Electronic Publishing or Electronic Information Handling?
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Abstract:
The current dramatic evolution in information technology is bringing major modifications in the way scientists communicate. The concept of `electronic publishing' is too restrictive and has often different, sometimes conflicting, interpretations. It is thus giving way to the broader notion of `electronic information handling ' encompassing the diverse types of information, the different media, as well as the various communication methodologies and technologies. New problems and challenges result also from this new information culture, especially on legal, ethical, and educational grounds. The procedures for validating `published material ' and for evaluating scientific activities will have to be adjusted too. `Fluid ' information is becoming a common concept. Electronic publishing cannot be conceived without link to knowledge bases nor without intelligent information retrieval tools. 1 A New Culture It is a truism to say that we are undergoing nowadays a kind of `revolution' in information technology (Heck 1995a) with far-reaching impacts. As far as communication is concerned, many consider we are currently living in a period which is as important for mankind as the 15th century that saw Gutenberg's invention of the movable-type printing process. But the phenomenon is much broader. It is acknowledged also by business gurus in the sense that now, `Money is no more everything ' and `Information and, better, access to information are more than ever becoming something'. Thus, in a recent book, Peter F. Drucker (1993) pointed out a power shift from the entities with financial resources towards persons or organizations who will have, not necessarily the knowledge itself, but who will know how to access it and how to handle it. The financial wizard George Soros who is also involved in ventures such as the International Science Foundation
