The emergence of dissipative structures within information provider organizations

Three system models (closed, open, and dissipative systems) are presented a nd compared with traditional models for the adoption of new technology, and for the operation of information provision centers (e.g., libraries). It i s argued that information provision centers have existed for the last centu ry as closed systems, but are now forced into an open systems paradigm by t echnological and economic environmental factors. A closed, or autopoietic, system is defined as any system whose contact with its environment produces no profound effect on the system. Libraries, in particular, have behaved a s closed systems by maintaining internal structures (e.g., dissemination st ructures, service structures, classification and record structures, etc.), and engineering-based scientific Principles to perform four basic functions : to (i) select; (ii) organize; (iii) disseminate; and (iv) preserve inform ation containers (as opposed to information itself). An open system, on the other hand, is one in which the system's environment plays a profound role in the system's development and evolution. It is argued that the relations hip between a library and its environment is increasingly interdependent du e to an increasingly integrated telecommunications infrastructure, and that traditional library functions break down in an open systems paradigm. A di ssipative system is one in which organizations lose identity in order to ad apt rapidly to radical environmental change. Such systems are in constant s earch for means to sustain internal and environmental relationships. Implic ations for LIS education, management of information centers, and the econom ics of information provision are discussed.