2
This statement was strongly challenged by a reader, who said, “I
can only assume that this sentence was written specifically for shock
value.… This statement is so horribly wrong. In fact little of what
humanity knows, experiences, and understands can be expressed in plain
text (especially at this point)” (Adenine, 2002).
Information services expert Kathleen Webb wrote, "No more unnecessary
trips to the library in nasty weather . . . fire up the machine, and explore new
realms in the endless vistas of data available at a keystroke” (Webb, 1993, p. 10).
A teenage “Whiz Kid” won a prize for his efforts to design a Web site to contain
“all human knowledge” (Miller, 2000).
Such statements and incidents seem to reflect the unbridled enthusiasm
for the World Wide Web that has been common since its invention, and the
unrealistic expectations that can result.
This research study was designed to be a systematic inquiry into the
limitations of the Web as a repository of all human knowledge. The research
strategy was to search for gaps in Web coverage, or for variation in coverage
depending on selected variables, including the time dimension, national origin,
and economic power or importance. The problem was investigated by
comparing actual occurrences of Web content with various test criteria, including
a sample of encyclopedia topics, a list of time periods (years), a list of nations,
and a sample of corporation names.
Convention