289 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
289 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
Current Cites
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Volume 11, no. 8, August 2000
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Edited by [2]Roy Tennant
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The Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720
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ISSN: 1060-2356 -
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http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/2000/cc00.11.8.html
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Contributors: [3]Terry Huwe, [4]Michael Levy, [5]Leslie Myrick , Jim
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Ronningen, Lisa Rowlison, [6]Roy Tennant
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Editor's Note: WIth this issue, we lament the retirement from Current
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Cites of our Editor of six years, Teri Andrews Rinne, and also
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celebrate ten years of continuous monthly publication. Teri was one of
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the original six contributors to Current Cites, and remained with the
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publication since it's inception, except for maternity leave. She
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guided us through a period of growth and solidification as a
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thoughtful, critical, and down-to-earth review of the best that we
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could find in information technology literature. She will be sorely
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missed, but we wish her well in her new endeavors.
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Over the past ten years we have strived to fulfill our vision of a
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current awareness publication that helps busy professionals focus on
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the best information technology literature. Our sources include
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popular magazines, peer-reviewed journals, books, and web sites. We
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don't guarantee complete coverage of everything that you may find
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interesting, but what we do feature here are some of the best, most
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current sources we have found. We do not shrink from being
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opinionated, nor from comparing one source to another. Our database of
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citations now numbers over 1,000, and is searchable at
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[7]http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/bibondemand.cgi. We call
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this service "Bibliography on Demand" because it can be easily used to
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create printable or linkable bibliographies on information technology
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topics. Another service we offer is full-text searching of all cited
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articles that are freely available in full-text. To provide this
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service, we "crawl" the remote articles and index them using Harvest.
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You can try it out at
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[8]http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/articlesearch.html. Please
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do not hesitate to let us know how else we can improve Current Cites
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so it can better serve your current awareness needs. Thanks! -- Roy,
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for the Cites crew
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-------------------------------------------------
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Belkin, Nicholas J. [9]"Helping People Find What They Don't Know"
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[10]Communications of the ACM 43(8) (August 2000):58-61
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(http://www.acm.org/pubs/articles/journals/cacm/2000-43-8/p58-belkin/p
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58-belkin.pdf). - When we read about efforts to increase the
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responsiveness of computer systems to their users, it's usually the
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flashier stuff that gets put in bold face, like the MIT Media Lab's
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efforts to sharpen the computer's senses through cameras for vision,
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microphones for hearing, increased touch sensitivity, etc. But no
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matter how 'sensory' systems may become, language is still going to be
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the primary human/computer interface for information exchange.
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Projects which attempt to refine the exchange so that a shared
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vocabulary achieves optimum understanding are always of interest to
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information providers. This article is about a Rutgers research group
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which is developing recommendation systems which allow a program to
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reply to a query with a helpful set of suggestions, focusing on the
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choice of terms to be used to achieve the desired result. The author
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describes their efforts to go beyond relevance feedback, which allows
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the user to rank relevance but does not promote user understanding and
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customization of the process itself. An alternative, term suggestion
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devices, could promote greater precision, and also, as the title
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suggests, help the user find out whatever he or she doesn't know which
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is relevant to the query. The group appears to be paying as much
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attention to human behavior as syntax and thesauri, as they have
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examined the features of such systems which could sidetrack users and
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cause them to ultimately lose confidence in the interaction, at which
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point the system would have to be called a failure. - JR
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Cooper, Jeffrey. [11]"The CyberFrontier and America at the turn of the
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21st Century: Reopening Frederick Jackson Turner's frontier."
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[12]First Monday 5(7) (July 3rd, 2000)
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(http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue5_7/cooper/). - Like so many
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other articles published by First Monday, this one draws on familiar
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metaphors to describe the promises and pitfalls of our cyber-futures.
