foreword by William O. Baker
To understand the Information Age one must understand the concept of information as a resource. Like other basic resources such as energy and materials, information resources are building blocks of society. But unlike energy and materials, they are far more abundant and versatile. Information resources includes computers, telecommunications, the mass media, and financial services, all created or changed by the movement from analog to digital. This collection looks at the factors underlying digital technologies as well as the resulting public and strategic policy issues.
In a rapidly evolving discipline, certain judgments are likely to change. To strike a balance between the more abstract concepts of enduring value and writings focused on current examples, each part of the book opens with a timeless "evergreen" chapter, followed by one or more "contemporary" chapters.
Contributors: Daniel Bell, Anne Wells Branscomb, Benjamin M. Compaine, Derrick C. Huang, Martin C. Libicki, Patricia Hirl Longstaff, Robert Lucky, John F. McLaughlin, Lee McKnight, Vincent Mosco, W. Russell Neuman, Eli Noam, Anthony G. Oettinger, Ithiel deSola Pool, William H. Read, Jerome S. Rubin, Richard J. Solomon, Debra Spar, Ronald Alan Weiner, Janet Wikler.
About the Author
Benjamin M. Compaine is Research Affiliate at PIRP, the Program on Information Resources Policy, at Harvard University. William H. Read is Professor of Information Policy and Management at the School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology.
