Mozart versus Minsky: Information bias on the Internet

Notes that until the advent of the Internet, major libraries and text repositories were considered by all as bastions of information, but the Internet has opened up a treasure-trove of information for researchers and seekers of knowledge throughout the world. It has become common practice by researchers of all kinds to turn to the Internet as a convenient source of information. Asks how effectively does the Internet really present these researchers with a representative picture of the state of human knowledge? Identifies the potential misuse of the Internet as a source of biased information. Defines biased information as information not representative of the state of human knowledge. In order to provide a basis for comparison, begins by defining the concept of a representative subset, which is used as a basis for comparing the nature of different information resources. This is followed by a presentation of the use of the knowledge-comparison function in evaluating different information resources. Then discusses the significance of information equivalence in the information age as a basis for setting concrete goals for Internet research policy. Concludes by presenting a number of courses of action including a description of X-DEX, an Internet indexing standard based on the US Library of Congress cross-reference system.