Newsgroups: bit.listserv.pacs-l
Date:         Fri, 2 Oct 1992 09:29:33 CDT
From:         Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <LIBPACS@UHUPVM1.BITNET>
Subject:      Settling of the Internet

2 Messages, 72 Lines
*-----

Subject: Re: The Settling of the Internet
From: Terry Dawson <terry@edsi.plexus.COM>

David Tyckoson writes:
>      Unfortunately, the cultures of pioneers and settlers do not
> always conform.  Pioneers want freedom, while settlers want
> order.  While some pioneers stake out an area and become leading
> settlers in an aspect of networked resources, others move on and
> continue to explore new areas.  The pioneers laid the groundwork
> for the rest of us (I consider myself a very early settler) and
> we owe them our gratitude for making us aware of the capabilities
> of networked information.  While we may lament the passing of the
> good old days of freewheeling information flow, we have moved on
> into an era in which more networked information will be available
> to more people than ever.

I feel like the pioneer/settler metaphor is pushed a bit too far here.
There are some of us who've been saving a long time to load our families
into these conestogas.  We may not be Lewis and Clark, but this still
feels like the frontier.  And I've got a powerful lot of explorin' to do
afore I'll feel ready to settle anywhere.

NOW the metaphor is pushed too far...

>      Last summer saw the passing of the era of the wild, wild
> Internet.  It is now up to those of us who have settled these new
> territories to develop rules, regulations, and guidebooks that
> will make information available equitably for everyone.  I have
> faith that we, as information organizers, will be able to develop
> a culture that preserves democratic access to information
> resources.  If not, we will have settled a land not worth
> inhabiting.
>
The phrase "preserves democratic access" makes it sound as though there has
been such a thing.  There hasn't.  The net has been the province of a
select few.  In making it more widely available, there will surely be a
price to pay, and there will surely be those who look to profit.
Whether the new land is "worth inhabiting" in anyone's opinion is moot,
but of course, as librarians our task will be to make resources
available as appropriate to users' needs.

*-----

From:         Claudia Lynch <AS04@UNTVM1>
Subject:      Re: The Settling of the Internet
>
>     Last summer saw the passing of the era of the wild, wild
>Internet.  It is now up to those of us who have settled these new
>territories to develop rules, regulations, and guidebooks that
>will make information available equitably for everyone.  I have
>faith that we, as information organizers, will be able to develop
>a culture that preserves democratic access to information
>resources.  If not, we will have settled a land not worth
>inhabiting.
>
Wow, I guess all those "rules, regulations, and guidebooks" that I have
been consulting for quite some time now (before the "historical" last
summer) were just a figment of my imagination. I am SO thankful of your
existance as an "information organizer" -- I will sleep better with this
knowledge :/

Claudia Lynch                                |      |           |
Documentation Services Manager               |      | ^      () |
Academic Computing Services                  |      |     -     |
University of North Texas Computing Center   |      |     O     |
UNT Box 13495                                |      |:---------/|
Denton, Texas   76203                        |
Voice: 817-565-2324  FAX: 817-565-4060       |   Standard disclaimer
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