A different kind of synergy is established among scholars of different fields when an episode is seen from multiple perspectives. Behavior and thought, for example, once viewed as two different ways of understanding learning, are now being seen as not quite so different after all. Third , this synergism may, if we so choose, take the form of collaborative knowledge building. Current electronic journals are experimenting with threaded discussion groups and extended commentary on fundamental ideas. A continuous record of a learning history.
Arguments are traceable from inception to resolution.
While we still do not have the facility to capture thoughts as they morph from one idea to the next, we can capture the arguments made by scholars over time, and retrace them to the seminal articles that spurred them on. Indexing systems of the past allowed us to create vast libraries of information. Indexing systems of the future will allow us to actively trace ideas. Fifth , the economics of electronic journals will soon dictate their ascendence to dominance in our culture. Cellulose pages are becoming too costly to produce to continue to publish the numbers of small-audience, arcane research journals that now exist.