Synopses & Reviews
The development of modern communication and information technologies like the Internet and globalization have not only changed access and spread of the available knowledge but also the speed of collecting. The author examines collections of knowledge such as archives, encyclopedias, data collections, and libraries that make knowledge accessible worldwide. Who is collecting the worlda (TM)s knowledge? How is it structured and designed? Who determines the access of knowledge? Designers and researchers from different fields have set standards for the classification and design of complex data collections and thus exerted an enormous influence on how knowledge is communicated. This facilitates knowledge transfer, but it also increases the danger of manipulation. Along with these aspects, the book also explores the possibilities of a oeuniversal designa and presents new approaches to visualizing complex information.
Gerlinde Schuller investigated the subject in interviews with Richard Saul Wurman, John Maeda, Nigel Holmes, Wim Crouwel, Paul Kahn, Jean-NoAl Jeanneney, Rop Gonggrijp, Marion Winkenbach, Hannah Hurtzig and Martin Alberts.
The book also includes essays by Alex Wright, Willem van Weelden, Markus Frenzl and Femke Snelting.
Synopsis
With its possibilities for globalization and communication, the Internet offers archives, encyclopedias, data collections, and libraries the opportunity to make their knowledge collections available worldwide. At the same time, it represents a tremendous challenge and competition in terms of creativity and technology. The demand for an orientation guide in these areas is enormous.
This publication draws upon historical milestones a from the Encyclopedia of Diderot and da (TM)Alembert all the way to Wikipedia and Google Archive a to explore the meaning of universal knowledge as well as the process of collecting, structuring, designing, and publishing it. Creators and researchers from many different fields have set standards for the classification and design of complex data collections and thus exerted an enormous influence on how knowledge is communicated. This facilitates knowledge transfer, but it also increases the danger of manipulation. Along with these aspects, the book also explores the possibilities of universal design and presents new approaches to visualizing complex information.