Archive for the 'Future of Reading' Category

The invisible internet filter…

Published on May 5, 2011 in Digital Literacy and Future of Reading. 0 Comments

Shades of “Big Brother”….. If you think that the internet has given you more freedom of choice, you might want to think again.

Eli Pariser: Beware online “filter bubbles”

As web companies strive to tailor their services (including news and search results) to our personal tastes, there’s a dangerous unintended consequence: We get trapped in a “filter bubble” and don’t get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview. Eli Pariser argues powerfully that this will ultimately prove to be bad for us and bad for democracy.

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Libraries in a “BookFlix” world?

Published on April 14, 2011 in 21st Century Learning and Future of Reading. 7 Comments
The End of Content Ownership
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2383373,00.asp

Well…it looks like it might be on its way.  The one thing that might pose the biggest “threat” to libraries…..a “Netflix” model for books.

The End of Content Ownership

We need to be envision ways to turn this threat into an opportunity.

A company going into this model would have to do some serious negotiating with the publishing world to make enough books available for avid readers.  And yes, I know that not everyone can afford a computer and not everyone can afford to purchase ebooks.  Even  I am WAY to cheap to purchase ebooks when I can get books (and ebooks) free from my public library.  But if this model were set up to be cheap enough, it could be pretty universal.

So… lets suppose there were a “BookFlix” service designed along the NetFlix model. This service could stream one book for $9.95 a month, 2 books for $12.95 and so on.  I would find that REALLY tempting AND within my budget. Yes I know….I would not own the book.  But I keep very few of the books I read. I am not likely to ever read a novel a second time, and if I ever wanted to, I could just put it back into my queue. Books that I want to own for research could still be purchased in print or ebook format.  Unless “BookFlix” drove print books and “traditional” ebooks right out of existence.

In a “BookFlix” world, where do libraries fit?  Will we be able to negotiate deals with publishers so that we can stream books for free?  If so – what happens to our print books collections?  What will draw people into our libraries?  School libraries would definitely morph even more into the “learning commons” model.  What about public libraries?  We would have to advertise our other services even more aggressively than we do now.  So many issues to think about!

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Has it come to this?

Published on April 12, 2011 in Digital Literacy and Future of Reading. 2 Comments

Nation Shudders at Large Block of Uninterrupted Text

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Your Brain on Computers

Published on June 10, 2010 in 21st Century Literacy, Future of Reading and What Do You Think?. 3 Comments
Your brain on computers
Well worth the time reading — it’s not about the kids, it’s about adults,
too.
First in a series of articles
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/technology/07brain.html?ref=technology
If you are interested in this topic – below are a few links.  I am reading Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows right now, and can highly recommend it.
Often questioning the effects of technology ends up branding you with the label “Luddite”.  I am hardly a Luddite, but I have always been concerned about this issue.  I think it is a matter of teaching reading techniques that deal with the new realities of reading in a hyperlinked world.  So far, I’ve not seen much written about this.  Perhaps I am not searching correctly.  If any of you are reading experts – I would love to see some research and techniques for dealing with the new realities of reading.
I am thinking about installing Instapaper and Readability icons on all our browser bars here in the library and teaching kids to use it.  Requiring them to get the “clean copy” of an article and print it.  The point is  not just to save ink, but to save brains, helping people focus more on the text, and spend a little less time chasing links.
Anyway – here are some articles of interest.
http://www.nicholasgcarr.com/
http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2010/05/experiments_in.php
The Future of Reading – My Delicious Account Bookmarks.  I plan to tag all the articles I find under “future of reading.”
http://delicious.com/wanderingbooknut/FutureOfReading
Birkerts, Sven. ”The truth about reading: it’s easy to blame technology for our younger generation’s declining interest in literature. But what, if anything, can be done about it?.” School Library Journal 50.11 (Nov 2004): 50(3). Business and Company ASAP. Gale. Gananda High School. 30 Apr. 2009
http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS.
Gale Document #: A124941809

I am reading Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, and can highly recommend it.

Often questioning the effects of technology ends up branding you with the label “Luddite”.  I am hardly a Luddite, but I have always been concerned about this issue.  I think it is a matter of teaching reading techniques that deal with the new realities of reading in a hyperlinked world.  So far, I’ve not seen much written about this. Perhaps I am not searching correctly.  If any of you are reading experts – I would love to see some research and techniques for teaching reading in a hyperlinked world. Any literacy coaches out there??

I am thinking about installing Instapaper and Readability icons on all our browser bars here in the library and teaching kids to use them to print a  ”clean copy” of articles.  The point is not just to save ink, but to save brains, helping people focus more on the text, and spend a little less time chasing links.  I love that Readability will put the footnotes (hyperlinks) at the bottom.  I like Instapaper because I can save articles, organize them in folders, and read them later on my iPad.  Now, if they both would just do the whole job, I’d really be happy!

I also plan to test-drive  placing my links at the bottom of my posts, rather than embedding them within the body.

So — to that end…

Links referenced above:

Nicholas G. Carr

Instapaper

Readability

Some other articles of interest.

Experiments in delinkification

YOUR BRAIN ON COMPUTERS: Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price New York Times.

Reading as a Participation Sport

Kids AND adults are having trouble focusing on one train of thought. First in a series of articles from the NYTimes
Your Brain on Computers:  Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price

The Future of Reading – My Delicious Account Bookmarks.  I plan to tag all the articles I find under “future of reading.”

Birkerts, Sven. ”The truth about reading: it’s easy to blame technology for our younger generation’s declining interest in literature. But what, if anything, can be done about it?.” School Library Journal 50.11 (Nov 2004): 50(3). Business and Company ASAP. Gale. Gananda High School. 30 Apr. 2009
Gale Document #: A124941809

Finally, here is the RSS feed to my “future of reading” folder on Instapaper, should you be masochistic enough to add it to your news reader.

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You mean we have to actually READ this stuff?

Published on March 26, 2010 in Future of Reading and Humor & Inspiration. 2 Comments

In a recent post about 9th grade research, I quoted a student who was horrified at the thought of actually READING his/her sources.

Well – today I found the REAL downside of not reading before you print or take notes.

The topic? Festivals & Holidays in the Middle Ages

The source? “Easter Uprising in Ireland.” The Dorling Kindersley History of the World.

I feel like I am channeling Linda Richman from SNL:

Linda

I am a little verklempt.  Talk among yourselves.  I’ll give you a topic. “The Easter Uprising was neither medieval nor a holiday”.  Discuss.

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