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Excessive eloquence comes with the territory, but in this case the
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analysis is first rate and provocative. In the describing the new
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"boundlessness" of the Internet, the author identifies several
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quintessentially "American" traits, like self-reliance and
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risk-taking. He also argues that surging Internet stocks do not a
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South Seas Bubble make. This sunny forecast can be found among stock
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analysts and futurists in ample supply, but this article takes a
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closer look at history as an indicator of what might evolve on the
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Internet. - [13]TH
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[14]"Developing a Digital Preservation Strategy for JSTOR, an
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interview with Kevin Guthrie" [15]RLG DigiNews 4(4) (August 15, 2000)
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(http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/diginews4-4.html#feature1). -
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[16]JSTOR is an innovative project to centrally archive journal
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literature on behalf of libraries. In this interesting interview with
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RLG DigiNews, the director explains the mission of JSTOR and the
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strategy they are using to fulfill that mission. Guthrie details five
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primary components: 1) Technological approach, 2) Preservation and
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back-up plans, 3) Relationships with content providers, 4)
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Relationships with users/libraries, and 5) An economic model with a
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reasonable probability of reaching self-sufficiency. - [17]RT
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Guterman, Lisa. [18]"As Expert Call for a Chemistry Preprint Server
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Elsevier Unveils its Own" [19]Chronicle of Higher Education (August
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22, 2000) (http://www.chronicle.com/free/2000/08/2000082201t.htm). -
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This article explores recent developments in Web-based pre-prints of
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chemistry articles, focussing on remarks made by librarians at a
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meeting of the American Chemical Society. Elsevier Science has
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unveiled a new Web site that posts preprint articles and enables
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readers to form online discussion groups addressing the research
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presented in each paper. Librarians argue that the American Chemical
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Society's reticence in starting their own site places the scholarly
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debate about the merits of new research in a commercial sphere. They
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further argue that managing the discourse about new research is best
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left in the hands of the society, since it may be difficult to
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identify truly important new research among the vast offerings that
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will like appear on pre-print servers of this nature. - [20]TH
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Hafner, Katie. [21]"Saving the Nation's Digital Legacy" [22]New York
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Times Technology Circuits
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(July 26, 2000)
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(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/circuits/articles/27libr.ht
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ml). - The Library of Congress' digital preparedness is at issue in a
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260-page report released last month by the National Academy of
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Sciences. Report Committee Chairman James O'Donnell cites inadequate
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infrastructure and lack of strategic planning, coupled with the need
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to work collaboratively with other large institutions, whether other
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libraries or private funding institutions such as the National Digital
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Library Program. With the help of the latter, the library's
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[23]American Memory site (http://memory.loc.gov/) has mounted some 5
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million of its 119 million items on the web. But the race to preserve
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America's cultural heritage of the past decade or so, appears to have
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come down to an either/or situation: between digitizing extant analog
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material such as posters and baseball cards, and the archiving and
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preservation of emerging digital artifacts, such as CD-ROMs, digital
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images, and websites, themselves. - [24]LM
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Leibovich, Lori. [25]"Choosing Quick Hits Over the Card Catalog"
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[26]New York Times Technology Circuits (August 10, 2000).
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(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/08/circuits/articles/10thin.ht
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ml). - Leibovich tracks a disturbing trend amongst students who are
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increasingly avoiding traditional library research methods altogether
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for the quick fix of web search engines. But inevitably, Leibovich
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asserts, what they believe they will gain in reduced exertion is often
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lost in bad search practices. UC Berkeley's own Ellen Meltzer
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corroborates, adding that the problem extends to college-age searchers
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who are often deficient in the finer points of boolean logic or
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controlled vocabulary. Most of the librarians and educators quoted
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cite a pressing need for teaching new research methodologies to
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optimize the use of the web for research. The paradigm of a solitary
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web surfer who does online research from his/her dorm room or bedroom
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without availing him/herself of the guidance of educational
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professionals is one worm in a whole can. Is the library slated to
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become an internet hub, merely, where young minds will at least find
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some guidance in the form of a librarian? In my mind, at least, the
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question remains: how can we make the internet a research supplement
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for young people rather than a perceived replacement? - [27]LM
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Mann, Charles C. [28]"The Heavenly Jukebox" [29]The Atlantic Monthly
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286(3) (September 2000) p.39-59 (http://www.theatlantic.com/jukebox/).
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- Napster has been receiving a lot of press coverage lately, for
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making it possible for millions of Internet users to ignore copyright
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by trading digital music files. If this was only an issue of
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importance to the music industry and music consumers, it would still
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be an interesting and important one. But it is much, much bigger than
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that. There is a great deal more at stake here, and Mann does a better
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job than anyone I've seen at uncovering the issues, the players, and
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even the historical context. If you want to know what all the fuss is
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about (and we haven't seen anything yet), then this article will get
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you up-to-speed faster and better than most. Mann asserts that the
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music industry (and perhaps the movie and publishing industries to
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follow) have only two possible courses of action in the face of
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Napster, Gnutella, and other peer-to-peer applications: 1) "prepare
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for a world in which copyright plays a much smaller role", or 2)
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"change the Internet. The first alternative is problematic, to say the
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least. The second could be much worse." If you don't think it's
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possible that we could be on the verge of a post-copyright world, you
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should check out [30]Gnutella. Unlike Napster, there are no
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responsible organizations, no central servers, no people to sue. You
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do the math. - [31]RT
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"Napster's wake-up call" [32]The Economist Vol. 355 (No.8176) (Jun 24,
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2000) p. 23-24 - Although it was written before current legal
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developments, this article presents the best synopsis of the
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technological, legal and cultural issues raised by Napster. In
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addition to describing the technology, it analyzes the intellectual
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property issues surrounding music file sharing, which pose a new
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ideological challenge to other information industries. It also
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recognizes the emerging cultural phenomenon of a file sharing
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community. - [33]TH
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Spooner, John G. [34]"Intel: The Future is Peer" [35]ZDNet
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(http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2619470,00.html). -
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It's clear Intel can't stand to be too far away from the Next Big
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Thing, since in the wake of Napster's popularity it has put together
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an industry peer-to-peer networking group of 18 companies, including
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IBM and Hewlett-Packard. Peer-to-peer networking (also called "P2P";
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see other cites on Napster in this issue of Current Cites) has
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skyrocketed into the popular press as a method for the masses of
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Internet users to share files (most notably illegal music cuts) with
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one another. But Intel and other industry leaders are more likely to
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see P2P as a method for corporate users to quickly and easily share
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information from behind a firewall. - [36]RT
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Wagner, Dirk Nicholas. [37]"Software agents take the Internet as a
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shortcut to enter society: A survey of new actors to study for social
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theory" [38]First Monday 5(7) (July 3rd, 2000)
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(http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue5_7/wagner/). The author
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argues that new perspectives on the social impact of technology are
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now vital. It makes sense to recast the social science of men [sic]
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and machines as men [sic] and agents. Agents operate as players in
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society, with substantial impact, and when society is inhabited by
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many different kinds of software agents, the effect is intensified.
