From the INFOLINK Regional Library Consortium newsletter :
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The mark of the contemporary office is not the file. It’s the pile.
So says The Tipping Point author, Malcolm Gladwell, in "The Social Life of Paper,"
a book review / essay in the March 25, 2002 issue of The New Yorker (92-96). His
review of social scientist Abigail Sellen and Richard Harpers’s The Myth of the
Paperless Office (MIT) highlights reasons why computer technology hasn’t replaced
paper. Those piles of documents represent "the process of active, ongoing
thinking." The authors postulate that knowledge workers use their physical desktops
to hold those ideas that are uncategorized or still open for decisions. Gladwell’s
verbal gems sparkle throughout. This short read can replace pangs of guilt about
the condition of your office with feelings of pride. But beware: Gladwell also
notes that old papers filling your file cabinets are not necessary since that
information is best held electronically.
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of course, that doesn't mean that you'll actually FIND what you need any faster!
Alice Yucht
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