Comments on: The Future is Now http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/ Whatever It Is, I'm Against It Wed, 22 May 2013 00:45:12 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5 By: Brian http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/comment-page-1/#comment-2695 Brian Wed, 16 Sep 2009 07:20:12 +0000 http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/#comment-2695 I know that the purpose of this column on Library Journal is largely humorous, but with such poor articles as the Globe one informing people about technology in libraries, there is no value in smugly playing the role of the persecuted librarian being displaced by coffee machines and dumb, TV-addicted patrons. Books are indeed far from being an outdated technology, if nothing else because of their simplicity. Ebooks are distributed in closed formats, are hindered by DRM, and can be remotely deleted. Ebook readers run out of batteries, are expensive, become outdated, and break, like any other technology. But the question isn’t books vs. ebooks, it’s how we can be well-informed and wise enough to embrace the valuable aspects of the new without abandoning what is worth saving about the old. I don’t know if or how well Cushing Academy or other libraries are doing this, because nothing I’ve read has been honest or focused enough to present any concrete ideas that bring us closer to answering this question.

I wrote (slightly) more here: planetsareplaces.com/blog.php?show=10

]]> By: AlwaysWanted2B http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/comment-page-1/#comment-2696 AlwaysWanted2B Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:42:06 +0000 http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/#comment-2696 Well if books are going away, why do many public libraries show circulation numbers that keep going up? Some of those people are checking out books, and not just DVDs.

]]> By: 2HH2N http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/comment-page-1/#comment-2697 2HH2N Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:32:22 +0000 http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/#comment-2697 Hey, I think I saw Molly Ringwald in that movie. No, that was 16 candles not 18 Kindles. Maybe they could remake it?

]]> By: Kate http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/comment-page-1/#comment-2698 Kate Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:04:32 +0000 http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/#comment-2698 I’m just completely appalled that more will be spent on a cappuccino machine than e-readers. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my $5 fancy lattes as much as the next person in line at Starbucks, but honestly.

]]> By: Post Postmodern Librarian http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/comment-page-1/#comment-2699 Post Postmodern Librarian Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:39:54 +0000 http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/#comment-2699 Looking at this situation made me examine my own anti technology stance. Why not give every kid a Kindle thats only 400K for a moderate size school then of course you still have to buy the books Those arnt to bad 10,000 titles at 20 or so dollars $200-$400K for about a million dollars. Thats not to shappy. Its about $1000 per student. Prep-school parents can afford that. Now the real question though are the students going to use the Kindels? Is it going to make any improvement in their education or information literacy or are they going to just Google it? I think anyone who spent time with kids know the answer to that one. Would it not be easier if they just bought 10,000 more books it would have been cheaper thats for sure!

]]> By: Adfusti http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/comment-page-1/#comment-2700 Adfusti Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:42:51 +0000 http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/#comment-2700 Wikipedia just told me that the Library of Alexandria was probably destroyed by fire.

]]> By: Whiner2 http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/comment-page-1/#comment-2701 Whiner2 Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:11:21 +0000 http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/#comment-2701 Ya know, the fabled Library of Alexandria probably disappeared just like this. Some Egyptian politico decided that codices, distributed around the empire, would make information ever so much more accessible that all those blasted scrolls chained in place there in Alexandria.

Suddenly … POOF! … the Library of Alexandria disappeared.

]]> By: Philly area librarian http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/comment-page-1/#comment-2702 Philly area librarian Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:53:59 +0000 http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/#comment-2702 18 Kindles? 18? Geez, I guess the students really don’t read, or I can’t imagine 18 would be sufficient for an entire student body, especially after they get $12,000 cappuccinos spilled on them. If they really *had* to dump the books, the administrators could at least have made a nod to education and spent only $1000 on a glorified coffee machine and bought double the number of Kindles. Since when to high school-aged kids need cappuccinos anyway? Isn’t caffeine bad for teenagers?

And Dan, it’s called humor, for Pete’s sake.

]]> By: Elsevier Science http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/comment-page-1/#comment-2703 Elsevier Science Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:43:19 +0000 http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/#comment-2703 If your library purchases Elsevier Science books and you fancy a Facebook information feed on new titles, join up here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Academic-Librarians/107813508531. Best regards,

]]> By: Dan the Goalie http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/comment-page-1/#comment-2704 Dan the Goalie Thu, 10 Sep 2009 22:58:11 +0000 http://lj.libraryjournal.com/blogs/annoyedlibrarian/2009/09/10/the-future-is-now/#comment-2704 As an addendum . . . I have never had a cappuccino. Black coffee . . . the way the “Hockey Gods” decreed long ago!!!

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