| As the global economy becomes increasingly interconnected via a global information infrastructure, more knowledge is needed about political and cultural differences in the use of information technologies. Information infrastructures are a complex arrangement of people, technology, institutions, content, and conduits. In this study, I examine the assumptions, meanings, and definitions associated with information infrastructure in four Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. In particular, I focus on how one social actor, the library community, frames the debates and positions itself with respect to the development of information infrastructures.; In-depth interviews were conducted with key library policy-makers in the four countries. Forty-nine (49) respondents from thirty-seven (37) institutions participated in this study. I used frame analysis and framing techniques to organize respondents' discourse and find storylines about their understanding of the topic investigated.; Issues raised by respondents are strikingly similar across countries, such as the adoption and use of information technologies, governance and funding, cooperation and resource sharing, people and attitudes, users and services. Respondents deemed most essential the need to establish a climate of cooperation and new organizational relationships in the social, political and economic transition of their countries. Commonalities and differences between countries were identified along four dimensions: centralization vs. decentralization, individual vs. collective goals, product vs. process orientation, and global vs. local considerations. The typology of cooperation models devised (‘artificial,’ ‘contested,’ ‘directed,’ and ‘voluntary’ cooperation) raises questions about the exogenous vs. endogenous forces that contribute to adoption and use of information technologies, and the extent to which foreign agencies and philanthropic foundations shape the development of information infrastructure in a given country.; While adding to our scholarly understanding of cooperation and institutional change within libraries in the CEE countries studied, this study also sheds light on the potential of framing and frame analysis for library and information science (LIS) research. |
