One of the things that I found shocking when I was pursuing my Masters in Library Science was the number of truly passionate debates that would break out in my classes. Some of them were kind of funny. For example, things got a little heated when we talked about whether libraries should offer gift shops in the ground floor. If a book is about how to care for animals, how can you make sure both a “cat person” AND a “dog person” would find it? Since the classification system didn’t include codes for every vegetable, how could you tell someone that a book coded as “corn” was actually about carrots?
Some debates were more serious though. One that I remember being particularly interested in was an argument about the preservation of antiquated documents. You see, the process then (I don’t know if the technology has changed) was to scan the books into a digital format. The process, however, often sped up the obliteration of the physical document. What was more important? Having the actual manuscript, crumbling though it may be, or preserving the content via some modern, impersonal digital medium?
I was on the side of keeping the actual manuscript. Many had been hand-illustrated. The covers had been hand-created. The codex had been sewn together by someone sitting in a dark and empty room of some monastery somewhere. Today, publishers create books so that they can withstand the rigor of 1-2 readings. These manuscripts have far outlived today’s life expectancy. Why not let them live a little longer?
As a librarian, my view was somewhat inappropriate. My focus was supposed to be on the content, not on the sentiment of nostalgia.
Now, in my new professional life, I am faced with a somewhat similar debate. We are using Social Media, and depending on how you use it, you can cast a wide net or capture a few quality friends. Sometimes you can do both at the same time. You can stay in touch with people you went to elementary school with. You can reconnect with your first crush and your first arch-enemy in one day. I am torn about all of this.
Of course, back in Library School, I understood the value of preserving the content. I wasn’t against it. It was just a choice of priorities. I’m not against Social Media. I certainly see the value of it. But are we meant to stay in touch with every person in the world? Are we meant to do business with people we may never meet in person? With someone who may never even see our handwriting? Aren’t some relationships meant to crumble? Aren’t some meant to grow tangibly through handshakes and meals?
Is it better to have access to thousands of documents digitally knowing that the physical document was destroyed to create that experience? Is it better to deal with people digitally because some relationship is better than the few you might have in “real life”? Is it better to do business with hundreds of people at the expense of shaking hands with a few?
One of the saddest things in my life is that I lost both of my grandmothers within a few years of each other when I was very very young. Both of my grandmothers were taken by diseases that are now prime targets for fundraising and cures. My mother’s mother struggled badly with asthma and was taken by a sudden and severe asthma attack. My father’s mother struggled with MS for more than 40 years and passed shortly after a surgery that was supposed to help improve the quality of her life.
popular among my friends, and now the popularity of crafting in general has sky-rocketed. Why is Martha Stewart so popular? Why is there such a lust for nostalgic arts like folding dinner napkins into swans? Why is it mostly women who adore Martha and watch her show? Is something “homey” missing from our lives?
I participated in my first ever B2B chat last night on Twitter. One of the questions that was discussed was whether or how to integrate a blog into your marketing campaign. My response was that a blog should and can be integrated with everything you do. This response garnered some interest, so I thought I would expand on it a bit here.
Last week I had the idea that I would ask for 30 posts, I’d pick my 5 favorite, and I’d post those 5 on Thursday. I was calling this #30Thursday on Twitter. However, the posts that I got were so good that I knew it would be too hard to pick just the top five. So instead, every week, I’m asking people to send me blog posts of interest – their own, others’, however you want to do it. And I’ll post the first 30 I get on Thursday. I hope that other people begin to do this as well. It’s too easy to fall into the trap of just reading the same blogs. It’s nice to read new blogs and to promote other peoples’ blogs, too. So here are this week’s top 30 blog posts (in my world).
Something bizarre is happening in the world of Social Media. People, en masse, are doing something that people in “real life” don’t do enough (in my opinion). They are reflecting upon the big questions. “What am I doing here?” “What is this all about, anyway?”
Inclusion as the pathway to influence