Transcript The Future of Print: Cogitations

The Future of Print:
Cogitations on Reading
Discussion
Fairleigh Dickinson University Library
College at Florham
October 6, 2007
James W. Marcum, Ph.D.
University Librarian
Some have “thrown in the towel”
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Strategy for maintaining the library:
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Complete the migration from print to electronic
collections…
Retire legacy print collections (that) makes access
available when required.
…
Migrate the focus of collections from purchasing
materials to curating content.
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David Lewis, (IUPUI), “A Strategy … 21st Century,” College
and Research Libraries (Sept. 2007).
Robert Darnton:
“A marvelous machine…”
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“Ever since the invention of the codex in
the 3rd or 4th century a.d., it has proven to
be a marvelous machine—great for
packaging information, convenient to
thumb through, comfortable to curl up
with, superb for storage, and … resistant
to damage. It does not need to be
upgraded or downloaded, accessed or
booted, plugged in…or extracted. It’s a
delight to the eye and a pleasure to hold.
And it’s handiness has made it the basic
tool of learning for thousands of years.”
Proposals for consideration:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The book is for READING
Not all books are EQUAL
Select appropriate FUNCTIONS/USES for book
Not authority, but NARRATIVE
RE-CATEGORIZE and RIGHTSIZE the academic
LIBRARY
Adapt to the NET GENERATION
Collect, PUBLISH, PRESENT & PRESERVE the
important book.
Characteristics
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Print book
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Physical
 Accessible (stay put)
 Stacked, spread, carried,
 Underlined, marked up, annotated
 Can use art, graphics, and made a
beautiful artifact (collectible)
Best for long texts
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Traditional Roles/Functions
of the Book: “overused”
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Reference information
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Dictionaries, Handbooks, Encyclopedias
Compendiums of data, information
Bound magazines, research journals
Education
Memorials
Narratives
Policy and intellectual proposals
Self promotion
Characteristics: 2
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Print book
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Physical
Accessible (stay put)
Stacked, spread,
carried,
Underlined, marked
up, annotated
Can use art, graphics,
and made a beautiful
artifact (collectible)
Best for long texts
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Electronic text
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Little space,
Duplicated at little cost
Accessed globally
Searched quickly
Linked to others
Reformatted, revised
Best for finding
information and
short texts
Future Roles/Functions
of the Book: more focused
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Reference information
Dictionaries, Handbooks, Encyclopedias
Compendiums of data, information
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Bound magazines, research journals
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Education
Memorials
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Narratives
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Policy and intellectual proposals
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Self promotion
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The text cycle
Terje Hillesund, First Monday (Sept ‘07)
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All texts have a cycle that includes
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Writing
Production
Storage
Representation
Distribution
Reading
The text cycle
Terje Hillesund, First Monday (Sept 07)
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All texts have a cycle that includes
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Writing
Production
Storage
Representation
Distribution
Reading
He left out a key ingredient: PRESERVATION
The text cycle
Terje Hillesund, First Monday (Sept 07)
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All texts have a cycle that includes
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Writing
Production
Storage
Representation
Distribution
Reading
The parts of the cycle where print has advantages
(arguably) is representation and preservation and
CLEARLY: reading for meaning
THIS should be our focus, not the other components
The text cycle
Terje Hillesund, First Monday (Sept 07)
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All texts have a cycle that includes
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Writing
Production
Storage
Representation
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Distribution
Reading (including
“selection” for reading)
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Preservation
“Not all books are equal”
The various “functions” of the
book are not equal
The Authority Factor:
Presidents, Pundits, and the Prominent
Bill Gates
 Bill Clinton
 Tom Brokaw
 “Digital Futurists”
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Negroponte
 Kurzweil
Modern/Western Intellectual Achievement
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great minds, working alone…
“GREAT BOOKS”
Face New Challenges
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From Post-Modernism (questioning the role of
the author)
From Feminism (challenging the male
chauvenism)
From non-Western cultures (challenging the
provincialism and prejudice)
From the technologists (rejecting the format)
Competing in a Visual Culture
Levels of Knowledge
Cognitive
Competence
Understanding
Innovation
(know-what)
(know-how)
(know-why)
(care-why)
book learning
implementation
cause/effect
engagement
J. B. Quinn, et al., “Managing Professional Intellect,” Harvard
Business Review, (March 1996)
People
Positioning
Timing
(know who)
(know where)
(know when)
expertise
strategy
context
Donald Norris, et al. “A Revolution in Knowledge Sharing,”
Educause Review (Sept. 2003).
