Information Policy and Hong Kong Schools: A review of the literature and preliminary benchmarking of practice

Abstract

A review of the literature surrounding information policy suggests it is often discussed but it is not clear that it is understood. The policy governing the creation and dissemination of information has existed a long time, but policy development has changed because of the proliferation of resources via the Internet. The concepts of information and policy and the difficulty in defining them are presented. Typical school information policies are discussed in the context of policy development in Hong Kong. The implications of a lack of information policy for schools and school libraries are weighty considering that schools play an important part in the information cycle for students. Reference is made of the author’s study to benchmark the existence of information policies in Hong Kong schools.