Changing Reading Habits?

I just read an interesting piece from the latest Atlantic Monthly, entitled Is Google Making Us Stupid? The author, Nicholas Carr, observes that he and colleagues have all noticed a change in their reading habits — an inability to concentrate or focus when reading texts longer than a page or two. I’ve noticed this myself — I’ve become far more distractible when reading, especially when reading online, where I may link from article to article without ever finishing one. Or I may skip one entirely, dismissing it as “too long,” if it involves more than one full scrolling of the screen. When and how did this happen? Since when is a two-page article “too long”? It bothers me that I find it so difficult to sit down and pay attention to a book for any length of time these days (unless it’s a really compelling book, and I do still find some of those around, luckily) — I’m a librarian, after all! 馃檪 Have others noticed this phenomenon? Does it bother you, and if so, have you found ways to overcome it? (And if it doesn’t bother you, why not?)

Today’s Bloomsday!

Ulysses June 16, the day Joyce’s “Ulysses” takes place, is the time to have a Guiness, re-read your favorite passages (also here) or, if you’re near a radio or computer tonight, listen to WBAI in New York which is broadcasting some passages read aloud, along with period music. In the Boston area, there’s a festival on the Boston College Campus, and another at Back Pages Books in Waltham. The NU Libraries (PR 6019 .O9 on the Snell Third Floor) have several copies, along with essays, readers companions, adaptations, and so on nearby.

Conference Twittering

Observation: Three pages worth of twitters…not so much fun to read, not informative. It’s like reading a couple thousand lines of chat backlog. I signed up for Twitter when I read that SLA (Special Library Assocation) had set up an account for backchannel chatter at this year’s conference. Sounded fine to me, but I think in practice, it’s just too much. BUT. I could see where it would be fun if you were keeping up with specific friends and colleagues at a conference or other large event because in those cases, I’d *care* about their flights and how long they are waiting for a table at a restaurant. Random people I don’t know…not so much. I wonder how many pages of conference twitters will accumlate tomorrow, after it’s in full swing! I haven’t heard about using Twitter for conferences, not sure how well it’s worked or what other people have thought about it. Perhaps people like myself will just lurk and mostly not read the posts while a few groups take better advantage of it.

Green Print

I read about Green Print in Popular Science. It is software that you can download (Buy) and it will help you save on those annoying print outs that have only one useless line of text. Here is the URL: http://printgreener.com/index.html Here is the URL for the flash demo: http://printgreener.com/tutorial.html This could be one of those things that can make a big difference in student’s lives, conserving page prints within the 400 page limit.

Facebook

The Library has a facebook group: I Love NU Libraries!聽 Joining is a great way to stay up to date on Library events, as well as show your support for the Library.聽 Join and invite student and faculty friends to do the same.聽 You can also see promotional videos, along with photos and recordings of past events.聽 For the fall semester, were going to be looking to increase discussion about our program authors and their books, through the facebook group.聽 Stay tuned!