Notes on the last few chapters from "The Social Life of Information":

• "Almost everyone who works in an organization is also a member of such cross-cutting networks. These join people in one organization ti people in similar positions with similar practices in other organizations. (p. 158)" This is not so much profound as important, it is worthwhile to remind oneself of this at times when all of the conversation seems focused on activities within the organization.
• "... the familiar matrix model of organizations, which deals with their internal structure. Our matrix or organizations and networks of practice, by contrast, connects an organization's internal structure to the structure of the world around it. (p. 161)" This is insightful!
• a sense of community develops in part because of the general awareness that everyone is reading or being exposed to the same information. Newspapers, radio and television have performed this role during the last century. However the Internet does not have this characteristic - we all tend to be viewing different web sites and information. What will be the effect on our sense of community?
• "Enthusiasts will tell you that the World Wide Web is the most exciting cultural phenomenon since the printing press. Its output, however, resembles less the books the first presses produced than the type in which those books were set, most of which was broken up as soon as the printing was finished. (Of course, one of the easiest and cheapest ways to preserve such transient modern records is to make a paper copy of them.)"  (p. 201)
• "we suspect that the university also resists attack [to the Internet] because those trying to change it are looking through the wrong lenses. ... They see universities as delivering information to comparatively passive learners. ... that envisioned change will not happen or will not be fruitful until people look beyond the simplicities of information and individuals to the complexities of learning, knowledge, judgement, communities, and institutions." (p. 213)
• Many models "focus sharply on clear and well-defined informational and educational needs that technology can readily meet. ... Such a model neglects how difficult it is for people to know and describe what they want. ... It also neglects the importance of serendipitous news ... to the way people undestand the world." (p. 218). Amen. Witness this web site!