Re: Internet vs. other resources

["Roberta J. Ponis" <rponis@JEFFCO.K12.CO.US>]

Dear netters,

Amen to Fred's comments about  the internet as but one of many resources
and the value of teaching students to be discriminating users of
information sources.  Imbedded in Fred's comments is the implication that
library information professionals need to increase our efforts in working
with staff so that assignments are meaningful and doable(sp?).  Students'
success in the library is so often dependent on the instructional design
of the activity that we need to be working hand in glove with teachers to
ensure that relevant and doable learning occurs in our libraries. It
calls for a renewed effort in our role as instructional partners that will make 
this happen.

I am concerned that some folks are jumping on the electronic delivery of
info as the end-all, be-all and are not asking the provocative questions
needed.  I was encouraged yesterday by an editorial in the Rocky Mountain
News by Vincent Carroll, editor of the editorial pages, titled "Do
Libraries Have a Future in our Electronic Age?  He cites the book Future
Libraries: Dreams, Madness and Reality by Crawford and Gorman.  The gist of
the book, he says, is that "new technologies do not ususally displace
old ones, although they often change how they are used.  When total displacement 
occurs, it is
because the new technology offers clear advantages.  As it happens,
electronic texts do not yet offer such advantages over most printed
publications, and there is little reason to believe they can - meaning
the printed page should be around for a very long time.  One big reason
is readabililty.  Reflected light on a page is easier on the eyes than
transmitted light from a computer screen; so is the fact that books and
magazines have from 16 to 1,200 times as many elements per square inch
than screens,  The net effect of this and other problems is that
sustained screen reading is slower and less comfortable than book
reading. Both comfort and price, not to mention knotty problems involving
intellectual property rights and advertising will dictate the continued
supremacy of print in many forms."

The director of the Denver Public Library (who put this book in the hands
of the editorial writer) is quoted as saying, "the path from information
to wisdom leads firmly through books.  The thoughtful work of reading is
still our most vital intellectual act, demanding the engagement of our
minds and hearts, as well as our eyes and hands."

I am definitely going to get my hands on this book and thought you might
also appreciate this writer's balanced, reasoned response to all the
technojunkies out there who fortell the death of the book.

Roberta Ponis
Library Services
Jefferson County Public Schools
Golden, CO. (west of Denver, nestled in the Rocky Mountain foothills and
home of Coors brewery)
rponis@jeffco.k12.co.us.