Information Access Challenges and Opportunities

Roy Tennant

Abstract

We live in the Golden Age of Information. Never before has so much information been available to so many people. But with such riches come challenges as well. How does one find the one bit of information required from among the millions of bits? How does one even get started in searching out the information one needs from among the plethora of sources? Fortunately, some of the same technologies that have helped create the haystack (such as the Web) are also providing strategies for locating the needle. This presentation will describe the challenges, opportunities, and early successes in effectively locating and using information as well as making the information we have available to others.