Globalisation, Information and Libraries: The Implications of the World Trade Organisation's GATS and TRIPS Agreements (Chandos Series for Information Professionals)

This book provides an overview of the World Trade Organisation; in particular, it focuses on two of the agreements being developed at the WTO, which are due to be strengthened in 2005, and are likely to have significant implications for libraries and information: the General Agreement on Trade in Services (the GATS) and the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). The book argues that the library and information profession needs to be more aware of these agreements and the way in which they threaten some of the professional ethics and principles (such as the balance in copyright).* Explores a vital and very new, much undiscovered area - the WTO and libraries * Brings together facts about globalisation and the WTO, libraries and information, within a wider social and theoretical perspective * Draws on the author's wealth of knowledge - building on her many published articles on this topic Content: Front matter , Pages i-iii Copyright , Page iv Dedication , Page v Foreword , Pages xiii-xiv Acknowledgements , Pages xv-xxi List of abbreviations , Pages xxiii-xxvi About the author , Page xxvii 1 - Introduction , Pages 1-6 2 - Globalisation and an overview of the WTO , Pages 9-32 3 - An overview of the GATS , Pages 35-47 4 - The GATS, libraries, information and cultural services within an international perspective , Pages 49-101 5 - Real-life examples of how the GATS is impacting on libraries in the UK , Pages 103-160 6 - Positions taken by various library and cultural bodies on the GATS , Pages 161-184 7 - An outline of the WTO’s Agreement on TRIPS , Pages 187-205 8 - TRIPS, copyright, libraries and information , Pages 207-234 9 - TRIPS, patents, traditional knowledge, information and libraries in the developing world , Pages 235-254 10 - Implications of TRIPS for information and libraries internationally , Pages 255-287 11 - Implications of GATS and TRIPS: an Open Marxist approach , Pages 291-313 12 - The furtherance of global capitalism through the WTO , Pages 315-329 13 - Conclusions , Pages 331-336 Bibliography , Pages 337-367 Index of authors , Pages 369-371 Index of places and organisations , Pages 373-378 Index of subjects , Pages 379-393 Globalisation and an overview of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) - the meaning of globalisation; general overview of the WTO. -- The GATS - the agreement itself and the implications of the GATS for the library and information profession; review of various aspects of the GATS as it relates to libraries and information in a variety of different countries; the practical implications of the GATS for libraries in the UK (particularly the state-funded provision of libraries). -- TRIPS - the agreement itself; implications of TRIPS for libraries and information (particularly whether TRIPS is essentially about the trading of intellectual property rights). -- The knowledge revolution - the author argues that value is increasingly being created and extracted from services, knowledge, information, intangible assets and intellectual property rights. Furthermore, that these WTO agreements assist with this process. -- Conclusion: the furtherance of global capitalism through the WTO