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Be Part of the Encyclopedia of Humankind!

Being a risk taker and a natural-born entrepreneur in spirit, this article on the digital futures for the world of Academia really caught my eye. Here is a mouthful, by author Robert Beard: "Rather than the immutable permanency of hard-copy publishing, electronic publishing allows perpetual perfection." He was, of course, referring to the unlimited possibilities that the Internet offers to educators, for having control over the level of perfection and the up-to-date timeliness of learning methods that they offer. The ability to "re-publish" educational content in order to keep it absolutely up-to-date is, of course, a tremendous benefit of digital technologies. Beard invites us to ponder this: "The Internet has already become the most enormous encyclopedia the world has ever known. In fact, through the Internet, the world is becoming an encyclopedia of itself." YOU are the encyclopedia, and so am I. It's got a wee bit of overtone of the "Chicken and Egg" mind-bender, or the "Once you leave the known universe, then what?" question ... but I find it tremendously exciting to be a part of the Encyclopedia of Humankind.

Tue, 16 Nov 1999 13:35:03 -0800