The Glob al Village Come True: High-Tech Information Network in High Energy Physics
Mogens Sandfær, Stephan Schwarz · 1991
Ann-Sofi Israelsson, Mogens Sandfrer, and Stephan SchwarzCERN Scientific Information ServiceGeneva, SwitzerlandPREAMBLE: THE GLOBAL VILLAGEIn times of fast development, actors in the center of events have adistinctive advantage. Effective participation requires current knowledge ofwhat isgoing on (the right information in the right form at the righttime), reliable channels of feedback, and visibility. The idea of a globa1village, when introduced in the sociology of communication some decades back,expresses the confidence in modern communications and computing technology toovercome the obstacle of distance and time delays. This, as we all know, is anOversimplification: the complexities of human communication cannot be reducedto signals and processes in cables and computers. Yet, there are areas, foreXample in well-defined scientific areas with coherent research communitiesand a lingua franca, where access to, and dissemination of currentinformation makes participation possible. It is in this sense thatrecent developments in information services in High Energy Physics (HEP) makethe label of a global village justified by covering the entire researchcommunity, including groups in the Third World. The solutions found may proveto be relevant to many other areas as a pilot study. .