This document discusses challenges and opportunities related to navigating the growing sea of online information for researchers. It touches on topics like the changing scholarly environment, the role of libraries in collaboration, issues around access to information, debates on publishing and reading in digital formats, and the potential for new discovery tools and models through greater collaboration.
Digital Visitors and Residents: Project Feedbackjisc-elearning
Students and staff have been developing their own digital literacies for years and successfully integrating them into their social and professional activities. The Visitors and Residents project has been capturing these literacies by interviewing participants within four educational stages from secondary school to experienced scholars. Using the Visitors and Residents idea as a framework the project has been mapping what motivates individuals and groups to engage with the web for learning. We have been exploring the information-seeking and learning strategies that are evolving in both personal and professional contexts. In this presentation we will discuss these emerging ‘user owned’ literacies and how they might integrate with institutional approaches to developing digital literacies. We also will discuss the Visitors and Residents mapping process and how this could be utilised by projects as a tool for reflecting on existing and potential literacies and the development of services and systems.
David White, Co-manager , Technology Assisted Lifelong Learning, University of Oxford
Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, OCLC Research
CRIG 2017 Improving digital library services with user researchVernon Fowler
Modern libraries provide a burgeoning array of digital services, all experienced through a myriad of touch-points. To name a few: catalogue; discovery layers; website; LibGuides; Learning Management Systems; chat; Skype; social media; YouTube; blogs; portals; email...
It's a complex picture! A dichotomy of implementing innovative new services while maintaining legacy ones rarely results in seamless, unified library experiences. Using unconnected touch-points often leads to broken user experiences. A good user experience requires research.
To increase satisfaction and delight library users, adopt an approach that gathers evidence, generates insights, and informs decision-making for iterative, incremental changes. This presentation explores some tried and tested user research methods to gather both qualitative and quantitative data from students and staff throughout all stages of project life-cycles. It aims to inspire you with examples of user research initiatives undertaken at Deakin University Library, including co-design workshops for a better homepage, and preliminary results from a longitudinal happiness tracking survey for continuous improvement.
Attendees will take away a digital set of research method cards templates, and tips for conducting quality user research to improve project outcomes at their libraries.
Observing Archives: Web Archiving as Socio-technical PracticeJessica Ogden
This paper presents the preliminary results of an ethnographic study of web archiving, in an effort to explore the ways in which practitioners shape the preservation and maintenance of the archived Web in its various forms. A combination of non/participant observation, documentary sources and interviews were conducted over the course of several weeks in collaboration with web archivists, engineers and managers at the Internet Archive – a private, non-profit digital library that has been archiving the Web since 1996. Whilst several socio- technical components of practice have been identified thus far, this paper focuses on the types of ‘knowledge work’ that informs the selection, collection, repair and maintenance of the archived Web(s). This work draws on Downey (2014) and recent calls within STS (Jackson 2014; Russell & Vinsel 2016) to move beyond a pre- occupation with innovation to consider the repair and maintenance of technologies as potential sites of critical engagement and social discourse. Here the concept of ‘web archival labour’ is proposed to encompass these practices and highlight the ways in which web archivists (as both networked human and non-human agents) shape and maintain the preserved Web through practices that are often embedded in and obscured by the complex technical arrangements of collection and access. As a result, this engagement positions web archives as places of knowledge and cultural production in their own right, revealing new insights into the performative nature of web archiving that have implications for how these new forms of social data are used and understood.
Digital Visitors and Residents: Project Feedbackjisc-elearning
Students and staff have been developing their own digital literacies for years and successfully integrating them into their social and professional activities. The Visitors and Residents project has been capturing these literacies by interviewing participants within four educational stages from secondary school to experienced scholars. Using the Visitors and Residents idea as a framework the project has been mapping what motivates individuals and groups to engage with the web for learning. We have been exploring the information-seeking and learning strategies that are evolving in both personal and professional contexts. In this presentation we will discuss these emerging ‘user owned’ literacies and how they might integrate with institutional approaches to developing digital literacies. We also will discuss the Visitors and Residents mapping process and how this could be utilised by projects as a tool for reflecting on existing and potential literacies and the development of services and systems.
