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Accessibility to Information within the Internet: How can it be Measured and Mapped?

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Information, Place, and Cyberspace

Part of the book series: Advances in Spatial Science ((ADVSPATIAL))

Abstract

One definition of the Internet is ‘... a collection of resources that can be reached from those networks’ (Krol and Hoffman 1993, 1). This definition provides the starting point for my conceptualization of accessibility in the Information Age. I will examine how one can begin to measure and visualize the aspects of accessibility to information resources within the Internet. My discussion starts with the assumption that a person has physical access to the Internet, via a networked computer1. Once this ‘physical’ connectivity has been overcome, how accessible are the information resources, people, and electronic places available online? What are the future accessibility issues that need to be considered to realize the full potential of the Internet beyond basic connectivity? As the Microsoft mantra says, where do you want to go today?, so what resources are accessible within the Internet and how do you reach them? This is very much a concern with individual accessibility and with developing a behavioral geography for Cyberspace (Brunn 1998, Kwan 1998).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    Martin Dodge

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  1. Martin Dodge
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science, University of California, Santa Barbara, 93106-4060, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Donald G. Janelle

  2. College of Arts and Sciences, University of Washington, 98195-3765, Seattle, WA, USA

    David C. Hodge

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© 2000 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Dodge, M. (2000). Accessibility to Information within the Internet: How can it be Measured and Mapped?. In: Janelle, D.G., Hodge, D.C. (eds) Information, Place, and Cyberspace. Advances in Spatial Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04027-0_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04027-0_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-08692-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-04027-0

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