György Rózsa: Information: from claims to needs (Joint edition published by the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the Kultura Hungarian Foreign Trading Company. Budapest, 1988)

I. The socio-professional aspects of the development of the scientific information with special regard to social sciences

Another element is the linguistic isolation. This makes the battle for information even harder. Yet the summary answer for the initial question is yes, there is a need for an information policy. In my opinion the need is already there but not the policy. There are separate approaches by the cultural organ of the government, by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, by the National Committee for Technological Development, by the various ministries and by all those who have money and authority. I don't believe in policies, coordinations or cooperations which want to govern only by ideas and adages. Two things are needed above all: money and personal aptitude. Where these two are missing policies cannot be implemented; implementation needs will as well as means but good ideas are not enough. The second series of questions deal with the context of information policy the hows and the wherefores

. Initially we have to realise that there is no uniform model. I do not only think of UNESCO guides and similar vadenrecums but of possible models or examples. Neither in the literature nor in experience have I met a generally acceptable model which could be put in variable use.* There are examples, there are general experiences applicable to particular national cases or/and cultural infrastructures but they are not concerned with information policy which Hungary could adopt. How could still be a general information policy implemented in the Hungarian context? With difficulty. The country is governed by a general political trend it has, moreover, a new economic mechanism which is built on decentralisation. Information policy should be adjoining to that but without schematic decentralisation. This is not to say that in general the new mechanism would not be right. On the contrary: from a flexible economic mechanism certain, adequate partial mechanisms should be evolved. Interest, involvement as motivations should be applied to particular situations as befitting. "Example copying" whereby the model of the economic mechanism should be followed by cultural or information models would be of no avail. Partly, because the limitations of means and expertise require a great concentration in forming an information policy. Here we talk of concentration and not of centralisation. Legislation is not new as regards to Hungarian libraries. But one cannot base a new information policy on old laws, or, according to current regulations. In 1966 the Economic Committee of the Government decided that each economic unit should look after its own information. These are things poles apart: library legislation which does not allow the development of an information policy and individual action whereby each unit would strive to look after its own information. Neither will bring the required results so we have to face an antagonistic situation. On the one hand there is an economic system whose tendency is to rely on firms but, on the other hand there is an apparent system of informations which is to be organised, to be put to use. The latter cannot be divided into units because the money, the machinery and the experts and even other things are lacking. In my opinion concentration and decentralisation need to be combined in evolving an information policy * Confirmed by my work in certain developing countries as commissioned by UNDP/UNESCO.