"The term 'open society' has come into use in recent times. Are public libraries essential components of open societies? Why, or why not?"
A public library which provides free and open access to information and differing points of view, is an essential component of an open society. To be an open society people need to feel safe expressing different viewpoints. A public library should be a place where someone regardless of race, age, wealth or beliefs can have open access to information and feel safe doing so. The main role of a public library in an open society is to uphold this ideal.
What is an open society?
The concept of an 'open society' was first originated by philosopher Henri Bergson and then popularized by Karl Popper. Born in Austria to parents of Jewish origins, Popper's childhood watching the rise of Nazism and his teenage experimentation with Marxism influenced his later writings. He wrote his 1945 book "The Open Society and Its Enemies" while in exile in New Zealand during World War Two.
Popper believed that "nobody has access to the ultimate truth; our understanding of the world is imperfect, and a perfect society is unattainable." Therefore, he hypothesized, the best option is an open society-a society that realises its politics is imperfect but it is open for continual improvement and new ideas. In an open society a plurality of viewpoints and ideas are valued and encouraged. The opposite of an open society is a closed society that believes its way of doing things is the best and only way and is not open to criticism or a different way of doing things.
A democracy is not automatically an open society. However, a democracy as we know it in the modern western world is probably the closest thing to an open society we have. In the words of Winston Churchill:
"Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this...
More Library & Information Science
essays:
Brave New World Essay
... the society, making them want to have sex as often and openly as possible. These citizens are slaves to the programming they have been given, and yet they are happy. In the words of the ... Mr. Henry Ford, which is the equivalent of the bible to the World Controller. These two books ...
Civil War Cell phones.
... an enemy sniper could easily hit it, crippling the communication of a unit. Delivering messages on horseback was not always practical. Some commanders, especially lower ranking commanders, did not have the immediate access to ...
Information Literacy, what it is, why we need it, why is it important. paper demonstrates students ability to comprehend the concepts of infromation literacy.
... literacy; most would be cheap manual labor and other sorts of menial jobs. Information literacy and information technology are ingrained into our societies globally. Therefore as students it would be impossible for us ...
The Globe and Mail newspaper: Reasons why people choose this particular newspaper.
... , "The Globe and Mail" seems to be the perfect informational source for business people. Every part of this newspaper reflects the world from the point of view of successful reach person. News articles are short and self-explanatory; business section consists ...
Review of The 1982 Official Information Act in New Zealand.
... All public servants had to sign an oath of secrecy. In the twentieth century there was a movement amongst western nations towards a more open government ... be in a physical format. The Ombudsman takes the former viewpoint. What is "information held"? The Act specifically refers to "information ...
A Brief History of Library Automation
... in library circulation and acquisitions. During the 30's and early 40's progress on computer systems was slow which is not surprising, given the Depression and World War II ... the public access catalog. When exploring the history of library automation ...
Madhu Chetty & Rajkumar Buyya, "Weaving Computational Grids: How Analogous Are They with Electrical Grids?"
... abilities of individuals and communities to fully participate in society[6]. Consideration of technological ... nor telephone poles erected nor expensive wiring strung, so no public works entity needs to build the infrastructure. On the other ...
Cataloging
... line Public Access Catalogs began to be used extensively the 1980s. Libraries started to set-up and purchase their own computer systems as well as connect with other established library networks. Many of these ...