A Discussion of the Book: The Social Life of Information by John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid. (2002). Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press.
In The Social Life of Information, Brown and Duguid make several points that Libraries/Librarians should find to be insightful.
• The major theme of The Social Life of Information is balance. Technological Information is powerful; but not without the people who process and use that information.
• Both people and technology are vital to our culture’s prosperity. Utilization of both must be balanced.
• Libraries/Librarians must not fall for false hype and launch an all-out removal of traditional books and other media.
• Digitization is important; but its usage must also be balanced.
• Traditional books are not a dying breed.
• Libraries/Librarians must respond to changes being evoked by technology. They must become and remain current; but they must also preserve much of their traditional services.
• Libraries/Librarians must create options for the sharing of social information and for the evolution of learning communities. Web 2.0 is invaluable for this.
• Most importantly, Libraries/Librarians can be assured that the machine is not replacing them.
In addition, administrators are reminded of the importance of remaining connected to the trenches—of remaining active in the actual workings of the library and the collaborations among the staff.
Administrators are also reminded of the value of the divergent thinker and the need to foster communication and fraternization among staff members.
The major points of the book are elaborated upon at http://jackikellum.blogspot.com/
[See Blogs Posted June 5, 2008: “Are Machines Replacing People?” “Administration from an Ivory Tower vs. Collaboration,” “Don't Stamp Out the Stand-Outs,” “Information vs. Knowledge,” and “Are Libraries Going All Digital—Are Traditional Books a Dying Breed?”]
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3 comments:
Jacki, these are great observations and points to take away from the readings. I haven't yet gotten through your elaboration on the book at your other blog, but I look forward to reading more on the topic.
Jacki, you make a great point about balance. Balance in using technology, balance in choosing digital and print, balance in libraries' management in general.
Thanks for the support; but I can hardly take credit for these observations. I am just parroting John Seely Brown--who I had long before recognized as brilliant in commenting on the trends of modernity.
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