INFORMATION RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM RESOURCES, ABUJA, NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1         Background to the study

This study is on “Information Resource Management in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Abuja”. Information is very complex and difficult, as evident in the various definitions and attributes of the concept. Notwithstanding the fact that information is as old as man, and that it affects and is affected by all aspects of human activities, no consensual definition of the word exists in the literature. Available definitions reflect the emphasis and perhaps prejudice of their proponents. Information is a multi-disciplinary concept, it is against this background that Eliss (1999:2) observes that the data processing manager might conceive it in terms of data, the record manager in terms of records and report, the librarian or information scientists in terms of documents or materials and the rural people in terms of message. The foregoing, according to Ajewole (2001:216), had led to the categorization of information definition into three (3) strands. The first is the scientific and technical information (STI). This is within the domain of scientific and technological communities. The second strand is socio-cultural; in this context, information is viewed as knowledge which is transferable in the conduct of various activities. In the final strand, information is perceived as a basic resource and an indispensable and irreplaceable link between a variety of activities, intellectual and material, in the service of society, institutions and individuals. However, within each of these strands, there is no consensual definition of the concept.

Information is the resources which allows us to change and improve the society, we live in, it unfolds man physically, mentally, socially, politically and spiritually. It is a resource for the acquisition of power, it can be used in making national decisions by

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individuals, group of individuals and organizations.

INFORMATION RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM RESOURCES, ABUJA, NIGERIA