"We need to develop a creative, knowledge-driven economy within a learning society in which information is used by everyone in all walks of life." 
So said the Library and Information Commission in its document, 'Keystone for the Information Age', published to coincide with the conference of the same name.

The Commission re-states its call for a UK National Information Policy (NIP), first announced in 1997. The difference is that this time it is urgent, for the UK to be able to compete in the global information age, and take advantage of 'unparalleled economic opportunities.'

The document gives a concise description of what such a policy should do. For a taste of what people out there are thinking, the conference drew together people from the library and information, IT and records management sectors, from Government bodies, and from national and international policy organisations. Organised jointly by the British Council, the Library Association (LA) and the Library and Information Commission (LIC), its main aims were to raise awareness of how such a policy can be developed, and identify the contribution of the library and information sector.

Defining what the 'keystone' should be was never really on the agenda. In fact, summing up, the LA's Bob McKee felt that we were in a building site, with bricks scattered in random array and no architect's plans to follow.

Why we need a National Information Policy
Opening the conference, David Green of the British Council raised the spectre of Borges' 'Imperfect Librarian', doomed to wander in a giant labyrinth. We are a bit like that today – faced with the great labyrinth that is the Internet, no-one knows where the route is leading. After this conference we 
would have a better map for our journey. 

And Bendick Rugaas, Norway's National Librarian, said: "We have never had so much information but never before was it so difficult to get at." We need machines to access it, after all.

What would it do?
A National Information Policy would, said the LIC's Chris Batt: 

• integrate public information/knowledge systems and networks;
• provide seamless access for the end-user;
• provide a framework for growing the e-economy; and
• get the message about its value across.

However the clearest reasons for an NIP were given by three speakers with a global view: Kelly McNamara from the World Bank Institute, Norway's Bendick Rugaas, and Bob Willard, Executive Director of the United States Commission on Libraries and Information Science (NCLIS).

McNamara gave us 'Eight Commandments for building an information economy'.  The final, and most crucial, was: 'Remember, its all about improving lives.'  "If we don't give people the tools and strategies to access information that 
lets them lead better lives, then the Internet economy is just a distraction." he said. 

Bendick repeated that the reason we were doing this is for issues of human rights and what is best for society - he reminded us of the 'Right to Know' slogan of the ALA some years ago.

Willard raised three crucial questions to bear in mind when policy-making: is time/money saved?; is health advanced?; is knowledge improved? The US cross-subsidy system in which one dollar on telephone bills goes to schools and libraries was the largest ever infusion of new money into these institutions. And everybody wins: the value of a system rises in proportion to the number of its users, therefore it is in everyone's interest to help schools, libraries and health clinics to access the Internet.

Back to the UK perspective, was it by chance that Chris Batt listed crucial areas of policy for consideration in the following order: lifelong learning; ICT as a catalyst for social change; social inclusion; and, economic development? 

Inclusivity has to go hand-in-hand with wealth creation. Crucially, McNamara's fourth commandment, 'Don't forget about poverty and equality; technology doesn't care about them.' was followed by: 'Don't forget private sector innovation is the engine of the knowledge economy.'

However, Patrick Conway from Durham County Council felt the need to challenge Arts Minister Alan Howarth for stressing e-commerce to the detriment of social issues. Somewhat heady with the news of e-businesses set to knock bluechip companies out of the ftse100, his overview of DCMS involvement in the information age did seem a little commerce-heavy. "Britain is to lead the knowledge economy, and a knowledge society to reap the challenges and benefits of a knowledge economy," he announced. Predicted revenue from e-commerce stands at £10b, he informed us. But he did go on to emphasise the conference's '3 Cs': "We need to develop an information policy based on connectivity, content and competence... enabling those things that enrich the quality of life," and the need to address the 'digital divide', defined as not just those who had no access to electronic information but who felt that for them, it has nothing to offer.

What building blocks do we have already in place?
The Government's commitment to the 'Information Age' and 'joined-up Government' in working across departments is a good start for a co-ordinated national policy approach. There is even a 'metadata working group' and the Department of Trade and Industry's 'content forum'.

Simon Barrington, currently on secondment from BT to the Governments CentralIT Unit, talked about the co-ordination of public information provision. He quoted four guiding principles of e-government: 

• to meet consumer needs;
• to increase choice;
• to make sure everyone is included; and
• to make sure government uses information better.

"Libraries have a key role to deliver on most of this agenda," he added.

The Public Records Office (PRO) is aiming for all records to be created, accessible and retrievable in electronic format, by 2004. "Accessibility across Government departments depends on good quality records management," said Gervase Hood of the PRO. Other specific PRO responses to the digital agenda include a National Digital Archive of Databases, and 'The Learning 
Curve' – digitisation of images and texts about historical documents relating to the National Curriculum for schoolchildren to use online. 

And we have the draft EC copyright Directive, which aims to protect the rights of holders of material going online, whilst preserving the exemptions to make sure certain elements of society are not left behind in access to 
electronic information. Anthony Murphy, of the Patents Office Copyright Directorate, stressed a need for improving the public awareness of intellectual property.