David White, Co-manager , Technology Assisted Lifelong Learning, University of Oxford
Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, OCLC Research
CRIG 2017 Improving digital library services with user researchVernon Fowler
Modern libraries provide a burgeoning array of digital services, all experienced through a myriad of touch-points. To name a few: catalogue; discovery layers; website; LibGuides; Learning Management Systems; chat; Skype; social media; YouTube; blogs; portals; email...
It's a complex picture! A dichotomy of implementing innovative new services while maintaining legacy ones rarely results in seamless, unified library experiences. Using unconnected touch-points often leads to broken user experiences. A good user experience requires research.
To increase satisfaction and delight library users, adopt an approach that gathers evidence, generates insights, and informs decision-making for iterative, incremental changes. This presentation explores some tried and tested user research methods to gather both qualitative and quantitative data from students and staff throughout all stages of project life-cycles. It aims to inspire you with examples of user research initiatives undertaken at Deakin University Library, including co-design workshops for a better homepage, and preliminary results from a longitudinal happiness tracking survey for continuous improvement.
Attendees will take away a digital set of research method cards templates, and tips for conducting quality user research to improve project outcomes at their libraries.
Observing Archives: Web Archiving as Socio-technical PracticeJessica Ogden
This paper presents the preliminary results of an ethnographic study of web archiving, in an effort to explore the ways in which practitioners shape the preservation and maintenance of the archived Web in its various forms. A combination of non/participant observation, documentary sources and interviews were conducted over the course of several weeks in collaboration with web archivists, engineers and managers at the Internet Archive – a private, non-profit digital library that has been archiving the Web since 1996. Whilst several socio- technical components of practice have been identified thus far, this paper focuses on the types of ‘knowledge work’ that informs the selection, collection, repair and maintenance of the archived Web(s). This work draws on Downey (2014) and recent calls within STS (Jackson 2014; Russell & Vinsel 2016) to move beyond a pre- occupation with innovation to consider the repair and maintenance of technologies as potential sites of critical engagement and social discourse. Here the concept of ‘web archival labour’ is proposed to encompass these practices and highlight the ways in which web archivists (as both networked human and non-human agents) shape and maintain the preserved Web through practices that are often embedded in and obscured by the complex technical arrangements of collection and access. As a result, this engagement positions web archives as places of knowledge and cultural production in their own right, revealing new insights into the performative nature of web archiving that have implications for how these new forms of social data are used and understood.
A description of the state of the art in Linked Open (or 'Structured') Data on the Web from the perspective of Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums
The future of liberal education depends upon an integrative vision of digitally-informed learning that is not merely content delivery online but rather is reshaped in the same ways that digital learning has already fundamentally changed our culture. This session will present a vision for the digital transformation of liberal education through a curriculum that scaffolds self-directed, digitally-augmented problem-solving and the institutional strategies to support it.
This presentation discusses issues and challenges related to current and future trends in STEM librarianship. This includes strategies and discusses directions which would lead to a strong, effective STEM library team for the STEM libraries and community.
Some resources for the Emerging Green Builders Speed Mentorship Event tonight, May 27 in Toronto at the awesome South Street Burger (where there are very lovely wait-staff):
Event details: http://www.cagbctoronto.org/news-events/event-listing/event/1266
Emerging Green Builders: http://www.cagbctoronto.org/membership/egb
Canada Green Building Council Toronto Chapter: http://www.cagbctoronto.org/
South Street Burger on King Street East, Toronto: http://www.southstburger.com/
The New Ethos: Media & Information Literacies Part IBonnie Stewart
Living and learning in an age of knowledge abundance isn't just about technological tools: making meaning in complexity requires Media & Information Literacies (MIL) for a new, participatory ethos. Part I of a 2-part MIL session in London, January 2014.
A description of the state of the art in Linked Open (or 'Structured') Data on the Web from the perspective of Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums
The future of liberal education depends upon an integrative vision of digitally-informed learning that is not merely content delivery online but rather is reshaped in the same ways that digital learning has already fundamentally changed our culture. This session will present a vision for the digital transformation of liberal education through a curriculum that scaffolds self-directed, digitally-augmented problem-solving and the institutional strategies to support it.
