archive of the former site EconWPA.wustl.edu

Please do not link or reference this page. Use one of the following URLs:
ideas.repec.org as http://ideas.repec.org/p/wpa/wuwpmi/9704001.html
econpapers.repec.org as http://econpapers.repec.org/paper/wpawuwpmi/9704001.htm

The Future Information Structure in Economics

Paper:ewp-mic/9704001  (Journal of Economic Persepectives Summer 1997)
From:    
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 97 15:13:39 CST

Title: The Future Information Structure in Economics
Author: William L. Goffe (Univ of Southern Miss.) and Bob Parks (Washington Univ.)
Contact:
Comments: Type of Document - LaTeX; prepared on UNIX Sparc TeX; to print on PostScript; pages: 19; figures: none. Substantial revision of ewp- mic/9605001
Keywords: information electronic publishing
JEL:
EWPA-references: ewp-mic/9605001
Report-no: BGRP 2040497

Abstract:

This paper is a first look at how the information infrastructure for economists will change with the arrivial of the Internet. While paper has long been used for the the flow of information in the profession, computer networks are starting to supplement it, and in the not-to- distant future, will replace paper. We examine the myriad ways in which a networked world will benefit the profession. The most exciting is the easy access to the material that lies at the heart of our profession: journals, working papers, data, and teaching.

Postscript files:(viewing .ps)       archive: 9704001.ps or 9704001.ps.gz is 52894 bytes, 8-23-97.
Acrobat pdf files:(viewing .pdf)       archive: 9704001.pdf is 188148 bytes, 3-9-97, or 9704001.pdf.gz
HTML File: (about HTML files)      archive: 9704001.html is 9211 bytes (not including gifs) 3-12-97.
LaTeX Files:(viewing LaTeX):       archive: 9704001.tex is 57773 bytes, 3-5-97.
Access statistics for this paper at LogEc which is a part of the RePEc project as was/is EconWPA.
Translate to another language with babel.altavista.com EconWPA reference ewp-mic/9704001
RePEc reference RePEc:wpa:wuwpmi:9704001 send e-mail to

EconWPA began as a conversation between Bob Parks and Larry Blume on January 28, 1993. I located Paul Ginsparg's archive (then xxx.lanl.gov) and he graciously installed his software on a Sun Sparc system which was supporting the department of economics email and computation. EconWPA began accepting papers July 1, 1993 and had ftp, email, gopher and web interfaces. The web interface for submissions was engineered into existence in July 1995. A complete and catastrophic machine failure in 1999 caused the loss of EconWPA's email new paper announcment service at which time there were over 15,000 subscriptions with over 8,000 unique email addresses.

In 2005, Arts and Sciences commandeered the computing services that I had provided to the Department of Economics since 1987. Some might say that the department was sold out, others would (erroneously) claim that centralization is efficient, and still others would claim that I have few marketing skills.

I was told that I could keep operating EconWPA (as well as many other services including rfe.wustl.edu, barnett.wustl.edu, and three RePEc servers) but I would receive no support (hardware, software, or anthing else) and (as had been the case) no compensation. At that point, given the apparent low valuation of my activities by the department, and university, it made no sense for me to continue operating EconWPA or other services.

Thanks to all who have supported EconWPA in the past.

A Chinese curse states May you live in intersting times. I have. Bob Parks - Jan 2006