Open AccessIntroduction: Approaches to the Paper Revolution: The Registration and Communication of Knowledge, Value and Information
Author(s) -
José María Pérez Fernández
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
cromohs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.101
H-Index - 3
ISSN - 1123-7023
DOI - 10.36253/cromohs-12572
Subject(s) - workgroup , value (mathematics) , state (computer science) , information and communications technology , information revolution , political science , media studies , sociology , economy , history , social science , public relations , engineering , law , computer science , economics , computer network , algorithm , machine learning
Invented in China and brought to Europe by Muslim merchants across the Silk Road, the use of paper in the West took off in the Mediterranean towards the end of the Middle Ages. Overshadowed in cultural and media history by the invention of print, paper has played a fundamental role as the media infrastructure for innumerable processes involving the registration and communication of knowledge and value in communities and institutions, from religious orders, mercantile societies, to global empires.
This thematic section of Cromohs features four essays. Three essays examine particular cases of paper as a medium for the codification and exchange of knowledge, information and value, whereas the fourth outlines the state of the art on the history of the so-called paper revolution and methodological issues illustrated with relevant case studies. These essays exemplify the research conducted by the Paper in Motion workgroup within the People in Motion COST action.