Things have never been better for developers of networked information resources and services. There is general agreement on using the Internet as a transport infrastructure, and on using the World Wide Web as a client/server architecture.
Bullet-proof rights management strategies and solutions promise to become commonplace features of the Internet landscape in 1996. And, Java and other weblets promise to make digital documents come alive in ways that most of us are not even ready to imagine.
Sure, all is not happy on the public policy front. Legislatures and courts across the nation are taking a look at the dark side of Internet resources, services and behaviors. It seems certain that service providers of all types and in all settings will bear some responsibility for the actions of their users and customers. And, no matter how impressive the growth of the Internet population, its rate is still much lower than that of numerous prior consumer electronics. Still, all in all, the road ahead (catchy phrase, that) for developers of networked information resources and services has never been clearer.
That's what worries me. Not that there's anything wrong with the path that we're on. It's just that too many of us may be on the same path too early in our exploration of the opportunities and challenges of the networked information environment. The success of the World Wide Web has blinded most of us to its flaws (like its inefficient, to say the least, use of Domain Name Service), and to what's going on with other Internet information access and delivery tools (like gopher). And the success of the Internet has drawn the attention of most of us toward wide-area (global) and away from community and enterprise-based (local) networking, and toward textual, graphical and pictorial information and away from full-motion and high-fidelity sound experiences. Hand-waving and wishful thinking abounds in discussions of really difficult subjects like "interoperability" and "scalability." It's only prudent for anyone who "bought low" into the Internet phenomenon to now be giving serious thought to whether the time has come to "sell high."
The imminent danger is that we will focus too much on developing new features for relatively stable hardware and software platforms and not pay enough attention to creating new value for networked information users. Said otherwise, we need to make sure to pay enough attention to improving the performance of networked information systems in ways that users will recognize and reward. This is a complicated question, one that will take us years to frame properly, let alone to address adequately. A task force convened by the Association of American Universities and the Association of Research Libraries to develop a national strategy for managing scientific and technical information in the networked information environment (see gopher://arl.cni.org:70/11/scomm/aau/sti) produced lists of networked information system functions and performance factors (see facing page) that provide a good example of how one group tried to get its arms around this question.
We need similar lists from other groups attempting to think deeply about managing other sorts of information in networked environments. And we need to plan and evaluate our development efforts with such lists and other user-centered standards in mind. The ultimate test of all of our efforts is whether we succeed in using networks to build better bridges across the gaps of time, space, disciplines, industries, language, etc. that come between creators and users of information. Will networks increase the numbers and diversity of the people who cross these bridges? Will they change (for the better!) the priorities of the people that produce and use information on their respective sides of the bridges? Will they improve how work on those priorities is done, how long it takes to do, and what it costs? Will more people benefit from the results of that work sooner? We need to come to terms with questions like these before our work is done. Until then, our gains to date will not be secure, and our spirit should remain restless.
Paul Evan Peters is executive director of the Coalition for Networked information. [email protected]
NETWORKED INFORMATION FUNCTIONS
INFORMATION GENERATION AND CREATION
Includes data collection and analysis/synthesis.
AUTHORING
Writing, revising and improving.
INFORMAL PEER COMMUNICATION
Access by peers, distribution of preprints, etc.
EDITORIAL AND VALIDATION
Editing processes, peer review (quality control), market assessment by publishers and editors (identification of unmet needs, what else exists, what needs to be published).
OWNERSHIP, PRIVACY AND SECURITY
Copyright issues, policy issues (i.e. confidentiality), guaranteeing the authenticity and authority of text.
DISTRIBUTION
Making copies after the first copy available on a wholesale basis.
ACQUISITION AND ACCESS
Includes personal and institutional purchase; includes access and ownership; includes the decision to acquire, or decision not to purchase and to rely on access.
STORAGE
Holding and making available (the "place" dimension).
PRESERVATION AND ARCHIVING
Includes decision to archive and preservation (conservation) functions (the "time" dimension). Includes assuring the security of the item in storage (e.g. in stacks or archived on network).
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
The processes of identifying, describing and structuring the item in order to facilitate "discovery." Includes processes such as bibliographic control.
LOCATION AND DELIVERY
Identification of sources of information and obtaining the information. Includes reference and training.
RECOGNITION
Institutional rewards and recognition.
DIFFUSION
Access to those outside author's primary community.
UTILIZATION OF INFORMATION
By user
NETWORKED INFORMATION SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
EASE OF USE
How easily and effectively does the system make information accessible to known users and potential users?
TIMELINESS
How long does it take for the information to become available?
RESPONSIVENESS
How quickly can needed information be identified and accessed?
ACCURACY
How error-free is the information at each stage in its life cycle (through mechanical or system transmission)?
AUTHENTICITY
How much does the information get distorted or changed as it moves through the system (through human processes)?
PREDICTABILITY
How reliable and consistent is the system in maintaining levels of quality and availability?
ADAPTABILITY
How flexible is the system in providing new approaches to information or providing access for unanticipated users?
RELEVANCE
How well does the system provide mechanisms such as filtering and assessment of information?
ELIGIBILITY
Who has access to information in the system?
COST
What are the system and unit costs, and to whom?
RECOVERY
How well is the system able to avert or recover from error (caused by mismanagement or lack of resources to make the system work)?
INNOVATION
How well does the system perform research and development to provide system innovation?
EXTENSIBILITY
How well does the system integrate between media? Between disciplines? What is the system's ability to build and extend itself without a total restructuring?