disadvantaged, the poor, the needed and the social excluded.
-
Improve and restructure all kinds of equalities in the
society
-
Political and social commitment to foster the values of
democracy and respect for human rights and the right to information.
-
Search for the free of charge production, organization
and dissemination of the information.
-
Promote community based research, like using the
community profiling methodologies to gather accurate data and updating and
‘monitoring the user’ needs in their
real environment.
4.1 Social Responsibility:
Allan Bunch
explains that to have a social responsibility and be committed to social change
through the servicing people with information and help to cope with daily lives
crisis. “Since the sixties, a growing number of librarians who have recognized
the need for the library to forge new links with the community and to redefine
its purpose as an agent for social change.[7]
- Alerting the community to needs for which either resources have not been mobilized though they exist in the community, or where there in an absence of resources.
- Playing an acting role in community development or ever fostering a community spirit.
Welfare
of the marginalized people:
The
librarians and information workers should play a proactive, effective and
efficient role when servicing information and help seekers with a commitment or
sympathy in providing welfare and true, honest, felt, sensitive help, advice
and information. Also, more friendship and understanding and support than the
information or the help per se to the information and help seekers and having solidarity with bad luck
or fate of the working classes, the needed, the disadvantaged and the socially
excluded and divided from society.
Beside this, there is still more to do. The
people who supposedly are more information literate, middle, even they also
need the kind and warm service. The librarians and information workers might still be playing a deeply reactive role to learn about their
communities so as to serve them pertinently, effectively and efficiently.
Librarians and information workers must be committed to playing a leading and
proactive role and get the solutions for the people before the problems appear.
4.2 Improvement
and Restructuring of Social Inequalities:
Public library have a responsibilities, as a
public service, provide all service equality to all section of society evenly.
4.4 Values of Democracy, Human
Rights and Right to Information: Political and Social Commitment:
The world at large
as for the provision of information services for the people who need it to
improve their lives or cope their the basis of extension service delivery. The
community information services provided by the Community Information Centers
are of varied type. Such services are mainly related to the following areas:-
4.5 Areas of Community Information Centers
4.5.1 Agricultural Information:
Agricultural information is defined as all
published or unpublished knowledge in all aspects of agriculture. The
agricultural information services provide are on wealth, seed, implements, new
methods, instruments, equipments, technology, pests, pesticides, animal
husbandry etc.
4.5.2 Educational Information:
- List of
educational institutions;
-Programmes of
studies offered by the institutions.
-Advertisement
/announcement for admission etc.
4.5.3 Employment Information;
The employment information services
include job opportunities, information regarding competitive examinations etc.
4.5.4 Health Care Information
* Addresses, reference centres, etc. of
different hospitals, health centers,
institutions and other specialties with there respective location
details.
* Hand –outs on family planning, child
health, mother health care etc.
* Preventive medicine and public hygiene
for prevention of epidemics, diseases, etc.
* Government health policies, programmes
initiatives etc.
4.5.5 information on Local History
A
library’s local history collection includes a variety of resources in addition
to books, and this usual emphasis is on older materials such as out of print
books, newspaper files, clippings, pamphlets, historic maps etc.
4.5.6 Public Information
Information related to
various products and services like consumer information.
4.5.7 Public Policy Information:
* Government programmes, schemes, initiatives
etc.
* Public
grievances as well as various government departments which can be approached.
* Address, with
location details of various government departments.
* Details on
civil rights and duties.
5. Consumer welfare vs. responsibilities of
CIS:
From above discussion, it is stated that Right
to be informed, is the prime responsibilities of Community Information Center, that is public Library. At a time when the
nations all over have adopted industrialization and towards
globalization, so it is necessitated to
protect human being as resources. In this atmosphere service contribution to
the consumer including safely, service and fair trade practices. The Community
Information Service provides such types of information, to their local
communities irrespective of rural and urban citizens. It provide public policy
information that is about the government, and its operation, programmes, plans,
schemes, activities agencies, consumer goods and services which includes consumer
right, standards and how to complain.
From this aspect public library system could
provide the requisite institutional mechanism for the community information
support system. Public libraries had long been a ‘ free Space’ or a neutral
place in community, which welcomed people from different walks of life. So,
public libraries becomes a wider platform as a Community Information Center
through which different consumer welfare issues are distributed and circulated
to the whole section of the society irrespective of rural, urban and remote places.
Conclusion:
So, above discussion it is
stated that Community Information Center, through public library can provide
basic information needs of the concern community. From this primary
consideration public library may maintained a database for its surrounding
communities irrespective of class, caste, age and at the same time most usable
commodities of the communities according their economic status and standard of living.
Public library/community Information Center can provide relevance information
to their product/ service /and grievance.
- A database on addresses of helpline of different usable commodities, which are commonly used by the communities.
- Product promotion (Advertisement) from the producer including terms and conditions and subsequently may be forwarded to the users on demand as a common communication platform.
- Information cell for how to log their complain to the appropriate authority and what is the right procedure to place grievance.
- How to get service from “ Right to Information” service and to making consciousness among citizen about their rights to concern communities.
- What is the procedure to go information commission.
From above steps CIS, through Public
Libraries provide a supporting service to information its communities which
provide a common platform to producers and consumers to interaction and
communication among them. Through this types of information service which
ultimately secure consumer interest, and welfare of the consumer of concerning
communities and provide a fair trade practice.
Therefore
if we librarian provide such types of infrastructure(database of most usable
commodities, Databases of addresses of several helpline) it support the common
platform which ultimately provide consumer welfare and free trade have a global
perspectives.
Reference:
1. M.A. Sociology.(2010)Unit-4.IGNOU Study material.p.75-76
2. Correia, A.M.R. 2002. Information literacy for an active
and effective citizenship : a white
paper prepared for UNESCO. US National
Commission on Libraries and Information
Science and National Forum on Information
Literacy.
3.Medawar, Charles. The social Audit Consumer Handbook :A
guide to Social responsibilities
of
Business to the consumer. Mac Million.1976
4.Public Library.Unit-2.Master
Degree on Library and Information Science-106 IGNOU study
material.p.30-35
5.Bunch,A.1982. Community
Information service: their origin, scope and development.
London: Clive Bingley.
6.M.Phil programme in Library and Information Science.
University of Kalyani.p.4-5
7.Bunch,A.1982. Community
Information service: their origin, scope and development.
London: Clive Bingley
