This course focuses on the role of information and knowledge management in society. Definitions and multi-disciplinary perspectives on information and knowledge are explored. The course addresses issues of developing and maintaining effective information infrastructures that will enhance effective use of knowledge in a globalised world. Changing notions about the value of information in society are set within historical and cultural contexts and the newer technological factors that shape the use of information in today's world. Practical, social and ethical implications are examined using a range of views about the economic, political and cultural roles of information and recent studies of knowledge generation and use in corporations, government and educational and research environments. Knowledge management as a factor in organizational change and development, and as a catalyst for innovation, is discussed. The course also provides an introduction to the implications of copyright law, intellectual property rights and owernship of intellectual products on information use and education.