Although I am a dedicated user of the Internet, I have to agree
with the concerns raised by Frank Houdek and others about how
far most of us have to go to achieve true "virtualness."
Another concern I have, though, is who will have access to
information, specifically legal information, in this paperless
future. We already see problems with limiting access to online
information--for instance, in the parallel discussion on dropping
paper Shepards: law students and faculty have access through
Westlaw and LEXIS, but what about other students and faculty,
not to mention pro ses? For many years at SLU we have subscribed
to the state Shepards in paper for only Missouri and Illinois,
and have found this serves the law school's needs perfectly
adequately; anyone else, though, is out of luck.
The same concern underlies the debate on the WINDO/Gateway
to Government bill. The feds are already moving toward
limiting information delivery to electronic formats, but
the question is who will have the means to access it?
If libraries intend to reduce their book holdings in favor of
online access, they will have to seriously consider absorbing
the search costs. Will we continue to charge for online
searches; we don't charge for access to books, and they cost
money too.
An excellent two-part article on past predictions of the coming
"information society" and the obstacles to actually getting
there appeared in EFFector Online (the electronic newsletter
of the Electronic Freedom Foundation), issues 4.01 and 4.02.
It is available via anonymous ftp from ftp.eff.org, and on
EFF's gopher; I can find better access information and post
it here if anyone wants it.
Jim Milles Fax: (314) 658-3966
Head of Computer Services Phone: (314) 658-2759
Saint Louis University Law Library millesjg@sluvca.slu.edu
3700 Lindell Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63108
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