Internet's potential as a global information infrastructure: a case study and assessment

Few would argue that the Internet is a global information resource for academicians and researchers. This article asks whether Internet has the potential to become a global information infrastructure for broad-based user communities. This question is answered using the case study method. The authors searched for the same information using two Internet directories (the List of Libraries and the List of Lists), four Internet interface services (Archie, Gopher, Wide Area Information Service, and World Wide Web), and two commercial services (Dialog and ABI/Inform). The case study evidence indicates that the Internet information resource is not likely to become an information infrastructure based on the criteria of being shareable among all classes of users, having a common interface, being enabling of development, scalable and economically sustainable. The authors recommend radical changes to the current Internet organization and propose six major agenda items.