The Web of Knowledge

The encyclopedia—a medium rooted in enlightenment visions of intellectual rationality—has expanded in scope, scale, and popularity in the digital age. Wikipedia in particular serves as a gateway to online information and is the most widely used, albeit often controversial, educational resource.   This innovative book traces the historical roots of digital encyclopedias in the early development of information science and cyberculture. It identifies trends within their digital evolution to reveal a complex web of relationships between media technology, knowledge and culture. Using several case studies, Alevizou analyses how major technological shifts have impacted publishing models, governance and creative labour of reference works; the evolution of the genre and the modalities of representation and access; and the range of uses and symbolic meanings of encyclopedias as diverse nodes within broader information economies, as commodities and as public goods. The book includes a foreword by the founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales.   Filled with rich empirical insights, this engaging text reflects on how encyclopedias serve as informational media today and discusses their continued relevance in public communication and culture. The Web of Knowledge is a must-read for students and scholars of digital media, platform studies, and the political economy of knowledge. The encyclopedia—a medium rooted in enlightenment visions of intellectual rationality—has expanded in scope, scale, and popularity in the digital age. Wikipedia in particular serves as a gateway to online information and is the most widely used, albeit often controversial, educational resource.   This innovative book traces the historical roots of digital encyclopedias in the early development of information science and cyberculture. It identifies trends within their digital evolution to reveal a complex web of relationships between media technology, knowledge and culture. Using several case studies, Alevizou analyses how major technological shifts have impacted publishing models, governance and creative labour of reference works; the evolution of the genre and the modalities of representation and access; and the range of uses and symbolic meanings of encyclopedias as diverse nodes within broader information economies, as commodities and as public goods. The book includes a foreword by the founder of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales.   Filled with rich empirical insights, this engaging text reflects on how encyclopedias serve as informational media today and discusses their continued relevance in public communication and culture. The Web of Knowledge is a must-read for students and scholars of digital media, platform studies, and the political economy of knowledge.

Author Biography

Giota Alevizou is Lecturer in Digital Humanities and Culture at King’s College London.