This presentation discusses issues and challenges related to current and future trends in STEM librarianship. This includes strategies and discusses directions which would lead to a strong, effective STEM library team for the STEM libraries and community.
Some resources for the Emerging Green Builders Speed Mentorship Event tonight, May 27 in Toronto at the awesome South Street Burger (where there are very lovely wait-staff):
Event details: http://www.cagbctoronto.org/news-events/event-listing/event/1266
Emerging Green Builders: http://www.cagbctoronto.org/membership/egb
Canada Green Building Council Toronto Chapter: http://www.cagbctoronto.org/
South Street Burger on King Street East, Toronto: http://www.southstburger.com/
The New Ethos: Media & Information Literacies Part IBonnie Stewart
Living and learning in an age of knowledge abundance isn't just about technological tools: making meaning in complexity requires Media & Information Literacies (MIL) for a new, participatory ethos. Part I of a 2-part MIL session in London, January 2014.
Inbound to #32 | The Essentials of Client CommunicationPowered by Search
This deck focuses on tips, tricks, and best practices to help you build better relationships with your clients. It will go over the tools we use to facilitate client communication on a daily basis, as well as a dive into the power of influence.
Presentatie van Selina Roskam als inleiding op de perspresentatie van de Leidraad Green Lease. Over Agentschap NL en Platform Duurzame Huisvesting
25 november 2011
Jones Lang Lasalle
Amsterdam
Miller Augusto
Palestrante & Idealizador do Evento
Diretor executivo da CLEVER CODE e Desenvolvedor Front-End desde 2001.
Editor oficial no Mozilla Developer Network.
Criador dos produtos:
- ButcheryJS (http://github.butcheryjs.com);
- iQueryJS (http://clever--code.github.io/iQuery/);
- livelybg (http://github.livelybg.com/)
CUA Humanities Lecture on Scholarly Communications LSC634 Fall2014Kimberly Hoffman
Lecture on Scholarly Communications for CUA LSC634 students Sept. 29, 2014. Activities noted by * include mining new scholarly communications job descriptions; determining open access, self archiving and author rights of individual journals using SHERPA/RoMEO; and finding bibliometrics like JIF and h-index that drive publishing.
Presented at PLAN Media Specialist in-service days August 2012
Just noticed links for photo attribution did not load. I'll repost with links as soon as I can!
We used to think of the user in the life of the library. Now we think of the library in the life of the user. As behaviors change in a network environment, we have seen growing interest in ethnographic and user-centered design approaches. This presentation introduces this topic. It also explores changes in how we manage collections as an illustration of this shift towards thinking of the library in the life of the user.
Pedagogy and School Libraries: Developing agile approaches in a digital ageJudy O'Connell
Libraries for future learners: one day conference to inspire, connect and inform teacher librarians and school leaders thinking about future learning needs. This presentation was a keynote conversation starter to open up a wide range of topics for other presentations and workshop activities sharing examplars, tools and strategies related to future learning. Held at Rydges World Square, Sydney.
Convenient isn't always simple: Digital Visitors and Residents.Lynn Connaway
Connaway, L. S. (2019). Convenient isn't always simple: Digital Visitors and Residents. Presented at the University of Adelaide, February 18, 2019, Adelaide, Australia.
Challenges and opportunities for academic librarieslisld
Research and learning behaviors are changing in a network environment. What challenges do Academic libraries face? What opportunities do they have? A presentation given at a symposium on the future of academic libraries at the Open University.
Open etext books are making a significant difference to educational outcomes. Includes a case study of The plan detectives and analysis of the changes made to student outcomes.
