Okay, Jonathan, I realize "ALL the problems" is an exaggeration. I just
wanted to make my point about caution and stumbled into some
exaggeration.
I'm glad you're cautious about the Calhoun report and other things.
Owen wrote:
"But I would make the argument that if we do not engage with the idea of
computers and full text, then we will find the rug pulled from under us.
I¹m in the process of writing a blog entry about Google Books from some
recent experience which really exemplified for me the brilliance of
full-text searching, as well as the weakness of bad or lacking metadata
we
need to make sure that as a profession we are involved here and that
the
discussion is happening in the wide world not just in library friendly
venues."
If you haven't read it yet, I would strongly recommend reading this
fascinating piece:
WHAT THE INTERNET IS DOING TO SCHOLARSHIP.
The Bookless Future
by David A. Bell
in the May 2, 2005 issue of the New Republic. It's also online if you
subscribe.
The article is fascinating for the degree to which he recognizes the
problems of full-text searching while basically opting for the idea that
print books are on their way out. Here's a particularly fascinating
passage:
“The very nature of the computer presents a different problem. If
physical discomfort discourages the reading of texts sequentially, from
start to finish, computers make it spectacularly easy to move through
texts in other ways--in particular, by searching for particular pieces
of information. Reading in this strategic, targeted manner can feel
empowering. Instead of surrendering to the organizing logic of the book
you are reading, you can approach it with your own questions and glean
precisely what you want from it. You are the master, not some dead
author. And this is precisely where the greatest dangers lie, because
when reading, you should not be the master. Information is not
knowledge; searching is not reading; and surrendering to the organizing
logic of a book is, after all, the way one learns. [Italics mine]
“If my own experience is any guide, "search-driven" reading can make for
depressingly sloppy scholarship. Recently, I decided to examine the way
in which the radical eighteenth-century thinker d'Holbach discussed
warfare. I could have read his book Universal Morality in the rare-book
room of my university library, but I decided instead to download a copy
(it took about two minutes). And then, faced with a text hundreds of
pages long, instead of reading from start to finish, I searched for the
words "war" and "peace." I found a great many juicy quotations, which I
conveniently cut and pasted directly into my notes. But at the end, I
had very little idea of why d'Holbach had written his book in the first
place. If I had had to read the physical book, I could still have
skimmed, cut, and pasted, but I would have been forced to confront the
text as a whole at some basic level. The computer encouraged me to read
in exactly the wrong way, leaving me with little but a series of
disembodied passages.”
It's pretty clear that e-journals are taking the place of print, but not
clear to me that the same is true of e-books.
--Ted Gemberling
-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries
[mailto:NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Stephens Owen
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 4:27 PM
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Mann's critique of the Calhoun report
>
> Ted wrote: And that's where "protecting our boundaries" comes in. If
> we buy too quickly into the idea that computers and full texts will
> solve all the problems, some of our jobs really might be lost. And
that
> will probably be a loss for the world as whole. Money may be saved,
but
> our culture will be the poorer for it.
But I would make the argument that if we do not engage with the idea of
³computers and full text² , then we will find the rug pulled from under
us.
I¹m in the process of writing a blog entry about Google Books from some
recent experience which really exemplified for me the brilliance of
full-text searching, as well as the weakness of bad or lacking metadata
we
need to make sure that as a profession we are involved here and that
the
discussion is happening in the wide world not just in Œlibrary friendly¹
venues.
Owen
Owen Stephens
E-Strategy Co-ordinator
Royal Holloway, University of London
Egham
Surrey
TW20 0EX
Tel: 01784 443331
Email: owen.stephens_at_rhul.ac.uk
Received on Thu May 24 2007 - 15:42:17 EDT