It represents the empowerment of the non-linear way of thinking. Sometimes we forget that culture, as we know it, was basically constructed against the non-linearity of the way human beings take in the world. It is an attempt to create an orderly narrative. I believe people still want guidance, evaluation to help them through the maze of information. Our institutions will have to find a way to think seriously in this medium.
Cultural institutions are frameworks of meaning.
We should be ready to think of ways to create meaning on the Web, to use the vocabulary and perspective of culture in new ways. I saw a long piece on the British Library in the electronic age which reminded me that the way to be effective is not to give up our values as cultural institutions. I don't understand why adaptation to the electronic age requires us to give up the vocabulary of culture and education for that of commerce. This is about the replacement of culture with economics, not a necessary adjustment to the electronic age. I don't think we should be Utopians about technology.