Why did this article leave me unsettled? 
And is all change progress?
My mind stumbles to the ridiculous image from Superman 3 where the computer pulls the villainess into its wires and she turns into a cyborg thing. I know - images from Star Trek TNG's "Borg" would be much less comical, but I was young enough with the Superman movies that it made an impression on me.
So, is this the new librarian? Half-digital cyborg plugging good little consumers into the Net?
Can new media teach? Yes, I do believe it can be a very powerful tool, but one that supplements instruction, not replaces it. If digital life alone is sufficient, why not replace all librarians, and teachers for that matter, with text-messages? I can Twitter a science lesson to thousands of child nodes. Why not replace all instruction with blogging? Why not replace all people with circuitry? Really, it would be much more efficient.
I'm being extreme, I know. But not much. Walk across campus and see the loving caresses between the electronics and their hosts.
Are blogs superior to in-class discussions? I don't think so. Pixelated disputes and avatars for dissidents? Oh, it can add to an experience, and I wouldn't be opposed to a blog assignment for my students, but really, I think the personal nature of learning is losing out. Technology is no replacement for flesh and blood.
So, back (somewhat) on topic. Next in front of the guillotine is the librarian, and she must show she can be a good citizen of the digital world, or be labeled as part of the old regieme. Librarians, keeper of dusty pages, must "transcend the physical space to bring services and programming to every student and teacher throughout the school..." So... she must become high priestess of the electric elixr or perish. Hmmm.
There has been a shift in thought as surely as the printed word changed the world. Schools and libraries cannot teach to the old paradigm of limited knowledge in the hands of the few. We now have a populus drowning in information, but we are no more wize than our "primitive" ancestors. Actually, when we add a new thing, we lose something else. Sometimes it's not missed at all, but parts will be. When words became printed, stories started to die, like zoo animals in cages start to die the minute they are imprisoned. While we gained a great deal in the way of knowledge to the masses, the ability for people to remember, the old stories, and folk wisdom started to perish. We gained electronics and lost the knowledge of how to fend for ourselves. When we gained the radio and television, it was the start of decline of the printed word, and now newspapers, almanacs, and encyclopedias are at death's door.
And so are libraries. Already, more and more space is reserved for keyboards and wires. It's no longer a refuge from the world, but a portal with a hardwired connection. Plug in, zone out, give up.
And is all change progress?
My mind stumbles to the ridiculous image from Superman 3 where the computer pulls the villainess into its wires and she turns into a cyborg thing. I know - images from Star Trek TNG's "Borg" would be much less comical, but I was young enough with the Superman movies that it made an impression on me.
So, is this the new librarian? Half-digital cyborg plugging good little consumers into the Net?
Can new media teach? Yes, I do believe it can be a very powerful tool, but one that supplements instruction, not replaces it. If digital life alone is sufficient, why not replace all librarians, and teachers for that matter, with text-messages? I can Twitter a science lesson to thousands of child nodes. Why not replace all instruction with blogging? Why not replace all people with circuitry? Really, it would be much more efficient.
I'm being extreme, I know. But not much. Walk across campus and see the loving caresses between the electronics and their hosts.
Are blogs superior to in-class discussions? I don't think so. Pixelated disputes and avatars for dissidents? Oh, it can add to an experience, and I wouldn't be opposed to a blog assignment for my students, but really, I think the personal nature of learning is losing out. Technology is no replacement for flesh and blood.
So, back (somewhat) on topic. Next in front of the guillotine is the librarian, and she must show she can be a good citizen of the digital world, or be labeled as part of the old regieme. Librarians, keeper of dusty pages, must "transcend the physical space to bring services and programming to every student and teacher throughout the school..." So... she must become high priestess of the electric elixr or perish. Hmmm.
There has been a shift in thought as surely as the printed word changed the world. Schools and libraries cannot teach to the old paradigm of limited knowledge in the hands of the few. We now have a populus drowning in information, but we are no more wize than our "primitive" ancestors. Actually, when we add a new thing, we lose something else. Sometimes it's not missed at all, but parts will be. When words became printed, stories started to die, like zoo animals in cages start to die the minute they are imprisoned. While we gained a great deal in the way of knowledge to the masses, the ability for people to remember, the old stories, and folk wisdom started to perish. We gained electronics and lost the knowledge of how to fend for ourselves. When we gained the radio and television, it was the start of decline of the printed word, and now newspapers, almanacs, and encyclopedias are at death's door.
And so are libraries. Already, more and more space is reserved for keyboards and wires. It's no longer a refuge from the world, but a portal with a hardwired connection. Plug in, zone out, give up.
For more reading: a study of children raised by rectangles. See also the original study by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
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