The document discusses how communication methods are shifting from written to more oral styles, as seen through new technologies like blogs, listservs, and social media. It summarizes the key differences between written and oral communication based on linguistics research. Written communication focuses on transmitting planned content from author to readers, while oral communication aims to build connections through spontaneous, less organized exchanges between participants. As technologies evolve, more communication forms are adopting oral characteristics. Libraries will need to organize and preserve increasingly unstructured information from open conversations in multiple directions.

1. Future Shock for Libraries: The Re-emergence of Orality Ruth Ann Jones, Special Collections Cataloger Ranti Junus, Systems Librarian for Electronic Resources Michigan State University Libraries

2. What to expect today? A chance to reflect instead of react Examine larger trends No 5-point solutions

3. Setting the stage: How scholars (and others) communicated 100 years ago

4. Scholarly journals

5. Conference proceedings

6. Handbooks and periodicals

7. Fast forward Scholarly communications now include: Scholarly communications now include: Scholarly communications now include:

8. math education blog Blogs

9. Blogs are now so numerous and important, they are themselves an object of study. they are themselves an object of study.

10. Listservs “ H-Net plays a huge role in the flow of scholarship; I cannot imagine African studies without it.”

11. unconference announcement Unconferences

13. Hacking the Academy screenshot Crowdsourcing

14. State and local organizations live online too:

16. state history society facebook

17. Why think about changes in communication? They affect library collection-building! Linguistics offers a theoretical framework to understand how communication methods are changing Computer science offers collection-building tools of the future

18. What’s happening? It’s more than technology.

19. Linguistics researcher Robin Tolmach Lakoff: the shift to orality the shift to orality the shift to orality

20. “ It is generally acknowledged that written and oral communication involve very different kinds of strategies: what works orally does not work in print, and vice versa.” and vice versa.” and vice versa.” and vice versa.” and vice versa.”

21. “ In the past several hundred years… we have been in the thrall of an assumption that written communication is primary and preferable.” primary and preferable.” primary and preferable.” primary and preferable.” primary and preferable.”

22. “ For various reasons, some social, some technological, we are at present in the process of shifting...” in the process of shifting...” in the process of shifting...”

23. “ ...so that we prefer and respond most appropriately to communication s in any mode couched in an oral framework.” an oral framework.” an oral framework.” an oral framework.”

24. Lakoff, Robin Tolmach. “Some of My Favorite Writers are Literate: The Mingling of Oral and Literate Strategies in Written Communication.” In Spoken and Written Language: Exploring Orality and Literacy. Deborah Tannen, ed. Norwood, N.J. : Ablex, 1982 Deborah Tannen, ed. Norwood, N.J. : Ablex, 1982 Deborah Tannen, ed. Norwood, N.J. : Ablex, 1982

25. How do linguists understand the difference between printed communication and oral communication?

26. Written model Oral model Purpose: transmission of content Purpose: building connections Planned in advance; well organized. Spontaneous, less organized. Spontaneity valued as marker of emotional authencity. “ Autonomous” Writing carries entire message. “ Non-autonomous” Supplemented by paralinguistic channels: gesture, expression, tone. Message goes one way: from writer to readers. Message goes two ways: between conversation participants.

27. Do new forms of communication follow the oral model?

28. Blogs Written model Oral model Purpose: transmission of content. Purpose: building connections. Planned in advance; well organized. Spontaneous and less organized. “ Autonomous” Writing carries the entire message. “ Non-autonomous” Supplemented by paralinguistic channels. Message goes one way: from writer to readers. Message goes two ways: between conversation participants.

29. Listservs (also chat, Usenet, texting) Written model Oral model Purpose: transmission of content. Purpose: building connections. Planned in advance; well organized. Spontaneous and less organized. “ Autonomous” Writing carries the entire message. “ Non-autonomous” Supplemented by paralinguistic channels: :-) Message goes one way: from writer to readers. Message goes two ways: between conversation participants.

30. Some modes of oral communication have traditionally imitated print , but are evolving more purely oral forms. forms. forms.

31. The traditional conference: an oral communicative form that follows the written model Written model Oral model Purpose: transmission of content. Purpose: building connections. Planned in advance; well organized. Spontaneous and less organized. “ Autonomous” Writing carries the entire message. “ Non-autonomous” Supplemented by paralinguistic channels. Message goes one way: from writer to readers. Message goes two ways: between conversation participants.

32. The unconference: re-designing the traditional conference to follow an oral model Written model Oral model Purpose: transmission of content. Purpose: building connections. Planned in advance; well organized. Spontaneous and less organized. “ Autonomous” Writing carries the entire message. “ Non-autonomous” Supplemented by paralinguistic channels. Message goes one way: from writer to readers. Message goes two ways: between conversation participants.

33. Poetry Slams!

34. Poetry readings vs. Poetry slams Written model Oral model Purpose: transmission of content. Purpose: building connections. Planned in advance; well organized. Spontaneous and less organized. “ Autonomous” Writing carries the entire message. “ Non-autonomous” Supplemented by paralinguistic channels. Message goes one way: from writer to readers. Message goes two ways: between conversation participants.

35. Books with QR codes linking to online discussions

36. Books with QR codes Written model Oral model Purpose: transmission of content. Purpose: building connections. Planned in advance; well organized. Spontaneous but less organized. “ Autonomous” Writing carries the entire message. “ Non-autonomous” Supplemented by paralinguistic channels. Message goes one way: from writer to readers. Message goes two ways: between conversation participants.

37. the rise of oral history: evidence of a growing awareness that people who don’t write their stories still have something valuable to share evidence of a growing awareness that people who don’t write their stories still have something valuable to share

38. one last look at the oral model... much of the information we will have to preserve and organize in the future will have these characteristics purpose: building connections spontaneous and less organized supplemented by paralinguistic channels conversations going in all directions

39. WHAT GIVES?

40. Digital publishing is becoming simply publishing To many producers, content is the central asset

41. Collective memory is what we are preserving: and this is digital memory And it may or may not be encoded in the structured and meaningful way

42. http://www.civilwardata150.net

43. linked data (structured)

44. content, content, content

45. Social Media Laurel Papworth laurelpapworth.com AND Gary Hayes personalizemedia.com

47. Self curation tools

52. Auto-populate

57. Story Telling

61. People Connections

65. Conversations

66. Conversations

67. We are experiencing a shift from preferring written communication styles to preferring oral communication styles. to preferring oral communication styles. to preferring oral communication styles.

68. We will need to organize and preserve information with these characteristics: multiple, simultaneous channels of communication (multimedia) a high volume of relatively unorganized information, due partly to the preference for spontaneity (self-curation, auto-population and data mining all become critical) users who want to make personal connections across broader and broader groups (the semantic web becomes critical) discourse will take place in multi-directional conversations which have to be preserved

69. Questions and discussion