Globalisation, Information and Libraries

Part 1 Globalisation and the World Trade Organisation: Globalisation and an overview of the WTO. Part 2 The general agreement on trade in the services: An overview of the GATS; The GATS, libraries, information and cultural services within an international perspective; Real-life examples of how the GATS is impacting on libraries in the UK; Positions taken by various library and cultural bodies on the GATS. Part 3 Agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights: TRIPS, copyright, libraries and information; TRIPS, patents, traditional knowledge, information and libraries in the developing world; Implications of TRIPS for information and libraries internationally. Part 4 An open Marxist theoretical perspective on global capitalism and the World Trade Organisation: Implications of GATS and TRIPS: an Open Marxist approach; The furtherance of global capitalism through the WTO; Conclusions.