1st Edition

i in the sky Visions of the Information Future

Edited By Alison Scammell Copyright 1999

    i in the sky is a collection of essays by over 40 experts, including leading writers Charles Handy and Don Tapscott, giving their personal vision of the future of information. Information here is given its widest meaning and includes such subjects as the Internet, electronic commerce, cybernetics, robotics, artificial intelligence, and even computers as fashion accessories.
    Information as a phenomenon pervades all areas of life and its evolution has consequences for everyone. Many of the papers have central themes such as the future of computer intelligence, library and information services, interactive Internet marketing, and networked learning in higher education. One paper links the technology enabling remote and online communication to the deconstruction of the corporation and the rise of flexible working. Professor Kevin Warwick writes about cybernetics and artificial intelligence, and describes an experiment involving a surgically implanted computer chip in his arm. Other papers deal with scholarly communication, smart houses and intelligent appliances. Two of the chapters are written as fiction, one by contemporary fantasy writer, Lise Leroux, who paints a menacing vision of human error in a tale of virtual reality.

    Editors's Introduction 1. Darwin Among the Books2. The Man With X-Ray Arms - And Other Skin-Ripping Yarns 3. As I See It (The Future of Information 4. Maintaining a Balance 5. No Limits 6. Information Everywhere 7. Information's Golden Age: Substance With Style 8. The Future of Information Access 9. Marketing in the Digital Economy 10. Assessing the Impact of Information in the Digital Age 11. Entering the Mainstream: Digital Information Feeds the Business Ecosystem 12. A Cup Half-Full 13. Back to the Atelier: Academic Entrepreneurs and the Future for Information 14. Why We Need a Science of Information 15. Net Effect On the 21st Century 16. Yesterday's Tomorrows 17. Why the Knowledge Revolution Needs a Cultural Revolution 18. The Evolution of Media Librarians: Charting the Future 19. Information Ontologies for a Digital World 20. The Information Specialist as Fulcrum 21. Experiential Documents and the Technologies of Remembrance 22. Waking the Giant - The Internet and Information Revolution in Africa 23. Toward a Sustainable Science of Information 24. Networked Learning in Higher Education: An Agenda for Information Specialists 25. Beyond the Interface: The Future of Library and Information Services 26. The Three Properties of Information: Content - Structure – Publication 27. Helping Small Business Encounter Information 28. Information, Communication, and the E-Generation 29. Work, Information Technology, and Sustainability 30. How Will Future Information Technology Affect Me? -A Personal User Perspective 31. The Future of Scholarly Skywriting 32. From the Satisfaction of Basic Needs to Information Literate Societies 33. The Tail Wags the Dog: The Future of Information is Now 34. Marchers in Time 35. Chinese Web 36. The Revolution Will Be Customised 37. Information Wars - F is for Fake 38. Musings On the Future of Information 39. Creating Creators 40. Design for Life: The Future of Information and Disability 41. Human Error

    Biography

    Alison Scammell