From Publishing to Knowledge Networks : Reinventing Online Knowledge Infrastructures

Infonnation technology will have a significant impact in the publishing industry. Many publishers and institutions are experimenting with new ways of sharing knowledge. Internet sites are becoming more sophisticated, digital libraries and coHaboratories are being built. However it is stiH unc1ear, where this journey of change will take us. This book sets out to provide answers by examining a large number of different initiatives that aim to create, share and distribute knowledge electronicaHy. The book also fundarnentaHy rethinks the related processes and shows that infonnation technology has the potential of being much more 'revolu­ tionary' than just accelerating established publishing and review processes. The book shows that deeply ingrained notions of books and artic1es need to be re­ thought. In the future they may be replaced by dynamic networks of knowledge consisting of much smaller units than we are used to. The goal of this book is to provide guidance to those who are developing their own knowledge infrastructures and knowledge networks. The book was written while working at the University of Southern California and I am indebted to my colleagues in the Infonnation and Operations Manage­ ment Department of the Marshall School of Business. The frrst ideas for this topic began to take form during a PhD seminar I taught together with Omar El Sawy. I thoroughly enjoyed the creative environment and lively discussions with him.