rote connectivity
"Somebody, in the name of contrariness if nothing else, should be making the argument against reading." Dan Visel,
if:book blog
Dan's wide-ranging exposition of the ideology of reading may mask an ideological agenda of connectivity. Classical education was based on rote memorization. Print delivered a new premise of rote reading. Distancing learning from these presumptions is fine, but not if we exchange them for a presumption of education based on rote connectivity.
Memorization and reading had, at least, the virtue of engaging the student's own mind. The choices for thoughtful escape were there because all the processing was going on in the person. The counter part of GPS is TPS (thought positioning system) in which search and discovery and evaluation occur outside the student in online educational resources.
looking forward to winter
"I am pleased to announce that the 2009 Conference meeting of the College
Book Art Association will be hosted at the University of Iowa in Iowa City,
January 8-10. "
Be there and be square.
There is no website. It seems that the last time I mentioned this kind of exclusion was twenty five years ago.
There is only one subject in the Universe that should not be considered on-screen and that is appreciation of the not-screen physical book.
acrl environmental scan
Environmental factors now swaying strategic research library administration sound no different than environmental factors swaying management of a restaurant or auto repair shop or any other service enterprise. The university library is viewed as a business, the students as customers and the service as network driven.
The library staff, meanwhile, is buffered for displacement and reassignment. The whole context is dynamic demand for new access, online learning and technology rich use. A relentless churn is moderated by debate over intellectual property versus presumed free access.
Collections sustaining this new age appear forgotten. They too are configured for displacement and reassignment, but they are also positioned for sudden disregard. Strangely this new disregard is occurring as the collections continue to grow in size and meaning. They are positioned to appear lacking in continued function.
But they have continued function and it is a basic functionality to sustain research across time and cultures, to organize and authenticate products of scholarship and creativity, and to preserve tangible objects that convey conceptual works. Is that functionality still relevant to the growing array of delivery mechanisms and service demands?
It is if the tangible collections are both mastering and backing-up these new consumer services. It is if the tangible collections are self-authenticating, are default and cost free persistent, are reliably legible and have exclusive attributes for learning. And it is if the research libraries have a different purpose than a restaurant or auto repair shop or other or any other service enterprise. Even the preservation department and its specialists may have work yet to do if tangible collections still define a research library.
In a surprising future the books may move out and the screens may move in, but the library will relocate with the books.
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