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

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).