Talking Point I: Internet 2
Exploring ways in which the scholarly community might regard on-line
work as appropriate material for tenure consideration requires that we
consider the potential role of Internet2. This project reflects efforts
by a consortium of schools and corporate organizations to build a high
bandwidth computer network that will allow the efficient development of
scholarly tools, "such as tele-immersion, digital libraries, and virtual
laboratories" (See Internet2 faq). Internet2 is a
response to the congestion brought about by the overwhelming popularity
of the World Wide Web for all manner of uses. On-line "brownouts" and the
general slowing of Internet connectivity have resulted in calls for
overlapping standards of Internet access. Currently, the priority of a
Web page download is essentially equal to that afforded a virtual reality
application sent through the Net. Internet2 would not replace the current
system, but would employ new routing technologies to ensure that
bandwidth would be allocated more appropriately. Moreover, this network
would provide opportunities for researchers to design new applications
that can only be imagined today.
The authors propose that over time, Internet2 might provide a means
through which scholarly work could be delineated; accessibility to such
work would be limited to those who have academic accounts. Tenure
committees might be willing to grant "authority" to multimedia projects
that are "protected" in this manner. Of course, this simply perpetuates
what some would see as "more of the same" by cloistering academic
research in its electronic form as far from the prying eyes of the public
as possible. As illustrated below, public participation may be enhanced
by the presence of scholarship, and may further enhance that self-same
scholarship if left accessible.