Presentation to CAUL Research repositories Community event 2015Roxanne Missingham
Business and industry groups need for an use of information.
http://www.caul.edu.au/about-caul/caul-meetings/research-meetings/repository-meetings/repositories2015event/repositories2015event-program
Presentation to Libraries, MOOCs and online learning ALIA,CAUL, OCLC and State Library of Queensland Symposium. https://www.alia.org.au/events/2348/libraries-moocs-and-online-learning
Biological screening of herbal drugs: Introduction and Need for
Phyto-Pharmacological Screening, New Strategies for evaluating
Natural Products, In vitro evaluation techniques for Antioxidants, Antimicrobial and Anticancer drugs. In vivo evaluation techniques
for Anti-inflammatory, Antiulcer, Anticancer, Wound healing, Antidiabetic, Hepatoprotective, Cardio protective, Diuretics and
Antifertility, Toxicity studies as per OECD guidelines
Unit 8 - Information and Communication Technology (Paper I).pdfThiyagu K
This slides describes the basic concepts of ICT, basics of Email, Emerging Technology and Digital Initiatives in Education. This presentations aligns with the UGC Paper I syllabus.
Executive Directors Chat Leveraging AI for Diversity, Equity, and InclusionTechSoup
Let’s explore the intersection of technology and equity in the final session of our DEI series. Discover how AI tools, like ChatGPT, can be used to support and enhance your nonprofit's DEI initiatives. Participants will gain insights into practical AI applications and get tips for leveraging technology to advance their DEI goals.
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
A workshop hosted by the South African Journal of Science aimed at postgraduate students and early career researchers with little or no experience in writing and publishing journal articles.
Normal Labour/ Stages of Labour/ Mechanism of LabourWasim Ak
Normal labor is also termed spontaneous labor, defined as the natural physiological process through which the fetus, placenta, and membranes are expelled from the uterus through the birth canal at term (37 to 42 weeks
How to Make a Field invisible in Odoo 17Celine George
It is possible to hide or invisible some fields in odoo. Commonly using “invisible” attribute in the field definition to invisible the fields. This slide will show how to make a field invisible in odoo 17.
Introduction to AI for Nonprofits with Tapp NetworkTechSoup
Dive into the world of AI! Experts Jon Hill and Tareq Monaur will guide you through AI's role in enhancing nonprofit websites and basic marketing strategies, making it easy to understand and apply.
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
Synthetic Fiber Construction in lab .pptxPavel ( NSTU)
Synthetic fiber production is a fascinating and complex field that blends chemistry, engineering, and environmental science. By understanding these aspects, students can gain a comprehensive view of synthetic fiber production, its impact on society and the environment, and the potential for future innovations. Synthetic fibers play a crucial role in modern society, impacting various aspects of daily life, industry, and the environment. ynthetic fibers are integral to modern life, offering a range of benefits from cost-effectiveness and versatility to innovative applications and performance characteristics. While they pose environmental challenges, ongoing research and development aim to create more sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives. Understanding the importance of synthetic fibers helps in appreciating their role in the economy, industry, and daily life, while also emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and innovation.
7. iPads even a 2 year old can use
them
Is a 2 year old a model for researchers?
8. Locking up access to information
• Deep web
• When is open really open
• Risks to research, teaching and learning
and collaboration
• Locking up is more than big publishers
• Up to 75% of government “publications”
disappear in a decade
11. Dense information
Read short segments Can use dense complex
publication
browse reading
annotations – an
impossible dream
Marginalia, the print
experience
Access to lots of
information – reliable,
long term?
Quality – role of scholarly
publishers
Many versions
Mobile and tablets vs print
12. Debates
• Joseph Konrath “Amazon will destroy you”
• Emma Wright. “The future of the book
business”
– Publishing quality
– Reading (esp children)
– Market and value
• Neil Gaiman - publishers must be like
dandelions
13. Remembering and knowing
• Students operate in print and e environments
• Garland study
– Small differences but
– More repetition required for digital texts to impart the
same information
– Book readers digest material more easily
(Szalavitz, Maria “Do e-books make it harder to
remember what you just read?”)
14. A future narrative
• Digital coevolution
(Nick Harkaway)
• Nicholas Carr “Is
Google making us
stupid?”
21. Open access
But a total conversion will be
slow in coming, because
scientists still have every
economic incentive to submit
their papers to high-prestige
subscription journals. The
subscriptions tend to be paid for
by campus libraries, and few
individual scientists see the
costs directly. From their
perspective, publication is
effectively free.
