All the Facts: A History of Information in the United States since 1870
James W. Cortada
Abstract
This book is a history of the role of information in the United States since roughly 1870, when the nation was well on its way to a nearly 150-year period of economic prosperity, technological and scientific transformations often collectively called the Second Industrial Revolution, and to a significant role in global affairs. Citizens and their institutions used information extensively as tools in support of the nation’s evolution during these decades. This book does for information what a general diplomatic or economic history of the country accomplishes when telling the story of America. It ... More
This book is a history of the role of information in the United States since roughly 1870, when the nation was well on its way to a nearly 150-year period of economic prosperity, technological and scientific transformations often collectively called the Second Industrial Revolution, and to a significant role in global affairs. Citizens and their institutions used information extensively as tools in support of the nation’s evolution during these decades. This book does for information what a general diplomatic or economic history of the country accomplishes when telling the story of America. It goes just as far in arguing that information’s role has been a critical component of the work, play, and culture of this nation. This book is a narrative history, a description, a catalog of the American experience. It also departs from the widely accepted concept of knowledge as important in American life. The introduction lays out the case for embracing the concept of information, instead of the more widely used word, knowledge. Looking at information, and not just knowledge, allows us to reveal crucial daily activities of people and organizations. An introduction describes a model demonstrated chronologically and thematically in the next 11 chapters. The last chapter summarizes key findings and implications. This book is designed so that it can be read cover to cover or in bits and pieces. All the Facts draws upon the research of many others, so it can be read as an introduction to what is a broad, extensive topic. It is the first general history of how Americans used information, and serves as a model for how other national information histories could be written.
Keywords:
information,
facts,
information ecosystems,
literacy,
Internet,
knowledge work,
United States
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2016 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780190460679 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: May 2016 |
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190460679.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
James W. Cortada, author
Senior Research Fellow, Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota
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