Editors' Introduction

Monday, 5 August 1996

Information, equivalent to millions of printed pages, appears in one form or another on the Internet. Much of it is interesting, valuable, fascinating, intriguing, educational and humorous. Some of this digital information is arrogant, foolish and stupid. What's the solution?

An information oasis, where contributions are read, meditated upon, edited, re-written before posting to the Internet and its many users. That's the basic idea of "First Monday." A place where you can find contributions about the Internet from experts and colleagues around the world. A place where the "First Monday" editors work their way through the Internet to find interesting and timely articles for you.

"First Monday" is an experiment and it will change and alter over time. We hope to take advantage of the Internet as a medium and expand the concept of an academic journal. We will try to make it possible for our readers to interact with "First Monday" authors to comment on their contributions. Authors will then have the opportunity, if they wish, to re-invent their articles in light of these suggestions. These sorts of features will develop over the next few months in the electronic pages of "First Monday."

"First Monday" will appear on the first Monday of each month. Each issue will contain five to six full-length articles, plus regular features such as interviews and reviews. In each issue, you'll find articles about the Internet and the Global Information Infrastructure. We will follow the political and regulatory regimes affecting the Internet. We will examine the use of the Internet on a global scale, by analyzing economic, technical, and social factors that potentially affect the Internet. We will analyze the research and development of Internet software and hardware. There will also be reports on the use of the Internet in specific communities, and the content of the Internet.

"First Monday" will be a critical analysis of the Internet, a place where you will find thoughtful information of practical use to you. You, as a reader participating in this experiment, can help in several ways, by contributing articles, by commenting on contributions, and by suggesting topics that we can look into for future issues. We look forward to hearing from you very soon.

Edward J. Valauskas, Chief and Managing Editor
ejv@uic.edu

Esther Dyson, Consulting Editor
edyson@edventure.com

Rishab Aiyer Ghosh, International Editor
rishab@dxm.org

Copyright © 1996, First Monday