The information society deals with major changes in the information landscape. With technology advancements means the way information is stored, accessed, communicated and used in everyday life is continually changing and adapting to meet the new developments. Therefore the information landscape is continually evolving.
Webster (2014) describes five key elements to define the information society, these are technological, economic, occupational, spatial and cultural. These key areas define how changes in the information landscape affect information processing, wealth, the way we work, information networking and how much information is available to us compared to the past.

It’s important to have an understanding of the information landscape because we are living in the information age. We have more information available to us then ever before, in fact we are constantly being bombarded with information. To have an understanding of the information landscape helps us to determine what is authentic and reliable and what is bias and misleading.

The information landscape affects your role as a teacher librarian as when resourcing the curriculum you are therefore aware of what is available to you. It also helps you to understand the world view of the students you are teaching. Children today are growing up not knowing a time where information was not at their fingertips. They are growing up in a wired society where everything is easily available is every format and on every device at any time. It helps you as a teacher to show students how to choose wise information sources and develop skills in them for further learning.

References

Webster, F. (2014). Theories of the information society. 4th ed. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.