Wissenskluefte. Von (Null) Mengen und (Un) Summen - Leerstand und Fülle in der Informationsgesellschaft

The article is based on a presentation on the occasion of a public lecture at the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences within a series of lecture dealing with the theme “emptiness and abundance” in day-to-day live in the state of Brandenburg . In this text empty stacks in university libraries are confronted with the prosperity of the so called information society. We never had more scientific publications than today and information resources as well as information technology never was so widespread than now. Nevertheless recent studies not only prove the existence of a digital divide between Eastern and Western Germany but also show the increased need for information literacy amongst students and professors throughout the whole country. But neither national information policy nor local strategies from university libraries remedy to the problem of the divide between information abundance and increasing lack of information literacy. It is shown that most students and academics learn in an autodidactic way by trial and error. The article therefore argues for national licences for qualitative information resources instead of scarce individual user training