Guest editorial The library and the internet: introduction to the special issue Boria Sax Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue of On the Horizon, which is devoted to the next wave of innovation in online education; analyzes the traditional tension between the realm of books and reality, and to examine ways it which this may be influenced by digital technologies; and reviews possible alternatives to the structure of the traditional classroom for online education. Design/methodology/approach – Building on the work of Hans Blumenberg, this article begins with analysis of the malaise that pervaded literary culture on the threshold of the digital age. It evaluates various educational structures and technologies as attempts to respond to this challenge. Findings – Books not only contain but also structure learning, in fact they condition our expectations of what ‘‘knowledge’’ would be. The world of books has traditionally been opposed to that of ‘‘experience,’’ but digital technologies now provide new means of storing knowledge that transcend this dichotomy. This is a major change in the structure of knowledge, which will eventually transform our institutions of higher education. Originality/value – This article shows how the development of digital media was not simply driven by technology but was a response to the exhaustion of literary traditions, as thinkers began to doubt whether there was anything more worth putting in print. This perspective enables the article to go beyond the technological determinism that pervades much futuristic writing, and suggest how we may innovate, particularly in education, while retaining continuity with the past. Keywords Libraries, Internet, Innovation, Education Paper type Conceptual paper F ew people have ever lived what used to be called ‘‘the life of the mind’’ – actually, a life devoted to books – as completely as the eminent German philosopher Hans Blumenberg, who died in 1996. He knew very well indeed the special joys, frustrations, seductions, vanities, and triumphs that such a life entails, and, unlike many other academic mandarins, he was not inclined to either conceal or romanticize them. After an introductory chapter, his book Die Lesbarkeit der Welt (The Intelligibility of the World), begins with a meditation on the library: There is an old enmity between books and reality. What is written usurps the place of reality, to finally render it anachronistic and superfluous. The tradition of writing and finally printing constantly leads to a reduction in the authenticity of experience. Books acquire a an arrogance through their sheer accumulation, that at a point in the development of culture evoked the impression that libraries must contain everything, that it must be pointless in the course of our brief lives to look again at things that have already been taken to account. The power of this impression is shown by the intensity with which people have reacted against it. Suddenly, the dust that covers the books becomes visible. They are old, mildewed, and reek of mold . . . The air in the library is oppressive; to breathe it is a sacrifice, and to pass an entire life there is intolerable . . . (Blumenberg, 1993, trans. Boria Sax). PAGE 6 j ON THE HORIZON j VOL. 16 NO. 1 2008, pp. 6-12, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1074-8121 DOI 10.1108/10748120810853318 Boria Sax is an independent scholar at White Plains, New York, USA.