Insuchachanging,complexsocietyformerlysimplesolutionstoinformationalneedsbecomecomplicated.Manyoflife'sproblemswhichweresolvedbyaskingfamilymembers,friendsorcolleaguesarebeyondthecapabilityoftheextendedfamilytoresolve.Wheretoturnforexpertinformationandhowtodeterminewhichexpertadvicetoacceptarequestionsfacingmanypeopletoday.
Addingtosocietalchangestodayisanenormousstockpileofinformation.Theindividualnowhasmoreinformationavailablethananygeneration,andthetaskoffindingthatonepieceofinformationrelevanttohisorherspecificproblemiscomplicated,time-consumingandsometimesevenoverwhelming.
Coupledwiththegrowingquantityofinformationisthedevelopmentoftechnologieswhichenablethestorageanddeliveryofmoreinformationwithgreaterspeedtomorelocationsthanhaseverbeenpossiblebefore.Computertechnologymakesitpossibletostorevastamountsofdatainmachine-readablefiles,andtoprogramcomputerstolocatespecificinformation.Telecommunicationsdevelopmentsenablethesendingofmessagesviatelevision,radio,andveryshortly,electronicmailtobombardpeoplewithmultitudesofmessages.Sateliteshaveextendedthepowerofcommunicationstoreporteventsattheinstantofoccurrence.Expertisecanbesharedworldwidethroughteleconferencing,andproblemsindisputecanbesettledwithouttheparticipantsleavingtheirhomesandorjobstotraveltoadistantconferencesite.Technologyandfacilitetedthesharingofinformationandthestorsgeanddeliveryofinformation,thusmakingmoreinformationavailabletomorepeople.
Inthisworldofchangeandcomplexity,theneedforinformationisofgreatestimportance.Thosepeoplewhohaveaccurate,reliableup-to-dateinformationtosolvetheday-to-dayproblems,thecriticalproblemsoftheirbusiness,socialandfamilylife,willsurviveandsucced."Konwledgeispower"maywellbethetruestsayingsndaccesstoinformationmaybethemostcriticalrequirementofallpeople.