Internet Archiving & Engaging in Knowledge

Brewster Kahle doesn't look anything like his photo and while I went to this month's SD Forum event more for networking purposes, his presentation was fabulous - the content, interactive discussion, and his engaging style led us into a 90 minute Q&A period.

He talked about the tragedies of "lost knowledge" that we'll never see, because it was either lost in a fire, or simply never recorded or archived. Check out the Vanished Library, which was destroyed by the order of the Caliph Umar. It's a great book about the 'value of library' content and importance of preserving them.

This man's passion is to provide universal access to all knowledge.......he feels that this could "be our greatest achievement." Imagine a child in Nigeria being able to access information from or watch a MIT or Stanford lecture. Obviously Creative Commons is critical to the success of his Internet archiving project.

While the content was compelling, what was most inspiring was his reflection on a question about his vision.

Says Brewster, "When I grew up, life was happening to me. I watched TV, attended lectures at school....newspapers were written by 'others.' It was all happening to me - it wasn't something I participated in. 'In this class,' I was told, 'you will learn these ten things.' We have so many opportunities now to participate in our knowledge, participate in our learning and participate in life."

Clearly, the Internet has opened up a whole new paradigm for learning and communicating. Today, we can participate in television, share news with others and put our own spin on it, and be part of a larger creation. We can edit and build something and engage in what's happening in the world. Hell, we can even be in an Internet library if we choose to.

Obviously blogs are an extension of this empowerment to participate in life rather than have 'life happen to you.'

Yet with so much knowledge out there, we have to choose where to focus our energies and our time. Should we edit some of this stuff out.....who decides what should be available and not available? Do we really want a detailed account of how to build a landmine available to everyone? Who's decision should that be in a democratic society that values free press and unlimited speech?

A thought: "Isn't the art of life sometimes the art of forgetting what doesn't serve us?"