Creating and Sustaining a Global Community of Scholars

Against the backdrop of a brief history of communities of scholars, the shortcomings of the current intellectual infrastructure are discussed in this paper. This system is deeply rooted in printed matter, the postal system, and physical knowledge stores. As a result of the deficiencies of this infrastructure, many scholars, practitioners, and students have limited opportunities to participate in creating and sharing information. The Internet is put forward as the foundation of a new intellectual infrastructure that will overcome many of the problems of the old system. The significant benefits to be gained from redesigning the intellectual infrastructure are discussed. Some of the possible implications for universities and scholarly careers are considered.