The information enfranchisement of the digital consumer Eti Herman Information and Library Studies Programme, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel, and David Nicholas CIBER (Centre for Information Behaviour and the Evaluation of Research), Department of Information Studies, University College London, London, UK Abstract Purpose – Aiming to ensure that everyone obtains the rich rewards available in today’s information-centred society, this paper sets out to explore how the curious problem of “information malnutrition” in an era of plenty might be overcome to bring about the true information enfranchisement of today’s enthusiastic digital consumer. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the insights gained from research projects involving hundreds of thousands of people, the paper first analyses the whys, wherefores, implications, effects and challenges of the “information malnutrition” problem and then proceeds to investigate the ways and means for its holistic solution. Findings – Although in today’s information-saturated world people have vast amounts of information at their beck and call, their myriad information needs often go unmet. Fortunately, changing this picture of ineffectual information consumption is quite feasible. The key to it all is achieving a nuanced understanding of people’s idiosyncratic needs through ongoing assessment, utilising the analytical framework offered up for the purpose by the authors. It falls to information professionals, then, to see to the true information enfranchisement of the digital consumer, for it is their proclaimed mission to ensure that people’s information needs are handled effectively. This can be done directly, via the proficient planning and delivery of information provision, but also indirectly, by spreading professional thinking and practices to those who insist on sorting out their information needs on their own. Originality/value – The paper offers a new approach to the much-debated problem of ensuring that people really benefit from the information abundance that is available to them, which is firmly grounded in theory, but, nevertheless, highly practical. Keywords Generation and dissemination of information, Information profession, Digital libraries, User studies Paper type Conceptual paper Introduction: the curious problem of “information malnutrition” in an era of plenty Citizens of today’s postmodernist knowledge society seem to crave information to an extent that is surely unparalleled in the history of mankind. This is hardly surprising, of course, for competent decision-making in our era of plurality of values, diversity, change and meltdown of authorities is so very much knowledge- and information-contingent. Indeed, with the key to success in all walks of life popularly – and rightly – held to be knowledge constantly updated and refreshed by new information, we all forever find ourselves in information-need situations. Under these The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0001-253X.htm Information enfranchisement 245 Received 2 February 2010 Revised 20 February 2010 Accepted 4 March 2010 Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives Vol. 62 No. 3, 2010 pp. 245-260 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0001-253X DOI 10.1108/00012531011046899