In keeping with the need for balance and concerns for the future, and coexisting with corporate governance and social responsibility principles, is the concept of sustainability. The word sustainability is derived from the Latin sustinere ( tenere , to hold; sus , up) and is ‘the capacity to endure’. In other words it is the ability of the information service and its parent organization to:

• tolerate and survive in continuously changing and challenging circumstances; • ensure the long-term maintenance of well-being, which in turn depends on the well-

being of the natural world and the responsible use of natural resources; and, in support of these

• make decisions and manage programmes and projects in a manner that maximizes benefits to the natural environment, humans and their cultures and communities, while maintaining or enhancing financial viability.