Posting on Group 5

Big box book stores are quite the force to be reckoned with. The main divide though between these and libraries is the freedom of access. Anyone is allowed to come into a library and access materials for free. The library ideal is an ultimately democratic institution. Big box book stores are based on consumers paying for products. They are a great place to hang out and have great environments, but you will not get the same service that you get at a library. A knowledgable librarian is there to assist you in any research that you want to do. There are community activities that teach, entertain, and inform. There is space to simply sit for hours without feeling compelled to buy anything. And all of this is free. Viva la libraries.

Readings 12/4

Group 1

I enjoyed the Buddha article the best. It was a very understanding point of view. Instead of lashing out at those who wish to ban articles, it advocates respect for these people because they actually care and want to institute values in their children. The Boston article was a bit angering. I am often not tolerant of intolerance. Groups that try to ban all sinful and licentious things annoy me greatly. A world without these "sinful" things would suck. The real world is not without its ups and downs and its light and dark. To really live life, one needs to experience all sorts of different things like the Buddha. He spent years trying different things, trying to understand life and death, and joy and suffering. It was only through all these experiences he gained that he truly learned what life was about.

Group 2

I found it very interesting and ironic that there was a "Criticism of Wikipedia" article on Wikipedia itself. It is such an innovative website, and truly anyone can post anything they want on there. In my experience it is often very helpful when looking for quick answers to queries that you have. I have found lists of alcohol laws for every US state when I was confused about off sale being shut down at 9:00 in Wisconsin. I found a list of Guitar Hero II songs when I couldn't remember a good song that I heard on a video game. For the most part it is pretty accurate, and is an invaluable tool. If I was doing serious research I would probably consult it at least to get ideas about my topic, and there are often links to other references about the topic. I enjoy the website immensely.

Group 3

That link to Shush the conservative librarian website was excellent. There was a great deal of humor there. Also I thought that conservative librarians were an urban myth, but I guess you learn something new every day. The Patriot Act has ruffled a lot of feathers around the country. It is a divisive issue among many in this partisan climate of the US. It reminds me of precursors to dictatorial societies. Privacy is key to a free society. Justice Holmes in Griswold vs. Connecticut stated that privacy is implicit in the constitution and that it is valued by all citizens. Taking away more and more privacy is not going to be healthy for a society. People will not be able to say what they want, think what they want or believe what they want. I agree with the conservative librarian blog that people should not be persecuted for what they believe.

Readings 11/27

Information Technologies in the Twentieth Century by Richard E. Rubin

Rubin gives an excellent overview of the technologies in libraries throughout the twentieth century. From his description and from experience, it is clear that change is constant and innovations in the field have been numerous. Actually this article was very helpful in better understanding some of these technologies. Rubin gives an excellent description of both the Web and the Internet and tells us the difference between the two. He goes into more detail describing the terms and acronyms that are thrown about when discussing them. In this article I also discovered why people say in different veins, whether they be comedic or political, that Al Gore invented the internet. He actually was a great proponent of it and worked hard to pass legislation supporting it.

Digital Libraries, Chap. 1, 4 by William Y. Arms

Probably the most useful part about these chapters are the fact that Arms makes the case for digital libraries and systematically lays out all the benefits that they afford us. One important one is cost. Digital libraries and the technologies associated with them are constantly becoming better and cheaper. But there are other points for making the case for digital libraries as well such as sharing information, keeping information current, and the information being readily available to the user at the time and point of need. He does not simply make the case for digital libraries and then turn a blind eye to their criticisms. In chapter 4 he realizes there are challenges such as changing formats and operating systems, interoperability, and that data can be quickly lost due to quick obsolescence of technologies. Change is constant and it is our job to navigate through all these changes without getting lost or overwhelmed.

Readings 11/20

Double Fold by Nicholson Baker

Baker as a writer of fiction makes an emotional case for saving the original documents. He brings to the table a great deal of force and sense of gravitas to this discussion. Are these newspapers all possible to save though? There are multiple factors that come into play when trying to save materials. One is space. Often libraries are strapped for space as it is. Where would all these accumulating materials be stored? Another factor is funds. Libraries need money to pay the costs of organizing, sorting, shelving and upkeep of newspaper sources. With libraries’ continuous struggle for funds, how easy will it be to get more money for something like this? A way must be found to preserve these records in a quality contextual way for a long time. The main problem here is the problem of impermanence. Everything deteriorates and changes in a continuous cycle. There is nothing that is going to be around for ever. As humans though, we take it on as our job to make our own great works persist for future generations to enjoy.

