What was the question again? Attention span is just one of my concerns with the speed and randomness of a lot of internet use. I can see both sides of this coin, but sticking with my theme... moderation in all things... balanced approach. I have an adult friend who has historically been an avid reader of print. She has really gotten caught up in her phone, Twitter, Facebook, etc. By her own admission, she doesn't really read like she used to. All of this takes time and time is limited, so what takes up more time will leave less time for other things.
I also realize there is a whole different culture surrounding what it means to be social. Social used to mean you physically spent time with people. With social networking we can always be connected and some people are. Yet, it's hard for my generation to put the same value on this social contact as "personal". The same holds for reading. Yes, there is a lot to read on the internet, be it news, blogs, Tweets, or even literature. But I find myself... whom I consider to be a reader... a little put off by the long article. And to actually complete my point for my generation... okay, for me, it's hard to put the same value on this reading as reading a real book with it's beginning, middle, and end... the standards it met for the publisher...
Right, now the question, what do I see in my library. I actually have three libraries... elementary, middle, and high school. There is still a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for books and reading particularly at the earlier grades. We recently added many more books that usual as a result of a generous donation. One of my most surprising observations when starting in the library was the way students flocked to the non-fiction books, but when there was a selection of only non-fiction books introduced there were a large number of students who were very disappointed. I think a lot of interest in reading is influenced by the approach of teachers and librarians. I can see the differences in the classes that come to the library. I also see that as students schedules become busier, and perhaps they have more digital freedom, library use gravitates more to the research for assignments than reading for pleasure. Students who are avid or even average readers, may also be getting their fiction from other sources than the school library... again the "freedom" factor.
Book 2.0 offers some interesting applications that I will want to revisit, but for my reading time... I'd still rather just read.
Since the first 23 Things, I have been trying to use my LibraryThing account to keep up with organizing my personal library or at least recording the books that I've read. I've read a few comments along the way, but I haven't really delved into the social aspect.
Books on Your Phone... Something I hadn't thought of here was "reading in the dark" on something easily accessible. This could be useful for "bedtime reading" when you are trying not to disturb others. Otherwise, I don't think I could read a whole book like this. Plus, I have a very basic phone plan. It says that there isn't too much data... but how much is that?
Reader's Advisory... Personally, I can't keep up with the books I should and would like to read. On the other hand this looked neat for me and for others. I tried "What Should I Read Next" and got lots of books that I've never heard of... which is fine and even great... most had an Amazon UK link. Perhaps this is based in the UK??? I liked the "What's next?" site as well... this eventually linked to MI libraries... Wow! There is just so much out there... and a lot of quality, too!
I watched the BookGlutton video. I didn't think I would be interested in this, but it is quite fascinating. I think it could also be an interesting experiment for our book club to read and interact this way with one of our next books. Reading Group choices also sounded appealing since making the book choice is always a challenge for our group. I am also interested in the extra information like author interviews.
I'm always open for a good listen. LibriVox interests me both for listening and maybe sometime volunteering.
I took a look at SwapTree. Again, what clever ideas and sophisticated programming is going on here. I put in a sample book that I have and hundreds of books that it could be swapped for came up! Second sample... tens of thousands! Wow! Too bad no one will probably be interested in my 1970's technology books... or maybe they will. I should give it a try.
BookBrowse... you had me at...seeks out and recommends only the most interesting and well-written books. One of my problems with the internet for myself and my students is that there is just too much out there... and so much of it is a waste of time, so give me only the most interesting and well-written, thank you very much.
Storyline looked interesting... wasn't there a phone line at that did this, too?
BooksFree has subscription fees... I get the use of free books from my library... but I'm sure if you are used to the convenience of Netflix... this may have its appeal.
I think I'll try to stick with LibraryThing for now... unless I really have time to get into the Facebook applications. It seems like it would take a lot of time to really get it working for you, and I would rather spend that time reading my next book for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment