On Sun, 27 Nov 1994, Holly Trimper wrote:
 
> . . .
> The increasing reliance on electronic media tends toward elitism.  What
> audience are you reaching?  Those who have the resources (read $$) to have
> the hardware and software to support virtual museums, huge art files, etc.
> are few.  Sure, that population is growing, but the people most interested in
> and most apt to use/purchase computers, modems, etc.  are the folks who are
> most likely to attend museums anyway.
 
Elitist attitudes tend to lead toward elitism:  like many issues it is
the followers who are leading the leaders; and the folks who have some
vision (and can afford the computer equipment and modems) have created a
wedge that is making a small opening for such techologies; but sometimes
that equipment, authoring software, cd-read/write drives, and supporting
funding can all be obtained.  I find that most children are more aware of
comupters and their capabilities than most parents--and that is changing
slowly.
 
> Schools usually don't have the
> equipment to use mosaic, www, etc., and unless someone comes into the school
> to train or demonstrate how to get to these resources, they will remain
> unused.  Email is less snobbish, but you still need the computer and modem
> and know-how, including netiquette (like don't quote a 40-line post and
> follow up with "I agree!").
 
You are right about the need for training and I would add the need for
such to be a priority.  No where in this country can you go and not
encounter computers in some way; everyone is touched by them from the
grocery stores, to banks, to IRS.  Mosaic, WWW, and so forth are becoming
more known, but there is still a sea between those who know and can use
them and everyone else.  As for e-mail, I routinely save messages and do
postings for others who either do not have computers or are not
connected:  I try to find ways of being a resource and being helpful (I
do research with others via Internet and just basic hands-on library
research).
 
> In short, let's not lose our heads over the *wonders* of internet.  We risk
> snubbing a lot of people.
 
Internet can be seductive in its features and resouces, but it is not the
end-all resource, but a pathway.  I don't think we should have a
mono-research mentality about any resource.  Afterall, libraries provide
a great deal of information, but it is still handy to talk with others
and so forth.  I don't think that multimedia is an end, but a stimulus;
the same is true of Internet.
 
Who has access and how that access could be better distributed and made
accessible to all, will be an item for debate for a while yet.  I don't
think that sort of accessibility is what the government has in mind for
its "Information Superhighway"; that entity sounds more like "Shopping
Mall Highway"--and smacks of elitism.
 
(A personal, prejediced, and ignorant view of the electronic "wonder")
 
Dave Wells