Access to information is the ability for an individual to seek, receive and impart information effectively.
According to the book, Information and Information Systems, the author Michael Buckland identifies six types of barriers that have to be overcome in order for access to information to be achieved.
They are identification of the source, availability of the source, price of the user, cost to the provider, cognitive access, acceptability.
The identification of source refers to having access to various sources such as bibliography, documentation, classification, indexing, and of information retrieval.
The availability of source is when the inquirer needs to be able to inspect the source or a copy of it. If a source that has been identified cannot be located and made physically available in an acceptable fashion, the inquirer needs to identify another source and made available.
The price of the user is a barrier to access and it indicates what the would-be user must expend to use the service.
This may include but restricted to money, time, effort and discomfort. Apart from that, it is also noted that the price may include the effort of learning to use difficult and user-unfriendly system.
The cost to the provider denotes what has to be expended by the providers of service.
The providers of service may incur expenditure of effort, money, space, or inconvenience, the arrangement would have been acceptable to or, at least, not incompatible with their view of their role, mission, and values.
Cognitive access is when physical access has been achieved, and the inquirer has the sufficient expertise to understand it.
This would require explanation and education. Explanation would involve additional interpretation of the source such as translation, if the existing source is in a foreign language or an explanation by someone with more expertise, either on an informal basis or by the creation of a new summary that is easier to understand.
Education may involve consulting a dictionary, an encyclopaedia, or someone who has the requisite expertise, and may then be able to understand the source.
Acceptability denotes two related issues.
First, inquirers may be reluctant to accept a particular source as credible, regarding it with suspicion. Second, the inquirer may be unwilling to accept the evidence of the source because of what it signifies and it may be conflicting with other beliefs.