Readings 11/13

Modeling the Information Seeking of Professionals by Leckie, Pettigrew and Sylvain

A comprehensive examination of three different professions sheds light on the information seeking behavior of professionals as a whole. Through an extensive examination of previous literature (Ninety sources in their bibliography), Leckie et al. conduct a sort of meta-analysis and try to find some similarities. Following their description of the literature they propose a model, a very general one at that. Every once in a while models of this nature are helpful but in most cases I don’t see the usefulness of them. This model, because of its scope is terribly general. They say themselves that there is a great deal more nuances that go into each part of it such as “roles” or “tasks,” things that need to be taken on an case by case basis. This model can be applied to any number of situations but to actually understand them, one will have to examine the individual situation in depth anyway. The model doesn’t seem as useful as they make it out to be.

The Access Principle (Chapters 1 and 6) by John Willinsky

These chapters address the idea of open access of materials amongst the scholarly community. The principle is that scholars, students and all people in the academic community should have free and equal access to these materials in order to foster an environment of collaboration. Of course this would be a great thing, and good for the academic community but there are a number of problems. Foremost of these is the publishing industry. In order to keep journals running and viable subscription fees need to be charged. We are given some examples of self-sustaining journals and databases but there are still many that charge for access. Another interesting point that Willinsky makes is his idea based on Aristotle’s quote, “All humankind by nature desires to know.” This idea Willinsky proposes is that because of this it should be a human right to know. In our constitution or the Bill of Rights there is nothing about the right to know, but perhaps it should be added. The right to know, seems as basic as life liberty or the pursuit of happiness (with out getting into too many epistemological hang ups).

Readings 11/06

Long Overdue by Public Agenda

It was surprising to see that libraries have so much potential support. People would actually prefer taxes being raised than having services or hours cut, or charging for services. One key to libraries is that they are free, making them strongholds for democracy. And like other forms of social services like food stamps or unemployment, anyone can use libraries, not simply those with a low income. Another interesting thing is that libraries are trusted and respected much more than other institutions. No one ever talks about the corruption of librarians, as opposed to police forces and governing officials. Moreover libraries are seen to use the funds they receive well. Libraries seem to be healthy institutions that will not be lost anytime soon. It is necessary for librarians though to become strongly involved in their communities and become leaders, as well as market the library and its services to the potential users out there.

The Differences Between Real and Digital Libraries by Thomas Mann

This article was written before the Google Book project came out, and Mann may have some different ideas now. Are copyright laws going to continue to exist for ever and in the same form as today? But even so other good points are made in this article. A library is a place where people can go get away from this fast paced world. A library without walls would mean that people who do not have a computer would be left out in the cold. Another point that I have realized but have never articulated is that I hate reading lengthy text on a computer screen. With books you can take them anywhere, sit in any position that makes you comfortable, and there is no eyestrain involved. It is hard to picture digital text replacing books as the preferred way of reading. When I have to read articles I always print them because I like the hard copy to refer to; I like writing in the margins and making notes of things to think about. The experience of reading would lose a lot if I did it on a computer.

Readings 10/30

Literacy in American Lives by Deborah Brandt

Literacy is so widespread today that it is often taken for granted. For many people it is tough to imagine being illiterate and all the difficulties that would be involved in it. Brandt traces literacy through the last century through personal interviews with eighty people. All their experiences differ, but they are common in their shared experience with literacy. Some situations involve the shift from an agrarian society to an industrial society in which literacy would take a much more prominent role. People tailored their own reading and writing skills to their particular needs, such as the prisoner who learned to read and then learned legal jargon, and finally wrote an appeal that eventually got him his freedom. The U.S. culture today certainly discriminates against the illiterate. There is no parity between those who can read and those who can’t. If you can read you are not something special, but if you can’t you are forced to the lowest edges of society.