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Describes the extended information services to be provided to members of the Institute of Management from 2000 when full‐text databases of management and marketing literature will be available in a new Web‐based format.

The role of information within management is in a state of dramatic transformation. Managers must grasp and act on the implications of this change if they are to maintain their competitive position both corporately and as individuals. Information technology continues to develop at an exponential rate. But it is only an extension of what has gone before, and should be understood and used in this light. Vastly more information relevant to managers is now accessible than ever before, particularly through the use of electronic databases and networks. A selective listing of major business information databases is provided. Individual managers, whatever their function, must learn to take full advantage of the information resources available to them, and do so continuously as part of their management techniques. Organisations must develop an information strategy and corporate structure which ensures the fullest use of internal and external resources. The position of the librarian within this overall task remains well‐placed, although his relevance and role remain very much a question for his own initiative.

Adopting IT would usually imply implementing and applying some form of equipment for staff to use in order to achieve the objectives of the organization. Equipment would usually imply some form of computer hardware in possibly a local area network configuration, or perhaps a wide area network. In the past this may have been the cabling of dumb terminals located at the workplace to a central mainframe or minicomputer. In the future this may involve the networking of the new, exciting 486 processor with microcomputers in a more decentralized configuration. The 486 processor may well have quite a far‐reaching impact not only on what staff can do and how they do it, but also on the DP/MIS/IT departments, as well as on the organization's budget.

In Information: The Key to Effective Management published by MCB University Press (1989, ISBN 0 86176 443 9), Bob Norton and Malcolm Peel argue that the role of information within management is in the throes of dramatic transformation. It is vital that managers act on the implications of this change if they are to maintain their market position. While information technology continues to expand at an experiential rate, it is an extension of what has gone before and should be understood in this light. Managers need to learn to take advantage of the resources available to them in order to remain well placed — yet they suggest that the librarian is still well positioned within the overall situation.

Britain has Information Technology. On‐line continues to dominate information‐think. Conferences on IT and business information abound. Databases continue to multiply and target the businessman direct. But who is actually using them?

Outlines Leavitt′s Diamond, which postulates that it is rare for any change to occur in isolation. Of four interdependent variables – tasks, structure, technology, and people – change to only one or two of the variables will cause problems. Applies Leavitt′s theory to the changes which have taken place in the Management Information Centre of the British Institute of Management over the past ten years, which included relocation, computerization and charging, all of which impacted on services immediately. Changes to the organization structure took place only much later. The case study also shows the impact on staff and services when structure becomes the first of the variables to be changed and concludes with some comments on the significance of management style in managing change.

One of the major areas of concern of information management is the collective use, exchange and development of the information activities of the organization in order to achieve its objectives. For this to be effective, either information management will require the right kind of environment or culture in which to operate, or it will have to be instrumental in creating that culture. An organization's culture is shaped by many factors — history, experience, values, beliefs, successes, failures, the environment in which it operates, and the personalities which lead it. Culture, however, cannot be precisely defined because it is something that is perceived, something that is felt. It also has much to do with the way people are managed. Information management can have an impact on the organization's culture although the opposite is more often the case especially in terms of organizational structure, the distribution of power, the organization's image, the style of the chief officer, risk‐taking and change, secrecy and openness and the way people work together and cooperate, or don't. Information management is also about how people interact with systems. There are, in brief, two contrasting ways in which this can happen; one which puts systems first, the other which puts people first. Evidence is now growing that people must come first and can no longer work in purely mechanistic ways in which they become data‐processors on number‐crunchers. An ideal working culture may be one where people can develop satisfactorily with the systems to which they contribute but which do not put them in a straitjacket. How can this be achieved? What kinds of culture generally exist within organizations? Are there any types of culture which may be more conducive and receptive to information management? Similarly, can the culture of an organization be changed? Can it be managed?

It is generally assumed by those collecting and producing information that the results of their labours will actually be used by someone.