Introduction

The worlds of both communication and the production of information are changing rapidly, and it is the convergence of these, and the consequent huge impact on libraries and library practice, that this book aims to address. In this introductory section, we examine the background changes in communication and information over the last 50 years, and the concomitant changes in libraries, as well as the changes in the publishing industry. We give some basic technical definitions in order to elucidate some of the terms used elsewhere in the book.

This chapter will discuss the following issues:

• • the information revolution in a wired world

• • information explosion

• • the nature of digital data

• • storage and transmission of digital data

• • developments in digital data creation

• • printing and publishing

• • changes in libraries

• • digital libraries

• • automating information retrieval

• • the world wide web

• • why the world wide web is not a digital library

• • changing names for managing content

• • unresolved issues.

Information revolution in a wired world

Over the last 50 years, the computer and communications revolution has changed radically the way many organizations do their business. According to Charles Jonscher (2000), we are now living in a wired world. With old-style twisted pair telephone wiring, co-axial cable, and optical fibre there are physical communication networks almost everywhere on the globe, and the places these do not reach can be covered by satellite. Business and military communication needs have promoted most of the telecommunications developments, and the rapid growth in mobile telephony, fax and e-mail have transformed business and financial transactions.