Cataloging Futures

Codex obsessed (an excursus on digital reading)

In a presentation from 2008 on the future of bibliographic control, Brian Schottlaender describes LC Reference Librarian Thomas Mann as being "obsessed with the codex." Well I may be immersed in digital library development in my work life, but in my personal life, I, too, am obsessed with the codex.

I can describe it in Twitter-like form: I read online because I have to; I read offline because I want to. I read as far as I have to online to see if it's something I want to read closely, then I print it off. (My hunch is there will be a publishing market for reprints because I doubt I'm the only one out there with this reading style of online discovery/offline reading.)

I finally have some hard evidence that justifies my dislike of online reading. Recently, I had to take two long online training programs for work that were mandatory (and I knew were going to be tested at the end of the process). After two hours my eyes hurt even though I tried to break up the reading by stepping away from the computer during that two-hour period. I took a lunch break and then took the second test for another hour and 40 minutes. These tests requiring long periods of reading online confirmed what I knew instinctively, the computer is not a good device for careful, focused reading (the type of reading I prefer as time permits). It's not the task-oriented, find-the-answer reading that the Internet is so suited for. About six months ago I decided that, even thought I love my web life: blogging, tweeting, etc., my offline reading life is way more important to me. I have tried to build more offline reading time into my schedule.

So, if I was asked the stranded on a desert island question: If you could only take your computer or your books, which would it be? It would be my books, hands-down (and my reading glasses). Yes, I'm madly, happily codex obsessed!

Slow reading: "print is the next big thing"

John Miedema, IT guy and former true believer that "print, books and libraries were on the way out," has written a book titled, Slow Reading:

In the 1990s, society witnessed the mainstream integration of personal computers and the Web. For a time, it seemed likely that print, books and libraries would disappear, and perhaps literacy along with them. A generation later, we have some evidence by which to assess the reality. The analysis that follows shows that there is a close relationship between the media we use to read – books or digital technology – and the way we read and think. This is not to say that reading on screens spells the end of reading. Digital technology is often preferable for searching and scanning short snippets. However, print has endured because it is still the superior technology for reading anything of length, quality or substance. While digital technology lends itself to discovering and remixing ideas in novel ways, slow reading of books is still essential for nurturing literacy and the capacity for extended linear thought. [emphasis mine]

Check out the free chapter.

Via Aggie Librarian