{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,4]],"date-time":"2026-05-04T00:25:43Z","timestamp":1777854343675,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[1998,12,1]],"date-time":"1998-12-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":912470400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Journal of Information Science"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1998,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    <jats:bold>Daniel Bell is recognised to be the foremost writer on the information society.                     The paper expounds his writings in detail, showing their development from the                     1960s to the 1990s. It is argued that his position has always contained three                     distinguishable strands or elements: one relating to the post-industrial                     information workforce, a second dealing with information flows (particularly                     scientific knowledge), and a third concerning computers and the information                     revolution. Bell\u2019s information society thesis is best understood as a                     synthesis of these elements. His arguments are also evaluated. It is suggested                     that the information economy element is not satisfactorily supported by the                     evidence cited and that his emphasis on theoretical knowledge may also be                     excessive. As regards Bell\u2019s account of information technology, his                     position shifted from a technocratic preoccupation with mainframes to an                     uncritical enthusiasm for the micro-computer. In spite of such shortcomings,                     Bell\u2019s synthetic information society thesis is the strongest available.<\/jats:bold>\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/016555159802400601","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2004,12,17]],"date-time":"2004-12-17T20:36:35Z","timestamp":1103315795000},"page":"373-393","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Daniel Bell\u2019s theory of the information society"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"A. S.","family":"Duff","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Napier University, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[1998,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_1_1_1","volume-title":", The NeoConservatives: The Men Who are Changing America\u2019s                 Politics","author":"P. Steinfels","year":"1979","unstructured":"[1] P. Steinfels , The NeoConservatives: The Men Who are Changing America\u2019s Politics ( Simon and Schuster, New York , 1979)."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_2_1","first-page":"39","article-title":"The hundred most influential books since the war","year":"1995","unstructured":"[2] The hundred most influential books since the war , The Times Literary Supplement (6 October 1995) 39 .","journal-title":"The Times Literary Supplement"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_3_1","volume-title":"Daniel Bell","author":"M. Waters","year":"1996","unstructured":"[3] M. Waters , Daniel Bell ( Routledge, London , 1996)."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1108\/EUM0000000007200"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9780203991367"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_6_1","volume-title":"Tendencies and Tensions of the Information Age: The Production and                     Distribution of Information in the United States","author":"J.R. Schement","year":"1995","unstructured":"[6] J.R. Schement and T. Curtis , Tendencies and Tensions of the Information Age: The Production and Distribution of Information in the United States ( Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, NJ , 1995)."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_7_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/BF02017335"},{"key":"e_1_2_1_8_1","volume-title":"Into the Future: The Foundations of Library and Information Services in                     the Post-Industrial Era","author":"M.H. Harris","year":"1993","unstructured":"[8] M.H. Harris and S.A. Hannah , Into the Future: The Foundations of Library and Information Services in the Post-Industrial Era ( Ablex, Norwood, NJ , 1993)."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_9_1","volume-title":"The Production and Distribution of Knowledge in the United States","author":"F. Machlup","year":"1962","unstructured":"[9] F. 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Bell , The Coming of Post-Industrial Society: A Venture in Social Forecasting ( Heinemann Educational Books, London , 1974). First published by Basic Books, New York, 1973."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_14_1","unstructured":"[14] D. Bell Letter to the author 12 February 1996."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_15_1","unstructured":"[15] D. Bell Letter to the author 12 August 1996."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_16_1","unstructured":"[16] D. Bell Letter to the author 16 October 1996."},{"key":"e_1_2_1_17_1","first-page":"24","article-title":"Notes on the post-industrial society (1)","volume":"6","author":"D. Bell","year":"1967","unstructured":"[17] D. Bell , Notes on the post-industrial society (1) , The Public Interest 6 (Winter 1967) 24-35 .","journal-title":"The Public Interest"},{"issue":"1","key":"e_1_2_1_18_1","first-page":"1","article-title":"Technocracy and politics","volume":"17","author":"D. Bell","year":"1971","unstructured":"[18] D. 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