Web of Knowledge

Giota Alevizou is Lecturer in Digital Humanities and Culture at King’s College London.

"This fascinating genealogy reveals how encyclopedias - commercial and commons-based - influence the authoritative status of knowledge and why epistemic justice and resistance to biases depend on future choices about who controls the production, credibility, and accessibility of knowledge."Robin Mansell, London School of Economics and Political Science"This book shows encyclopedias have been reinvented for the digital age - reshaped by new media, changing institutions, and the politics of knowledge. Must-read!"Jimmy Wales"With the vast amount of information swirling around us, Giota Alevizou's new book is a crucial guide to how knowledge is being assembled, ordered and mediated, and to the profound consequences these structures have for meaning and knowing."David Beer, University of York"What happens to knowledge structures in the digital age? This book is timely, authoritative, and important – encyclopaedic in the best sense of the word."Caroline Bassett, University of Cambridge"An essential text for students and researchers of communication theory and digital media, Wikimedians and Wikipedians, as well as those who want to learn more about the modern history of the encyclopedia."Matthew Vetter, International Journal of Communication

• AcknowledgementForeword by Jimmy WalesIntroductionPart I: From Scroll to Platform: Genealogies, Media Technologies and Encyclopedic KnowledgeFrom Roots to Routes: Genealogies and Imaginaries of Encyclopedic MediaEncyclopedic Genres and the Digital Information EconomyEncyclopedic Dynamism and EpistemologiesPart II: Eras, Transitions, and TransformationsFrom Page to Screen: The Multimedia EraFrom Paywalls to Platforms: Encyclopedias in the Digital Knowledge EconomyEditing ‘Authority’: Wikipedia and Commons KnowledgePart III: Rationalising Authority: Encyclopedic Epistemologies in the Digital AgeRewriting Authority: The Changing Value(s) of Encyclopedic KnowledgeEpistemic Qualities and AI ThreatsConclusion: The Politics of Knowing: Reflections on Uncertain FuturesNotesReferencesIndex