Closer to home, we now have the Museums Libraries and Archives Council (MLAC), which will see the start of a more co-ordinated cross-sector approach to policy formation, exemplified perfectly by the LIC 's 'Empowering the 
Learning Community' report to DCMS and DfEE, released during the Keystone conference. This urges public and educational libraries to work together to improve information services.

We also have the new unified Library Association/Institute of Information Scientists waiting in the wings to take on the roles of lobbyist and major formulator of information policy.

A far as connectivity goes, of course we have the People's Network, what Alan Howarth referred to as part of the 'blueprint' for an NIP. Chris Batt added that the networking landscape has also produced SuperJanet/DNER; National 
Grid for Learning; the Capital Modernisation Fund; the National electronic Library for Health; the University for Industry; and TheNorthEast.com (and other similar regional resources). 

As for examples of co-ordinated policy in practice, we have Digital Scotland - the synchronised information policy being formulated with the aid of multiple task groups and much lobbying of MSPs. There is also Information for Health, committed to such strategies as lifelong electronic records, 24-hour access to patient records, and clinical knowledge; public online access; and a single nationwide Web site host. Veronica Fraser, NHS Library Adviser, reminded us of progress so far including NHS Direct Online; an Education and Training strategy; and a Prototype National Electronic Library of Health. 

And, not least, we have Tony Blair. With the benefit of a view from afar, Bob Willard reminded us: "Your Prime Minister is a prime information person; he is making a mark in that area." Willard said that in the US, the NCLIS meets 
only four or five times a year. It has no power, in the sense that it has no money, but what it does have on its side is the power of persuasion. "Keep that in mind," urged Willard. "Who can bring together the strongest thinking and get the message across?"

What we need...
"Money is not a problem, its getting people to accept thinking about the broader landscape and working together," said Chris Batt. "We need shared goals, priorities, and vision; a sustained mechanism for co-operation." 

Is the Government really committed to this? Professor Charles Oppenheim, University of Loughborough, said that although there are 19 Ministers who could influence an NIP, no-one is emerging as a leader, a champion for this cause.

Is the profession committed? Bob Craig thinks so: "To us, it is something of a holy grail. Librarians and information professionals have been pursuing it for 25 years." But in Scotland he was finding difficult to persuade 
politicians: "MSPs are coming to it late...and see it as a very hard thing to sell to the public." Librarians, he said, sometimes ruin debate by going into too much detail. "People want and need simple solutions and convincing that we have what it takes to deliver."

Simon Barrington emphasised this in relation to Government information policy: "The public doesn't want to understand the local/national split, or even differences between Government departments."

From the opposite direction, Carl Clayton of the Sheffield Information Organisation said professional bodies had to avoid a multiplicity of voices when communicating with Government. "We need to put a single message together. If we each retain a right to speak with a single voice, we may lose it."

"We also need sustainable access routes," continued Chris Batt. "...both the physical ability to get to hardware and the educational capabilities to do something with the content when you get there." Tim Owen of the LIC felt that most need would relate to areas of public competence – empowering, training, and information literacy.

But, overall, 'Content is king' according to the last of McNamara's eight Commandments. Many speakers agreed: "Content is the only thing that matters in the long term. How to develop it, co-ordinate it, and preserve it." said Chris Batt.

We need interoperability – the ability to share content between services, and between services and users, without special tools. Lorcan Dempsey, imminent Director of the Distributed National Electronic Resource (DNER), said we need an agreed way of describing resource types. "Without this we will drown in a sea of unknown data of unknown quality."

One important area which was neglected by the conference, said Kim Horwood, of the DtI, was that of identifying the expert skills of the library and information profession, and helping individuals maximise their potential.  Veronica Fraser warned that there are other professions waiting in the wings to do what we can do better.

What are the major concerns?
Copyright and confidentiality will be major concerns. Information in the digital environment now has a formal value where before this was informal, said economist Luc Soete of Maastricht University. "The sector will have to address issues for 'in-between' public/private ownership." 

Bendick Rugaas, in Norway's four-year Kulturnett project, had been much concerned with building a bridge between legislation for legal deposit, and copyright. David Owen, of Share the Vision, thanked him for pointing out that the two need considering together. He also voiced concern at lack of materials in alternative format for blind people, because of copyright-holders.

Charles Oppenheim suggested possible conflict between Government departments: we could see, for instance, that the DtI, pushing to protect copyright of wealth creators, could work against the efforts of the DfEE in its efforts to 
provide materials for the National Grid for Learning. 

Information for Health strategies had brought issues of confidentiality and authentication to the fore, said Veronica Fraser. An agreement has been reached between the Government and the BMA that electronic records will be at 
least as confidential as paper ones. Lorcan Dempsey added that we need technical ways of knowing actors are who they say they are, and that content is what it says it is.

Conclusion
The conference proved that the will to work together is there, and that there are enough characters ready to act as guides, waiting to lead the public forward through the information age.  Now the map-makers have to get down to work.

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