(Van Noorden, 2013)
21
22. Government informaiton
• President Obama’s Executive Order
directs government-held data be made
more accessible to the public and to
entrepreneurs and others as fuel for
innovation and economic growth. (9 May
2013)
22
26. Collections
• What makes a collection?
• Curation
• Corpus of knowledge
• Collaboration
26
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/3487810383/
27. Resource discovery
• All for one and one for all?
• Defining content
• Scholar needs
• When researchers cannot
get hold of a work in their
library, 87% (US) and 90%
(UK) often
or occasionally search for a
free online version.
(Schonfeld) http://listverse.com/2007/10/26/15-funny-street-signs/
28. • What value is location?
• Collaboration a new frontier?
30. • MOOCs new
environment – many
opportunities beyond
traditional academic
outcomes
30
Small beauty By SharonPerrett
http://www.flickr.com/photos/81494696@N00/287199385/
31. • Are we “run over by technology”?
• Sir Bruce Williams Boyer lecture 1982
• What must we do to demonstrate value?
Flexibility, evolution
31
32. … the electronic screen lends the text within
its frame the eternally pristine appearance of
a newly cut page, and this produces in me a
distancing feeling that, like Brecht’s dramatic
techniques, allows me a freer reading,
uncluttered by the sense of labouring under
previous perusals by myself and others.
Alberto Manguel cited in Barmé
33. Either you print things out, and find yourself
oppressed by piles of documents you’ll
never read, or you read online, but as soon
as you click onto the next page you forget
what you’ve just read, the very thing that
has brought you to the page now on your
screen
Alberto Manguel cited in Barmé
34. References
• Asian Studies Association of Australia (2002) Maximising Australia’s Asia knowledge:
Repositioning and Renewal of a National Asset. Canberra, ASAA.
http://coombs.anu.edu.au/SpecialProj/ASAA/asia-knowledge-book-v70.pdf
• Australian Government. (2012) Australia in the Asian Century : white paper.
Canberra: Australia in the Asian Century Implementation Task Force.
http://asiancentury.dpmc.gov.au/white-paper/
• Barmé, G. R. (2011) “Slow reading and fast reference, East Asian history 37.
http://www.eastasianhistory.org/37/barme
• Boston College, Daniel R. Coquillette Rare Book Room (2010) Recent additions to
the collection – Fall 2010: An illustrated guide to the exhibit.
http://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/schools/law_sites/library/pdf/RBR_items/pdf/F10RecentA
• Britannica Editors (2012) Change: It’s Okay. Really. Encyclopaedia Britannica Blog.
http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2012/03/change/
• Brockman, J. ed. (2012) How is the Internet changing the way you think? Allen &
Unwin. (also see review by Appleyard at
http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2012/01/appleyard-internet-book)
35. • Gainman, N. (2013) Keynote presentation to London Book Fair’s Digital Minds
Conference.
http://www.sfsignal.com/archives/2013/05/video-neil-gaimans-keynote-at-the-2013-london-bo
• Harkaway, N. (2012) ... everything looks like a nail... Futurebook blog.
http://www.futurebook.net/content/everything-looks-nail
• Intel (2012) What happens in an Internet minute?
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/communications/internet-minute-infographic.html
• Konrath, J. (2012) Amazon Will Destroy You, blog.
• http://jakonrath.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/amazon-will-destroy-you.html
• Murphy, S. (2012) Top 10 Apps Downloaded in 2011, Mashable.
http://mashable.com/2011/12/23/top-10-apps/#4008910-Twitter
• Miller, C. et al (2013)
http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2013/05/01/parents-children-libraries-and-reading/
• Plato's Phaedrus from Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 9, translated by H.N. Fowler. Ca
mbridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1925.
36. • Rainie, L. (2012) The Shifting Education Landscape: Networked Learning, Pew
Research. http://www.pewinternet.org/Presentations/2012/Mar/NROC.aspx
• Schonfeld, R. (2013) “The Space Between: Our latest Ithaka S+R Issue Brief
pinpoints where US faculty members and UK academics diverge and asks why?”
http://www.sr.ithaka.org/blog-individual/space-between
• Szalavitz, M. (2012) Do E-Books Make It Harder to Remember What You Just Read?