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However, a general theory of multi-agent environments -- complex
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domains where people and software interact in new relationships -- is
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absent. Such a theory would substantially improve perceptions of
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person-machine interactions, and the power of the Internet to
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influence society. - [39]TH
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_________________________________________________________________
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Current Cites 11(8) (August 2000) ISSN: 1060-2356
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Copyright <20> 2000 by the Library, University of California, Berkeley.
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All rights reserved.
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Copying is permitted for noncommercial use by computerized bulletin
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board/conference systems, individual scholars, and libraries.
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Libraries are authorized to add the journal to their collections at no
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cost. This message must appear on copied material. All commercial use
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requires permission from the editor. All product names are trademarks
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or registered trade marks of their respective holders. Mention of a
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product in this publication does not necessarily imply endorsement of
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the product. To subscribe to the Current Cites distribution list, send
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the message "sub cites [your name]" to
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[40]listserv@library.berkeley.edu, replacing "[your name]" with your
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name. To unsubscribe, send the message "unsub cites" to the same
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address.
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[41]Copyright <20> 2000 UC Regents. All rights reserved.
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Document maintained at
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http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/2000/cc00.11.8.html by
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[42]Roy Tennant.
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Last update August 28, 2000. SunSITE Manager:
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[43]manager@sunsite.berkeley.edu
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References
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1. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/imagemap/cc
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2. http://escholarship.cdlib.org/rtennant/
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3. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/autobiography/thuwe/
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4. http://www.law.berkeley.edu/library/staff/levy/
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5. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/~scanmgr/LESLIE/citescv.html
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6. http://escholarship.cdlib.org/rtennant/
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7. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/bibondemand.cgi
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8. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/articlesearch.html
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9. http://www.acm.org/pubs/articles/journals/cacm/2000-43-8/p58-belkin/p58-belkin.pdf
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10. http://www.acm.org/cacm/
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11. http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue5_7/cooper/
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12. http://www.firstmonday.org/
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13. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/autobiography/thuwe/
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14. http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/diginews4-4.html#feature1
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15. http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/
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16. http://www.jstor.org/
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17. http://escholarship.cdlib.org/rtennant/
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18. http://www.chronicle.com/free/2000/08/2000082201t.htm
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19. http://www.chronicle.com/
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20. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/autobiography/thuwe/
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21. http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/07/circuits/articles/27libr.html
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22. http://www.nytimes.com/
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23. http://memory.loc.gov/
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24. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/~scanmgr/LESLIE/citescv.html
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25. http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/08/circuits/articles/10thin.html
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26. http://www.nytimes.com/
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27. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/~scanmgr/LESLIE/citescv.html
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28. http://www.theatlantic.com/jukebox/
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29. http://www.theatlantic.com/
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30. http://gnutella.wego.com/
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31. http://escholarship.cdlib.org/rtennant/
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32. http://www.economist.co.uk/
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33. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/autobiography/thuwe/
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34. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2619470,00.html
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35. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/CurrentCites/2000/cc00.11.8.html
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36. http://escholarship.cdlib.org/rtennant/
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37. http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue5_7/wagner/
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38. http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue5_7/wagner/
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39. http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/autobiography/thuwe/
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40. mailto:listserv@library.berkeley.edu
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41. http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Admin/copyright.html
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42. http://escholarship.cdlib.org/rtennant/
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43. mailto:manager@sunsite.berkeley.edu
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