Information delivery systems in the 1990's: the Local INtegrated Knowledge NETwork (LINKNET)

In the late 80's, managers, professionals, analysts, and researchers are finding it increasingly difficult to manage the vast array of data and text that are available to them. The fragmentation in media and sources of information, and discontinuities between the information bureaucracies, particularly Information Systems and the library, hinder ready access to information. In the future, this paper argues, a department-level Local INtegrated Knowledge NETwork (LINKNET), will help individuals locate and integrate needed information. The LINKNET environment as conceived here consists of data and human resources at departmental locations that constitute a technological and organizational infrastructure for information delivery. In particular it makes available those information technologies specializing in information integration--integrative software, sharable resources like computerized storage devices, and information collections--and essential human resources like information resource management, consulting, and training.