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!
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