book in field

When I began my career in academic libraries several years ago, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect but I knew two things at least. Firstly, I knew that librarians don’t get to sit around reading all day and secondly, I knew that as much, if not more, time & effort would be spent in the administration of digital resources as in the traditional organisation of printed works.

However, this knowledge did little to prepare me for the sometimes total reliance on electronic information, both in terms of library administration and in terms of the delivery of teaching. In extreme terms, conversation between library staff was replaced by email, and the relationship between academic staff and their students was conducted virtually. I began to wonder how these digital forms of communication had come to be so universally and unquestioningly embraced.

There are many undeniable, and frankly awesome, benefits to the digitisation of society in general, and higher education in particular, not least the capacity for enhanced multi-media materials, the speed of delivery and round-the-clock access. But do these benefits mean we should just accept digital information as somehow better than its analogue predecessors? What’s wrong with learning through conversation or through absorption in a book? How did this idea of convenience for the consumer become entangled with education & information? And does scanning a computer screen add to or degrade the intellectual rigour of research previously done by reading books and articles in hard copy?

I’ve just started a PhD that I hope will look at these questions, specifically in relation to the Slow principles of taking time to do a job well, and learning to appreciate the wider consequences of one’s actions through understanding the chain of consumption in whatever field is in question, whether it’s information science, self-identity & self-purpose, or the basic of all human endeavours: the quest for happiness.

Liz Poirier

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