On Tue, 10 May 2011, James Weinheimer wrote:
> On 05/10/2011 02:11 PM, Eric Lease Morgan wrote:
> <snip>
> librarians have more things in common than differences as long
> as we focus on the forest and not the trees.
Forest: the aggregate of data and information and its
interrelationships;
Trees: individual, isolated, uncorrelated items of data and information.
Forest: the effect information has on the society;
Trees: information so encapsulated that its effect cannot be envisioned.
Forest: the information collected by librarians;
Trees: catalog records for individual items.
Forest: the aggregate of library collections and budgets;
Trees: the collections and budgets of individual libraries'
> I have a hammer, and everything ... looks like a nail
Hammer: Critical Thinking (questioning assumptions);
Nails: Assumptions and misleading information.
Hammer: mass digitization [!!!];
Nails: limitations on physical access to information and
commercialization of information.
> I have mentioned before that I
> think libraries have to reconsider what they offer that is really
> unique--something that nobody else offers in this new environment.
Old environment: collections of data and information
New environemnt: classes in Critical Thinking (how to interpret and
interrelate data and information, how to complete pictures from bits)
> the mistake that those people in the horse and buggy industry made was:
> they thought they were in the *horse and buggy industry*
Mistakes: collecting, custodianship, provincialism
Innovation: Explain the nature and nuance of data and information, don't
just collect it.
> it is very difficult to see certain trends when you are in the midst of
them.
Trees: individual, separate and personalized examples of misleading (even
manipulative) information and data;
Forest: "Fallacy" and "Cognitive Bias" explained reduces effectiveness of
misleading statements.
> What do we provide that people really want and can't find anywhere else?
Do provide: information and data;
Could provide: correlations between pieces of information (data) and
between those and their effects on society
> *everyone* ... is afraid of falling into a web of false information
Explain how to separate falsity from reality
> they are concerned enough about for-profit companies doing the selection
> for them since companies have their own concerns.
Imagine for-profit libraries!!!
Critical Thinking can alleviate the effect of manipulation for
self-interest on information-interpretation.
> Crowd-sourcing may be a part of the solution, but is subject to incredible manipulation.
Crowds using Critical Thinking (+ study of "Fallacy" and "Cognitive
Bias") as a selection tool would be incredibly immune to manipulation.
"I think librarianship could fill this kind of void, so long as we were
able and willing to change in some fundamental ways and cooperate in ways and with
groups that would have been more or less unthinkable previously." [Simply
had to steal that quote!-- Thanks, Jim.]
Cheers!
jgm
John G. Marr
Cataloger
CDS, UL
Univ. of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
jmarr_at_unm.edu
jmarr_at_flash.net
**There are only 2 kinds of thinking: "out of the box" and "outside
the box."
Opinions belong exclusively to the individuals expressing them, but
sharing is permitted.
Received on Tue May 10 2011 - 13:05:52 EDT