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