Information Management in the Voluntary Sector

Citation

Turner, R. (2000), "Information Management in the Voluntary Sector", New Library World, Vol. 101 No. 5, pp. 243-247. https://doi.org/10.1108/nlw.2000.101.5.243.3

This substantial collection of essays on various aspects of the voluntary sector (aka charities or not‐for‐profit organisations) is much more than a handbook for information professionals working therein. It is more of a textbook for anyone interested in general management or in the voluntary sector as a whole.

The editors have tried very hard to structure the varied contributors into three sections: the context of information management within the voluntary sector; technical and professional issues for information workers; six practical case studies. Both of the editors are consultants and this tends to give the work the feel of a rather aloof academic exercise. Each contributory chapter is excellent, but there is an overall impression of the editors trying to fit articles into their structure, rather than producing a work made up of clearly defined components. The fact that some of the contributors are information workers in the voluntary sector, while others are management consultants, means that there is confusion about whom the book might be suitable for.

The opening section on the context of the voluntary sector deals with what the sector is, financial reporting, managing change, information work, policy and international perspectives. Some of these will be of interest to the information worker on the front line; others, quite obviously, are more of a general management interest.

Much more useful to the information worker is the second section on technical and professional issues. This includes managing the service, user services, developing new products and services, bibliographic control, automation, staffing issues and marketing the service.

The six case studies of Leonard Cheshire (archiving), Christian Aid (evaluation), NSPCC (automation), Alcohol Concern (Web pages), Charities Aid Foundation (information auditing) and the Children’s Rights Information Network (international dissemination of information) are extremely interesting in demonstrating the particular issues they cover.

There is also a useful list of main gateway Web sites for voluntary organisations, adequate index and biographical information about the contributors.

In general, there is much of interest to the information professional in this book, although it is much more about management in the voluntary sector than purely about information management. The section on technical issues makes this significant for the information professional working in the voluntary sector. The case studies will also be of great interest, although they could be appendices to what might be a more useful comprehensive book on the practical management of an information unit in the voluntary sector.