Internet resources on e-money and smart cards - On the Net - electronic cash and credit cards - Column

Information Outlook, Feb, 1999 by Hal P. Kirkwood, Jr.

* Millicent (http://www.millicent.digital.com/) is the Digital (now Compaq) product for micropayments over the Internet. It is currently in beta testing, so this site allows a visitor to download the wallet and obtain $10.00 of free 'scrip' to test the new system. Take the future for a test drive by visiting a variety of vendors involved in the test.

More Info

If the above sites on electronic commerce, electronic cash, and smart cards has piqued your interest, then there are several worthwhile sites to visit for more information.

* Leo Van Hove has compiled (with a little help from friends) a massive bibliography of e-wallet and e-cash sources in print and electronic format. This bibliography has been growing since June 1996. The URL is http://cfec.vub.ac.be/cfec/purses.htm. Internal links are available to resources on specific 'purses' and to country-specific information.

* Abrac@dabra (http://www.netlink.co.uk/users/abracad/emoney.html) is a UK-based site that provides a quick overview to emoney and a selection of relevant links. The most useful part of this site are the selections of links on the topics of Skeptics, Tax Dodging, and Key Essays and Articles.

* The National Technological University of Singapore (http://www.ntu.edu.sg/library/advrtise.htm) has compiled another massive list of web-based resources. The focus of the list is much broader and encompasses advertising, marketing, and electronic commerce as a whole. Numerous links to vendors and full-text articles are provided within this list.

* CNET conducted a comparison of the available e-cash options back in 1996. This article (http://www.cnet.com/Content/Reviews/Compare/Ecash/index.html) is still available and can provide a solid foundation for research into this developing area. Items that are especially useful are the "How E-cash Works" and "Future Watch."

* The magazine Wired also focused on e-cash in mid-1996 in there article "The Buck Starts Here: Will Nanobucks be the Next Big Thing, or are We Just Talking Pocket Change?" (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.08/nanobucks.html) This is a very interesting and perhaps sobering article explaining there are still many bugs to be worked out if this concept of micropayments is to succeed. While it is a bit dated, it provides a good foundation for where this industry has developed from in the past. Several related articles are also available with Wired's usual cynical focus on the reality beyond the hype.

Electronic payments and electronic cash are the future. Corporations with visions of big money and constant, invisible charges for everything on the web will see to it that the security and stability issues are overcome. Electronic payment schemes such as these can be used in many library functions: acquisitions, serials payments, overdue fines, internal corporate billing, just to name a few. It would be best for special librarians to research this future now so we can make informed decisions later.

Hal P. Kirkwood Jr. is assistant management & economics librarian, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. He can be reached via e-mail at Kirkwood@purdue.edu or http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Union/7290/. For more information on On the Net, contact Sharyn Ladner (sladner@miami.edu).