Sue Anderson <aq941@cleveland.freenet.edu> (06/24/91)
Below is the final version of our "Infosphere" report summary. We
wish to thank everybody who responded to our original "Save the
Infosphere" posting (and apologize for not being able to respond
personally to everyone). We have incorporated many of your suggestions
with our own ideas to formulate general question areas to which we
will attempt to respond using, whenever possible, existing data. We
also expect that the report will point to many avenues for further
research, particularly in areas where data is simply unobtainable.
Computer networking is often heralded for its capacity to
facilitate collaboration among researchers, scholars, scientists,
authors, etc. We would like to capitalize on this potential...
Therefore, if you have any comments on the summary below, would like
to offer assistance (by making suggestions, locating/supplying
information, or providing funding), or if you want more information,
please feel free to contact us (addresses and phone numbers can be
found at the end of the following summary).
------------------------
The National Public Telecomputing Network
--
Infosphere Report
In 1955 an important transition occurred in American society. In
that year, for the first time, more than half of our work force became
"information workers" -- people whose main activity was producing,
processing, or distributing information, and producing information
technology.
In the 1980's, with the development of low-cost personal computers
and high-powered computerized communications networks, the pace of
that transition both quickened and deepened. For the first time rapid
exchange of information could occur, over globe- spanning distances,
within seconds, at extremely low cost. For the first time also, the
average citizen had on their desktops the means to tap into those
resources from their homes, schools, and workplaces.
Unfortunately, as with many preceding technologies, access to these
resources developed unequally. Some individuals and segments of
society were able to take immediate advantage of it; others were not
(and still are not). The result is a society which appears to be
entering the Information Age the way a child enters an ocean for the
first time--partly in, partly out, partly fearful, partly intrigued,
and not really quite sure what to do next.
This summer and fall, the National Public Telecomputing Network
(NPTN), a nonprofit public computer network headquartered in
Cleveland, Ohio, will be working on its first annual "Infosphere
Report" -- a research project similar to those conducted in areas such
as economics, population growth, and the environment -- which will
attempt to assess the nation's capacity to effectively and equitably
utilize telecomputing as a medium for meeting its information and
communication needs. We are defining the "infosphere" as:
Tthe technical and organizational environment in which the
general public can remotely access computer-mediated
communication and information resources.
We expect that over-time a portrait will emerge which will describe
this nation's progress, with regard to telecomputing, as it encounters
the information age. The report will be cumulative, comparative, and
prescriptive. It will show where we have been, where we are now, what
we are doing well, and where more emphasis is needed.
In general, we see the infosphere as being composed of three
interactive components:
People: The individuals who are (or could be) using the
technology and resources.
Technology: The hardware, software and network connections
needed to access the resources (e.g., computers, modems,
phone lines, network connections, etc.).
Resources: The communication and information facilities
that can (or could be) remotely accessed via computer (e.g.,
databases, archives, electronic mail, computer conferencing).
The Infosphere Report will attempt to gauge our progress with
regard to each of these areas. The first chapter will be an
introduction describing the scope and limitations of the study.
Chapters two through four will address each infosphere component:
people, technology, and resources. Questions that will be addressed
in these chapters include:
People
Who uses the currently available communication and
information resources?
What are the general public's communication/information
needs and desires?
Do they know what's available?
How can they find out about it?
Do they have the knowledge and skills to use it?
Do they have access to the necessary resources to use it?
Technology
What technology exists for accessing communication and
information resources?
What is its availability and cost to the general public?
What are its strengths and weaknesses? (e.g., ease of use,
reliability)
Resources
What remotely accessible communication and information
resources exist?
What are their availability and cost to the general public?
What are their strengths and weaknesses? (e.g., quantity,
quality, appropriateness)
The final chapter of the report will summarize the findings, draw
conclusions, discuss implications, and make recommendations for
improving our nation's ability to make use of telecomputing to
effectively and equitably utilize computer-mediated communication and
information resources.
The principal investigator on the project will be T.M. Grundner,
Ed.D. As an assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University,
Dr. Grundner was an early pioneer in the development of
community-based computerized information services. His "St. Silicon
Project" in 1984 provided the first data on the effectiveness of using
modem equipped microcomputers to deliver community health information.
His Cleveland Free-Net Project in 1986 developed the nation's first
free, open-access, community computer system. As a result of the
success of the Free-Net, in 1989 he founded the National Public
Telecomputing Network to foster the growth of community computer
systems and to link them together into a common nationwide
communications and information network similar to National Public
Radio or PBS on television.
The research coordinator is Sue Anderson, Ed.D. (Cand.). Ms.
Anderson is a doctoral candidate at the University of Virginia with
extensive background in electronic networking and computer
conferencing. She will be supervising a staff of volunteer research
associates from around the country in the development and analysis of
the data for the report.
Persons who are interested in assisting on this project, those
seeking more information in general, and (especially) potential
funding sources wishing to participate in continuing support, should
contact the project at:
The Infosphere Report
National Public Telecomputing Network
Box 1987
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
Voice: 216-368-2733
FAX: 216-368-5436
Internet: aq941@cleveland.freenet.edu (Sue Anderson)
aa001@cleveland.freenet.edu (Tom Grundner)
BITNET: aq941%cleveland.freenet.edu@cunyvm (Sue Anderson)
aa001%cleveland.freenet.edu@cunyvm (Tom Grundner)
CompuServe: 71550,2602 (Sue Anderson)
72135,1536 (Tom Grundner)