A peer-to-peer architecture for the collaborative construction of scientific theories by virtual communities

Needs for bidirectional nonvertical access to information and learning are evident and urgent. We cannot impose pervasive, huge investments to developing country´s users forcing them to wait. Peer-to-peer architectures integrated with interoperable XML documents are currently the most suited means for direct, bidirectional access to information within virtual communities. We show how such an architecture may improve the effectiveness of a previously developed tool for literacy in Brazil, at the same time as it enables highly qualified scientists in the West to cooperate on the Web today, on the grid tomorrow.