We must guide it, for if we allow the marketplace to control it, there will be little more than cerebral mush.
Predictor: Kerrey, Bob
Prediction, in context:In a 1993 article for Information Today, Lois Lunn tells about Sen. Bob Kerrey’s (D-Neb.) appearance before the March 25 Annual Forum on Federal Information Policies hosted by the Federal Library and Information Center Committee. A few days earlier, Kerrey had introduced bill S. 626 in the Senate, and it had been referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. The bill would provide for the creation of a system of state-based electronic libraries that could provide networking opportunities to all Americans. Lunn writes of Kerrey’s keynote speech:”[In the bill] the National Science Foundation, in consultation with specific other agencies, is authorized to make multi-year grants to states in order to develop electronic libraries that will provide access to databases, computer programs and interactive multimedia presentations which can be carried over the Internet and similar networks … The legislation was developed to enhance states’ use of information, said Mr. Kerrey. The proposed legislation anticipates use in education, business and government. Although the Internet offers unique possibilities, Kerrey spelled out some of the roadblock realities. Some examples: The network is hindered by lack of telephone lines – most classrooms have no telephone line; users need experience in technology to use the network. He expressed mixed feelings about communication technology. We must guide it, he said, for if we allow the marketplace to control it, there will be little more than cerebral mush.”
Biography:Bob Kerrey was a U.S. senator who made technology issues part of his political agenda in the 1990s. (Legislator/Politician/Lawyer.)
Date of prediction: March 25, 1993
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: Role of Govt./Industry
Name of publication: Information Today
Title, headline, chapter name: On the Way to a National Electronic Library
Quote Type: Paraphrase
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdlink?Ver=1&Exp=03-05-2003&FMT=FT&DID=00000000050...
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Komorowski, Anne Gabrielle