Crystal Ball
Gazing
Reflections on the role
of information resources in a liberal arts eduction
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Crystal Ball
Gazing |
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In the world of today's information explosion, people are expected to analyze and interpret ever increasing volumes of information within a constantly-decreasing response time. Consider the simple example of electronic mail. The typical Skidmore worker receives far more information via email than from the comparable days of paper memos. At the same time, the worker is expected to respond to those messages within hours instead of the days associated with paper communications.
Is this world of hyperactive response leading to the loss of reflective thought?
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A Personal Vignette As a graduate student in the 70's, I would often spend many hours conducting literature searches in the stacks of the university library. The slow pace of information retrieval resulted in ample opportunities to reflect on the individual articles and the underlying theories. In today's online world of online bibliographic indexes and full-text retrieval, the same search can be completed in a few minutes. Do I then spend the time to think about the material, or rush off to the next project or crisis? |
Here are some humorous views of the information flood Dilbert, Toles.
