Tag Archives: storytelling

Why Libraries Are Not Obsolete

  By Elizabeth Watson | 14 June, 2013 - 17:45 |
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An Orthogonal Universe Blog welcomes Elizabeth Watson, who is our local county librarian and this week’s guest blogger.

 

 

Since approximately 1200 BC, libraries have existed to collect, organize, store, preserve, and make available stories and information. Early libraries consisted of clay tablets and scrolls.

Today in 2013, collecting, organizing, storing, preserving, and making available stories and information looks more like this:

 

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Over the centuries, the formats that we have used for telling stories and sharing information have changed, but the need for a library to collect and organize documents has not changed. Libraries are able to adjust to changes in format, which is why, depending on whose statistics you believe, 75%-90% of libraries currently offer e-books.

Since the advent of the internet, even more stories and information are now available and need to be collected, preserved, stored, and made available. I would argue that libraries are more needed now than ever before because the content on the internet is not always organized and preserved very well.

In many cases, the amount of information available on a topic is overwhelming, and librarians and information professionals are needed to help people sort through it.  Librarians are also excellent at helping people evaluate the credibility of various sources of information – good researchers know that some sources are more reliable and believable than others.

When I work with students who come to the library, I regularly remind them to look carefully at the sources they are using to write their papers.  People today often “google” what they want to know, which is often a good step, but I would point out that a lot content is licensed and not available for free on the internet. For example, a “google” search is not going to get you access to the professional journal articles that you can get though a licensed database that the library offers.

Research is important, but one of the things I love most about libraries is the stories.  Stories can be found at the library from all different times and places. Stories from all over the world and all throughout history can be found in the library. There is just something magical about a good story. I love the artwork below because I think it captures the feeling of magic and enchantment in storytelling.

Library legend Melvil Dewey even supposed that someday our library would hold stories and from other planets and reserved numbers in the Dewey Decimal classification system for works from alien worlds.

I encourage all of you to support your local libraries.

The Reading Pill

  By Robert Watson | 31 May, 2013 - 12:00 | ,
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Question: When you hear “turn of the century,” do you think about the year 2000, or the year 1900?

Earlier in the month I found used copies of episodes 5 and 6 of Star Wars at a local venue. They were pretty good movies, falling above the “I’m willing to pay five bucks for them” mark, but just shy of “I’m willing to pay five bucks and shipping to Amazon in order to complete the trilogy.” These were the digitally remastered versions, but I couldn’t put aside the thought that the future seemed so out of date.

Okay, we don’t have hyper-drive systems. But if you disregard the sci-fi staples, most of their future we already have. The real versions just have Apple logos on them.

And the things to come – oh, nobody thought of the internet back then. We’re probably not that far off from being able to replace a severed hand with a realistic robotic one. But the robotic hand of the future will have Facebook connectivity, so all your friends can stay up to date on what you’re touching. If you applaud at a concert, a “like” is added to the performer’s fan page.

The future is fun to think about, since it’s often our best hope of solving all our problems. Here’s a little gem. Today, predicted 90 years ago:

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czr-98yo6RU&w=500]

 

Whenever I see videos like these, I’m usually more amused by what they get right than what they get wrong.

 

 

Photon bi-planes

In the 21st century, biplanes will still be all the rage. And they shoot photon torpedoes. Oooh, swish!

 

 

Last week’s post was, more or less, about science fiction turned reality. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, from the similarly-named novel? Totally a Kindle.

This week, let’s project ourselves into the distant future. Strap yourselves into your Chronoskimmer 450SL. We’re headed to:

 

 
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Tulsa, OK in the future

Tulsa, OK, The future.

1 November, 2112

 

 


The iHand is a success. The current election is at a stalemate. Don’t blame the iHand for that. Blame the iMouth, which filters all speech through factcheck.org. And debate is currently surrounding the pill. The so-called reading pill is a marvelous little wonder. When the “reader” swallows the pill, they instantly have the entire contents of a book bestowed upon them.

“In a little bookstore in South Durham, I found, in the corner, a display full of the classics. I’ve always wanted to swallow Lord of the Flies. I paid for my purchase, and a bottle of water.

“I was a little nervous about trying this new method of ‘reading,’ if you want to call it that. I closed my eyes and swallowed. Instantly, I could recall, with perfection, the plight of Jack.

“The book left me rather queasy. I then noticed the instructions: Take with food. Inexplicably, I had a sudden craving for bacon.”

Certainly, this would make learning much quicker. Math, science, history – learn it all in a pill that can be swallowed in twelve seconds. There was a Calvin and Hobbes strip where Calvin gets a “knowledge implant,” providing him twelve years’ worth of education in ten minutes. The little pill would be even more convenient.

But how much information could we fit onto a pill? We could start by figuring out exactly how the brain absorbs it. Or, we could not.

Since we’re being hypothetical anyway, let’s set aside the issue of information density and just put the sum of all human writings into a pill. Library of Congress? The entire Internet? All in one pill.

Here’s the question: Would you take such a pill?

Nobody should be surprised about resistance to the e-reader. Every new technology seems to be the “death of the current medium.” What do you want to bet that the development of the written word was initially blamed for the “inevitable” death of oral storytelling. After all, simply reading the words couldn’t ever be the same as hearing them. Humanity is richer for having stepped further, despite what initial concerns may have arisen. Imagine what history would say if it were passed through thousands of years of “telephone.”

At some point, though, enough is enough. What do we hope to gain out of reading a story, or studying a textbook – and when is that defeated by the medium it is delivered on? The so-called reading pill provides nearly instant consumption of a book. Is it too far?

Take your pick:

 

[contact-form subject=’Reading Pill Survey’][contact-field label=’Would you take a %26quot;reading pill%26quot;?’ type=’radio’ required=’1′ options=’Yes,No,Well%26#x002c; maybe…’/][/contact-form]

Status Quo, 2112