TimeHealthland. http://healthland.time.com/2012/03/14/do-e-books-impair-memory/
• telstarlogistics (2010) A 2.5 Year-Old Has A First Encounter with An iPad, YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT4EbM7dCMs
• Tenopir, C. (2013) Scholarly Reading in a Digital Age: Some things change, some
stay the same. Presentation given at ANU.
• Wikipedia (2012) “Is Google making us stupid?”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is_Google_Making_Us_Stupid%3F
• Wright, E. (2010) The Future of the Book Business: A Classicist’s View, Futurebook
blog. http://www.futurebook.net/content/future-book-business-classicist’s-view
36
Editor's Notes
Britannica Editors - March 13, 2012 For 244 years, the thick volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica have stood on the shelves of homes, libraries, and businesses everywhere, a source of enlightenment as well as comfort to their owners and users around the world. They’ve always been there. Year after year. Since 1768. Every. Single. Day. But not forever. Today we’ve announced that we will discontinue the 32-volume printed edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica when our current inventory is gone. A momentous event? In some ways, yes; the set is, after all, nearly a quarter of a millennium old. But in a larger sense this is just another historical data point in the evolution of human knowledge. For one thing, the encyclopedia will live on—in bigger, more numerous, and more vibrant digital forms. And just as important, we the publishers are poised, in the digital era, to serve knowledge and learning in new ways that go way beyond reference works. In fact, we already do.
Britannica Editors - March 13, 2012 For 244 years, the thick volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica have stood on the shelves of homes, libraries, and businesses everywhere, a source of enlightenment as well as comfort to their owners and users around the world. They’ve always been there. Year after year. Since 1768. Every. Single. Day. But not forever. Today we’ve announced that we will discontinue the 32-volume printed edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica when our current inventory is gone. A momentous event? In some ways, yes; the set is, after all, nearly a quarter of a millennium old. But in a larger sense this is just another historical data point in the evolution of human knowledge. For one thing, the encyclopedia will live on—in bigger, more numerous, and more vibrant digital forms. And just as important, we the publishers are poised, in the digital era, to serve knowledge and learning in new ways that go way beyond reference works. In fact, we already do.
http://www.newstatesman.com/books/2012/01/appleyard-internet-book One thing the luminaries mostly agree on is that the technological revolution of the late 20th century is the biggest upheaval since Gutenberg, and that growing up in a information-surfing culture is affecting us on a personal and social level. Given that I read this book on a train on my Kindle, while opposite me a stressed mother entertained her toddler - who could not yet talk - by letting the child play Angry Birds on her iPhone, I find it hard to disagree. Yet the very obviousness of this point exposes a limitation of the collection format: by halfway through, I was sighing repeatedly: "Oh, not bloody Gutenberg again !" The overlap makes this book one to dip into rather than read at one sitting, but it's bursting with quotable phrases. Here is the writer Paul Kedrosky wondering whether he could give up the internet. "Could I quit? At some level, it seems a silly question, like asking how I feel about taking a breathing hiatus or if on Tuesdays I would give up gravity." He is one of the minority who are relatively untroubled by the netpocalypse, wondering whether he really had more BDTs (big deep thoughts) before he spent all day connected, or whether his memory is playing tricks on him. It is largely the dissenters from hand-wringing who are more intriguing. June Cohen argues that "the rise of social media is really a reprise" - a return to a storytelling culture. And the psychologist and writer Steven Pinker believes that "the most interesting trend in the development of the internet is not how it is changing people's ways of thinking but how it is adapting to the way people think". He argues that the web took off because of the graphical user interface that made engaging with it more intuitive. Now we are developing interfaces based on speech, movement and even thought. Ultimately, many of the contributors conclude that we don't know how the internet is changing our brains because we don't know how anything changes the hefty lumps of fat and water in our skulls: they are still so poorly understood. Or, as Emily Dickinson put it in the poem that gave Appleyard his title: "The Brain - is wider than the Sky -/For - put them side by side -/The one the other will contain/With ease - and You - beside".