Have read 3 of the 5 suggested contributions in the eOCLC Next Space Newsletter and found them interesting. I am intrigued by the concept of " collective intelligence " which one suggests we have as a result of the internet. I can only partly agree with this rather grand anthropolical type descriptor. It may be collectively used but certainly the internet does little to advance the intelligence of anyone. In my opinion, the access we all have to the information spinning about the world, is all that we collectively share. Understanding anything that we read there is a completely different ball game.
Another points to the seamless intersection of the various capacities of the internet to gather, spread and store information without the help of the physical realities of the bricks and mortar of a library. This is a tired old chestnut ! The point of libraries has always been more than the provision of a storehouse of information. Libraries have been safe places, seperate places and meeting places for people since the dawn of time. Of course Johnny aged 18 can use the internet in far more sophisticated ways than anyone of an older age. But Johnny is usually missing the whole muscle of other sorts of learning action. Johnny can usually not read much, source much premium type information that has been peer assessed by the academic community who teach it to a specialised level. Johnny cannot be bothered ! So librarians who can, have even more work than in the past to do.
Accessing a great deal of rubbish in cyberspace is not an advantage to anyone. Spending 16 hours a day playing around with the computer leads to a superficial grasp only of anything interesting. Life an all its complex demands and expectations still requires people to interact with each other, learn from the mistaken information they have picked up and move on and away from computer nerdhood and into life.
Another points to the seamless intersection of the various capacities of the internet to gather, spread and store information without the help of the physical realities of the bricks and mortar of a library. This is a tired old chestnut ! The point of libraries has always been more than the provision of a storehouse of information. Libraries have been safe places, seperate places and meeting places for people since the dawn of time. Of course Johnny aged 18 can use the internet in far more sophisticated ways than anyone of an older age. But Johnny is usually missing the whole muscle of other sorts of learning action. Johnny can usually not read much, source much premium type information that has been peer assessed by the academic community who teach it to a specialised level. Johnny cannot be bothered ! So librarians who can, have even more work than in the past to do.
Accessing a great deal of rubbish in cyberspace is not an advantage to anyone. Spending 16 hours a day playing around with the computer leads to a superficial grasp only of anything interesting. Life an all its complex demands and expectations still requires people to interact with each other, learn from the mistaken information they have picked up and move on and away from computer nerdhood and into life.
