We are in the middle of a digital information revolution. Information storage is moving from sheaves of paper in dusty cabinets to code and electrons in a vast digital world. In Canada, the movement to digitize health records is gaining momentum in spite of fears and resistance. Digital Information Revolution Changes in Canada: E-Government Design, the Battle against Illicit Drugs, and Health Care Reform lays out the benefits of digitizing health records, including the possibilities of new approaches to deal with the public health scourge of drug abuse. The book discusses the challenges that need to be overcome for widespread adoption of digitization, such as concerns from physicians and the general public. The particular intricacies of the Canadian federal system make the challenge all the more difficult. This calls for a strong federal government response. All of us at one time or another will deal with the health care system. As this book shows, this system is to be shaped by technology in the future. Readers will gain unique insights from this book into what is normally kept behind closed conference room doors, and they will be better equipped to make informed decisions about their health care and personal information in the future.

In the first major study of postwar social movement organizations in Canada, Dominique Clément provides a history of the human rights movement as seen through the eyes of two generations of activists. Drawing on newly acquired archival sources, extensive interviews, and materials released through access to information applications, Clément explores the history of four organizations that emerged in the sixties and evolved into powerful lobbies for human rights despite bitter internal disputes and intense rivalries. This book offers a unique perspective on infamous human rights controversies and argues that the idea of human rights has historically been highly statist while grassroots activism has been at the heart of the most profound human rights advances.

World-renowned economist Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, explains that we have an opportunity to shape the fourth industrial revolu­tion, which will fundamentally alter how we live and work. Schwab argues that this revolution is different in scale, scope and complexity from any that have come before. Characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the developments are affecting all disciplines, economies, industries and governments, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human. Artificial intelligence is already all around us, from supercomputers, drones and virtual assistants to 3D printing, DNA sequencing, smart thermostats, wear­able sensors and microchips smaller than a grain of sand. But this is just the beginning: nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than a strand of hair and the first transplant of a 3D printed liver are already in development. Imagine “smart factories” in which global systems of manu­facturing are coordinated virtually, or implantable mobile phones made of biosynthetic materials. The fourth industrial revolution, says Schwab, is more significant, and its ramifications more profound, than in any prior period of human history. He outlines the key technologies driving this revolution and discusses the major impacts expected on government, business, civil society and individu­als. Schwab also offers bold ideas on how to harness these changes and shape a better future—one in which technology empowers people rather than replaces them; progress serves society rather than disrupts it; and in which innovators respect moral and ethical boundaries rather than cross them. We all have the opportunity to contribute to developing new frame­works that advance progress.

The history of Canada can seem like a subject as large and expansive as the country itself, and for those of us who haven’t attended a history class in a while, it may just feel too big to tackle. Academic histories full of footnotes and jargon aren’t for everyone, but everyone deserves to know the history of the country they call home. Direct but never dry, historian James M. Roth starts at the country’s geographical beginnings at the end of the last Ice Age and weaves Canada’s tale from there. From contrasting early New World civilization against established Old World tradition; contextualizing Indigenous history within the rest of Canadian history; explaining today’s complex relationships between English and French Canadians with a play by play analysis of events; giving meaning to countless social and political movements by looking at the bigger picture; and covering everything else in between in commuter-length chapters, Canada: The First 20,000 Years is a history book for the everyday Canadian.

Currently, little is known about library experience and success in providing Internet-based services to library patrons. Some studies conducted in the United States indicate that this is an area of great uncertainty, into which libraries are hesitant to venture. Issues such as planning, budgeting and costs, and types of services are some of the areas of concern. World Libraries on the Information Superhighway: Preparing for the Challenges of the New Millennium explores issues of Internet-based services in libraries and provides practitioners and educators with examples of libraries that have achieved success in this important emerging information area.