title: The metamorphosis of communication, the knowledge revolution, and the maintenance of a contemporary perspective during the 21st century.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To define and discuss elements of the escalation in scientific data availability and their importance to neurosurgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  This multifactorial essay describes the evolution of communication methodologies, the information revolution, and the advent and effect of Internet communication with its potential effect on the practice of neurosurgery, professional assemblies, journals, and the infrastructure of the discipline. Practical and philosophical viewpoints are rendered to assess the existing and developing availability of information to the neurosurgical community.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Knowledge must be discerned from information. The individual does not have the luxury of detachment and must remain consistently, intellectually, and actively involved in the adaptations required to stay truly informed and current.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, USA.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Apuzzo
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hodge
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D009493:Neurosurgery / Q000193:education* / Q000639:trends