[WEB4LIB] Digital Metaphors

[Carlton Brown]

--- Gerry Mckiernan <GMCKIERN at gwgate.lib.iastate.edu>
wrote:

[...]
>        I am also interested in any other metaphors
> that other have
> used or would be appropriate for characterizing The
> Digital.

I've always differentiated between media and
information when describing "the digital" by using 
the pipeline or conduit metaphor.

A web site and its internal and external links are a
digital medium or conduit for the delivery of
information in digital form. I think it is entirely
appropriate to describe the digital _medium_ as fluid;
but whether or not the information delivered via the
digital conduit could be considered fluid depends on
the nature of the information.

Consider the periodic table of elements on a web site
as an example of (reasonably) static information in
digital form. The web site or digital document
delivering the information may be considered "fluid";
but not the information itself.

A stock portfolio on a website is an example where
both medium and information are fluid. Stock prices
change by the minute, and the end user even has some
control over how that information is structured on the
display.

I've found the conduit metaphor to be a useful tool
when designing or describing the web interface goal,
delivering information. I've found that frequent (more
than once yearly) substantial changes in site design
(digital conduit), tend to inhibit an end user's
ability to locate content (digital information) until
they can adjust to the new structure.

Carlton Brown
Fuqua School of Business Library
Duke University
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