Electronic fact books: Turning atoms into bits
✍ Scribed by Robert F. Daly; Dennis W. Viehland
- Book ID
- 102868386
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1996
- Weight
- 827 KB
- Volume
- 1996
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0271-0579
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Other chapters in this issue discuss the purpose, uses, roles, and development of fact books. Much of what is said in those chapters applies equally well to electronic fact books. Just like a paper fact book, an electronic fact book can be an incredibly valuable information resource for a college or university. Unlike a paper fact book, an electronic collection of data can always be up to date, access underlying layers of information, and, at its best, be customized to meet the needs of each user or group of users.
In his book Being Digital, Nicholas Negroponte (1995) points out that the fundamental particle for the information age is not the atom, but the bit. We read magazines, newspapers, journals, and fact books (atoms), but the value is in the information (bits). As more and more of the world's infostructure is built, much of the information we consume (text, images, sound, video) is being delivered by bits. Being digital means that information providers (publishers, marketing professionals, institutional researchers) recognize that bits are radically different from atoms (weightless, easily reproduced, shipped anywhere, infinite in supply) and adjust their delivery mechanisms accordingly. Bits, not atoms, are the delivery mechanism of the information age, and those unwilling to adapt to this new age will be as extinct as the hunters and gatherers of an earlier age.
A large number and variety of electronic fact books have been produced over the past twenty years. In fact, some institutional research (IR) professionals and computing specialists have created three or four different electronic fact books during their careers, including one of the authors. The developers of electronic fact books usually began construction because they believed that electronic fact books would be much used and would provide NEU DIRCC TlOh5 rim IN5TITUrIoN,\L RL\lARC H. no 91, tall 1496 0 Josey-Bass Puhllshcrs