Mixing Worlds: Social Software and Books

Did you know you can talk to a Honnold/Mudd librarian online? It was a funny concept to me, yet last Saturday I was eager to do it. The most ironic part of me using this service from the library is that the reason I was using "librarianchat" was that I could avoid having to read online versions of articles and books. That's right: I had found some sources for my final research paper for a class, but I felt like I was on the verge of a breakdown because the only versions I could find were online. So I turned to talking to the librarian over AIM. (Another funny addition to the story is that I'm usually on AIM all the time, but this semester I have been on it less and less, because it is such a huge distraction and I have been bombarded with work.) Anyway, I signed online, talked to the librarian (who used all capital letters, which suddenly made me feel like I was a preteen and should be using them too), and figured out how I could get print editions.

On a somewhat similar note, I am very interested in the crossover and transformation of print culture to online media, so enjoyed looking at if:book. One place I found particularly fascinating information was it's discussion on journalism. The article on this topic has a video imitating the future of web-access to print journalism. I enjoyed the writer's take on what does and doesn't work with this idea, such as when he says, "As much as they tried to create a futuristic atmosphere with their Media Lab, much of the technology on display seemed, like the Times Reader, to be stuck in old mindsets -- fixated more on the digital apotheosis of their product than on really grappling with the realities of the new media environment." He aptly quotes Marshall McLuhan, who wrote, "When faced with a totally new situation, we tend always to attach ourselves to the objects, to the flavor of the most recent past. We look at the present through a rear-view mirror. We march backwards into the future..." and names his article/post after this quote. Watching the video made this point clear: we're still trying to fit the typical, traditional feel of a newspaper into the mold of an online form instead of exploring the new ways in which we can present news online.