L’home imbibé from Daniel J. Caron
The advent of the digital age, or of digital cultures as Milad Doueihi defines them as not just of set of technological innovations and digital practices, but a new way to perceive, to learn, to express oneself, and to exist in a digital environment, have brought about a profound and important question that Professor Daniel J. Caron brings forward, the importance of the transmission of culture in the digital age and its ramifications on the documentary heritage production and control. This is not new ground for Dr. Caron, current holder of the research Chair of Information Resources Development at the École nationale d’administration publique. Dr. Caron discussed some of the underlying notions in his previous book Web HT.0. A theme emerges from both of these books, how do we ensure that we are transmitting a society’s core beliefs, traditions, forms and intent of human expressions in the digital age? What is the role of content transmitters such as libraries, archives and their professionals in this new environment? What is the emerging role for corporate interests such as Google and Microsoft in archiving versus the traditional role held by public institutions? This book investigates these issues and the impact that the digital age has on our codes of interpretation of what constitutes our cultural past, and even, our documentary heritage. In conclusion, Dr. Caron ask the ultimate question: Who will lead this collective challenge of documenting society?