Forecast
(know if)
scenarios
The New Knowledge
of the day
The search for today’s knowledge
requires searching:
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Databases
Laboratory findings
Research reports
Newsletters
Conference proceedings
Blogs, listservs, media news reports and
features, institutional repositories, etc., etc.
In addition to the traditional print materials
collected by libraries.
The print book can no longer
represent human knowledge
as it did for 500 years
Book: no longer symbolizes authority;
Let’s emphasize NARRATIVE
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From a scholarly perspective it is becoming evident that
stories provide convenient and useful meaning
because they are holistic and therefore more
appropriate for a network age when understanding
how things are connected is more important than
learning about the pieces of the problem. This capacity
to escape from linearity and static information is vital for
professionals who must deal with uncertainty, making
the capability to learn informally, collaboratively,
and by self-engagement the critical skill or capability
for our day
- Fraser and Greenhalgh 2001
Complexity: A New “Identity”
“I am a part of
From 350 years of the networks,
Descartes’ “I think and [they] are
therefore I am,” TO part of me…. I
am visible to
Google. I link,
therefore I am”
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Mitchell. Me++.
MIT, 2003, 62.
CHALLENGE: Visual / Digital Ecology
“A visual culture is taking
over the world”
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Our literacy and communication skills are in decline
We can not take “engaged literacy” for granted…
especially among the young
Factors:
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(beyond media, MTV, etc.)
Slow death of newspaper culture
Upscale design for common goods
Architecture as visual art
Growing influence of fashion
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John Naisbitt, Mind Set! (2006): 113-155.
Proposals for consideration: 2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
The book is our BRAND (OCLC, Perceptions)
Not all books are EQUAL
Select appropriate FUNCTIONS/USES for book
The book is for READING
Not authority, but NARRATIVE
RE-CATEGORIZE and RIGHTSIZE the academic
LIBRARY
Adapt to the NET GENERATION
Collect, PUBLISH, PRESENT & PRESERVE the
important book
Rightsize the Academic Library
1.
2.
Research Library: a vital national
resource requiring recognition & support
Academic Libraries should be categorized
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2.
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4.
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University ~ 1 M v +
Comprehensive Univ. ~ 500,000 v +
College ~ 100-500,000 v
Learning Centers ~ 50-100,000 v
End “prestige creep;” be what we are
and end the “growth” imperative.
It’s time to think about “sustainability”
Different Student Generation
“
Gadgets Rule on
College Campuses
By Paul Davidson,
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The
American college campus,
long an oasis of scholarship
and coming-of-age, is now
being transformed by a
more palpable force: an
armada of laptops, cell
phones and perpetual
connectivity.
Our call phones
often serve as web
browsers, digital
phones, and
game consoles”
- “Net gen”
Youth Abandoning
Old Media
Adapted from Karen Coyle,
Wishlist, Coyles Information.
Basically, everything happens on these
screens -- I search, I read, I write, I
converse (both text and voice). I
can't imagine working without the
Internet. So I find myself in a
dilemma when I go to the library,
because I am cut off from my
"work." I go into the stacks,
perhaps with a scribbled call
number, and I (give up) capabilities
than I have in my office. If I don't
find the book I can't check to see if
the call number is correct; I can't
look (for) a "second best" book; I
can't (locate) another area of the
stacks where I might find
something I'd like to read; and I
can't search within the text of the
bound volumes in front of me even
if digitized versions are available
on-line. I stand there wishing I
could go on-line.
We need to look beyond
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Books and materials
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Information commons
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Study spaces and hi-tech facilities
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And consider new capabilities and roles…
Considering:
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We’re in New Jersey, one of the most dynamic
regions of the country, and where a good part of
the history—from Washington’s winter HQs to
19th Century industrialization to modern
business, public sector, and cultural innovation
have occurred.
Let’s do a better job of capturing, making
available, and preserving that legacy.
Why not…
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If 10 or 20 libraries created an entity to
review, select, publish, and reprint books
on that legacy—and other regional
accomplishments—and pooled $5,000 or
$10,000 each annually, we could publish
100 copies of 100 books for our use (and
sale to others)
And assure that “important” (to us) books
survive