No argument from me on the organization myth ... Certainly connecting
people to stuff is a strength and of value ... And to me outreach is
where we should focus our efforts.
On the other hand, saying that nobody would show if we took out
computers is like saying it'd be a ghost town if we didn't have
tables ... It's true, but not a value judgment on the profession.
Tim Rogers
919-946-1674
Sent from my iPhone
On Apr 30, 2010, at 4:04 PM, Laval Hunsucker <amoinsde_at_YAHOO.COM> wrote:
>> Does all this mean that librarians also have
>> to disappear as well?
>
>> I don't think so, because in my experience,
>> information does not organize itself, . . .
>
> I'd say, myself, that nobody's gonna get anywhere
> worth getting, until we finally abandon the absurd
> myth that librarians organize information. ( As
> opposed to -- kind of -- organizing ( surrogates of,
> references to, metadata for, . . . ) documents
> containing collections of statements and the like
> that have the potential to lead to the construction
> of information when absorbed and cognitively
> processed by individual human minds. )
>
>> . . . it will fall to humans to organize information, . . .
>
> Exactly. Of course. To individual humans, each for
> her- or himself. That's the only way it could possibly
> ever work, in the past, in the present, or in the future.
>
> The hypostasization of information is what got us
> into the ugly and hopeless situation in which we find
> ourselves, in the first place. When are we all finally
> going to abandon this silly fantasy ?
>
>
> - Laval Hunsucker
> Breukelen, Nederland
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Weinheimer Jim <j.weinheimer_at_AUR.EDU>
> To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Sent: Fri, April 30, 2010 10:12:27 AM
> Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] If Academic Libraries Remove Computers, Will
> Anyone Come?
>
> Unfortunately, I think I have to agree completely with Peter and
> that assistant university librarian at the U California/Santa
> Barbara, who think that if you took the computers out of the
> library, numbers in the library would be cut by half. Computers are
> a major draw anywhere on campus. Mobile computing is now the big
> thing, and especially so here in Italy, where it seems that
> everybody has at least one cell phone. I remember when a student
> said she was having trouble finding a book, and asked where it was
> and she showed me the record in our library catalog on her mobile
> phone. It looked horrible! I confess that I haven't found the energy
> to attack this problem and have preferred to ignore it... but when I
> see predictions such as mobile computing in one year, http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2010/chapters/mobile-computing/
> while I don't think it's particularly true, it frightens me.
>
> Every student has a laptop, but they don't want to lug them around.
> A smaller, lighter device would change everything.
>
> Of course, use of the library space has little relation to use of
> the "library". People may come to the library to study, or check
> their email, or just hang out, while you can now use the materials
> available through the library virtually. Still, places to hang out
> or study do not have to be in the library.
>
> For these reasons, and the eventual approval of the Google-Publisher
> agreement, I fear that *physical* libraries are doomed to eventual
> extinction. The idea of "use of the library" must change in
> relationship to this. Physical libraries will most probably
> gradually turn into archives that will be consulted rarely, updated
> and maintained to ensure against protection against some sort of
> catastrophe.
>
> I've already written of my own experiences and thoughts concerning
> ebook readers and what it means for libraries. Does all this mean
> that librarians also have to disappear as well?
>
> I don't think so, because in my experience, information does not
> organize itself, although it seems some on this list feel that
> something magical exists: what I call "the Philosopher's Algorithm."
> They feel that there is "the Perfect Algorithm" out there somewhere
> and it only needs to be found. Once they have it, they can run this
> algorithm against vast unorganized masses of information, and "the
> Algorithm" will organize it. I see this as similar to the alchemists
> who promised so much and searched so diligently for the
> Philosopher's Stone. :-)
>
> But while we lack such a tool, unless we want to put our faith in
> the Google-type "black box," it will fall to humans to organize
> information, additionally I think we must assume that finding
> information that is both relevant and reliable will never be easy
> and people will need help. Almost all of these tasks will take place
> in a virtual environment, and the practice of librarianship has
> always been a personal, social activity. These are some difficult
> problems to wrestle with.
>
> James Weinheimer j.weinheimer_at_aur.edu
> Director of Library and Information Services
> The American University of Rome
> via Pietro Roselli, 4
> 00153 Rome, Italy
> voice- 011 39 06 58330919 ext. 258
> fax-011 39 06 58330992
>
>
>
>
Received on Fri Apr 30 2010 - 20:53:38 EDT