OCLC Report: Content, Not Containers
Interesting term, "format agnostic." The authors use it to refer to information consumers who have no preference between various information delivery systems. Perhaps the information itself could be called agnostic as well -- so much information is now available in multiple formats, none more definitive than another, such as newspapers available in print and online, and tv shows that can be watched on television or purchased from iTunes or watched on youtube. In which container should this information be preserved for later access? Does it matter?
Another interesting element of this report concerns the effect on academic publishing. The idea that scholars would rather publish on the web, in order that their ideas reach the maximum audience, does present a real conflict of interest with the fact that their books are supposed to make money for the university press and thus for the university, said scholar's employer. Cornell's bind-on-demand program sounds like a possible solution that perhaps could be applied to the publishing industry at large. Has it met with success?
These sorts of articles always seem to overstate the role of blogs, as far as I'm concerned. I doubt so many people actually use them as a news source. More often, they serve as a portal to news sources, with a list of links tailored to a specific topic or mindset, and offer commentary. They seem to perform the role of contextualization rather than providing the information itself (and any original information is usually, like, pictures of the blogger's dog).
Lynch
Lynch has managed to write this in a general enough way that it doesn't sound as terribly dated 10 years later as it might. Are his definitions of Info. Literacy and IT Literacy still used?
What maybe has changed since 1998 is the IT skills students have already equipped themselves with outside of the classroom. Most already have "an appreciation of interactive media, and also a recognition of the fluid nature of many digital forms, plus an understanding of the computer’s
growing ability to edit or even fabricate what have traditionally been viewed as factual records of events (such as images)." [Obviously this is going to differ between world regions and cultures, but for now I will assume we're talking about in the US.] What Lynch terms as the second perspective on IT literacy -- an understanding of the underlying principles of technology and infrastructure -- is what most general education programs don't provide.
Vaughn
So basically, keeping a library technologically current is very expensive and requires constant vigilance. That's one thing for universities with tuition-paying students, but quite another for public libraries. Do they have any hope of catching up with technological advancements? Although, for disadvantaged communities in particular, state-of-the-art technology isn't necessary, as long as the library can provide some sort of access that patrons can't afford otherwise.
Interesting term, "format agnostic." The authors use it to refer to information consumers who have no preference between various information delivery systems. Perhaps the information itself could be called agnostic as well -- so much information is now available in multiple formats, none more definitive than another, such as newspapers available in print and online, and tv shows that can be watched on television or purchased from iTunes or watched on youtube. In which container should this information be preserved for later access? Does it matter?
Another interesting element of this report concerns the effect on academic publishing. The idea that scholars would rather publish on the web, in order that their ideas reach the maximum audience, does present a real conflict of interest with the fact that their books are supposed to make money for the university press and thus for the university, said scholar's employer. Cornell's bind-on-demand program sounds like a possible solution that perhaps could be applied to the publishing industry at large. Has it met with success?
These sorts of articles always seem to overstate the role of blogs, as far as I'm concerned. I doubt so many people actually use them as a news source. More often, they serve as a portal to news sources, with a list of links tailored to a specific topic or mindset, and offer commentary. They seem to perform the role of contextualization rather than providing the information itself (and any original information is usually, like, pictures of the blogger's dog).
Lynch
Lynch has managed to write this in a general enough way that it doesn't sound as terribly dated 10 years later as it might. Are his definitions of Info. Literacy and IT Literacy still used?
What maybe has changed since 1998 is the IT skills students have already equipped themselves with outside of the classroom. Most already have "an appreciation of interactive media, and also a recognition of the fluid nature of many digital forms, plus an understanding of the computer’s
growing ability to edit or even fabricate what have traditionally been viewed as factual records of events (such as images)." [Obviously this is going to differ between world regions and cultures, but for now I will assume we're talking about in the US.] What Lynch terms as the second perspective on IT literacy -- an understanding of the underlying principles of technology and infrastructure -- is what most general education programs don't provide.
Vaughn
So basically, keeping a library technologically current is very expensive and requires constant vigilance. That's one thing for universities with tuition-paying students, but quite another for public libraries. Do they have any hope of catching up with technological advancements? Although, for disadvantaged communities in particular, state-of-the-art technology isn't necessary, as long as the library can provide some sort of access that patrons can't afford otherwise.
2 comments:
Michelle, I questioned the sustainability of all that technology that was the focus of the Vaughn article... Academic libraries are at an advantage in that they have money rolling in (or so it seems) whereas public libaries, which are where my experience lies, could not sustain that level of technology without some sort of private funding, through donatinos, etc... I totally agree with oyu that in some communities, just having the basics, inernet access, word processing, and a printer, are high tech enough to meet patron needs.
I completely agree with a couple of the points you made. The importance of blogs does seem overstated wherever it's mentioned. It's also true that it's more important for a library to provide its patrons with services that they can't get elsewhere than to maintain the latest and greatest hardware.
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