The future of reading

[SFG75]

The library science occupation is now becoming more of a media specialist one. From decoding sounds and chunking words to teach literacy, it turns out that learning how to evaluate and organize online material is the new literacy.

Is this a good thing? A bad thing? Are we dumbing down our world or is this techno-literacy something valuable in it's own right?

The techno hordes pounding at the gates of the pulp empire


This is as good as it gets?

So Ms. Rosalia pulled up the home site for Teen People magazine, and Katsiaryna Dziatlouskaya, 13, immediately recognized a photograph of Cameron Diaz. Ms. Rosalia knew she had made a connection.

“You can read magazines, newspapers, pictures, computer programs, Web sites,” Ms. Rosalia said. “You can read anything you like to, but you have to read. Is that a deal?”

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy popular fiction, but to me, that's scraping the bottom of the barrel compared to "reading" the internet.

 

[beer good]

I think it sounds like an excellent concept. Libraries - especially school libraries, which is what the article is about - are supposed to not only store knowledge but also make it easily available to the public (hence the catalogue systems etc). With the advent of the Internet, cable TV etc, no library (especially an underfunded school library) can hope to contain as much information as a cell phone that can reach Wikipedia. It makes sense that part of their job then would be to not only make information available without comment, but to help students learn how to tell what information is credible and relevant.

It's no more "dumbing down" than it is dumbing down to teach children how to read the newspaper. Learning to read with a critical eye is one of the most fundamental skills in an information-based society.

 

[Peder]

One might also add learning to hear with a critical ear.