It's all well and good to blather on about refinements and extensions to online catalogs. More power to those providing full-text access and adding retrieval for visual materials and sound. Good access to non-textual material is a vital part of modern library catalogs

Crawford, Walt

University of Houston Institutional Repository (UHIR)

+ Page 54 +-----------------------------------------------------------------"Public-Access Provocations: An Informal Column."  The Public-Access Computer Systems Review 3, no. 1 (1992): 54-56.-----------------------------------------------------------------"Those Who Don't, Won't"By Walt CrawfordIt's all well and good to blather on about refinements andextensions to online catalogs.  More power to those providingfull-text access and adding retrieval for visual materials andsound.  Good access to non-textual material is a vital part ofmodern library catalogs.What provokes me this time, however, has to do with the end-result of most library catalog searching: text.  The provocationcomes in the term "post-literate," particularly as used by thosewho say "text-impaired" in the sense of "hung up on text, thatold-fashioned narrow channel of communication."A Post-Literate Society Would be a Medieval SocietyNeed I say more?  Perhaps--but that heading is the gist of thisdiatribe, and my optimistic viewpoint shows up in the word"would" rather than "will."  I don't believe we're headed for apost-literate society (and desperately hope that we're not), andfeel that librarians should make every effort to see to it thatwe're not.Some of you will already know the prequel to this column's title:Dick Dougherty's ALA Presidential slogan, "Kids who read,succeed."  As a rejoinder to those who urge us to move smoothlyinto a post-literate society, the follow-on is more important:"Those who don't, won't."+ Page 55 +In a society where most people were "visually literate" or "medialiterate" but lack solid, well-developed, constantly-used readingskills, the literate or "text-oriented" minority would be incontrol--perhaps not always overtly, but most assuredly where itcounts.  In that dystopian vision, we would revert to a medievalstate where the knowledgeable few rule the ignorant masses.  Thistime the ignorant masses would not think themselves ignorant,since they would be flooded with "information" through the vastlyricher channels of sight and sound.I've heard some of the visions of those who believe that textdoesn't matter.  Business people will solve problems by workingthrough virtual-reality embodiments of the situation at hand, oruse video game-like methods to arrive at the best course ofaction.  Maybe I'm getting gullible in middle age, but (God helpme) I believe that some of these people are serious!Narrowness Can be a VirtueYes, text represents a narrower communication channel than sightand sound.  Another way of saying that is that text providesspecificity.  Text is also linear, which makes it ideal forlogical operations, case-building and the other tools ofargument.  (For the purposes of this discussion, mathematics is aspecial case of text: even narrower, even more specific, andgenerally even more linear.)Of course text isn't all there is.  A description of the SistineChapel can't substitute for photographs of the ceiling and chapelitself, which in turn don't really substitute for being there.  Adescription of Stravinsky's "Variations on 'Vom Himmel Hoch'"would be pretty pallid, while the music itself is an astonishingcross-century blend and a considerable pleasure.  I watch networkTV (and I don't mean PBS) and enjoy it; a description of "EveningShade" or "Northern Exposure" could surely not replace theexperience itself.Turning to more "factual" matters, I would never approve aproposed extension to my house without seeing appropriatedrawings--but I would also never approve the extension withoutdetailed textual and mathematical support for those drawings, inthe form of firm costs, structural details, and a propercontract.+ Page 56 +Literacy EmpowersWithout the ability to read carefully, thoroughly andthoughtfully, a person will always be at the mercy of others.That's true of mathematical literacy as well, to be sure: if youcan't do approximate calculations in your head, you have no basisfor challenging a dishonest tradesperson or a simple error incharging.  Reading, thinking, understanding: these provide power,the power to participate fully in the modern world.  In a post-literate society, only the reading minority would have thatpower.  That is, I maintain, a future to be avoided rather thandealt with.One final note.  If you believe that this column is an attack onmultimedia, or that I am arguing that only print is important orthat entertainment is unimportant: go back and read it again,this time more carefully.About the AuthorWalt Crawford is a Senior Analyst at The Research Libraries Group(Mountain View, CA), and is Vice President/President- Elect ofthe Library & Information Technology Association (LITA), adivision of the American Library Association.-----------------------------------------------------------------The Public-Access Computer Systems Review is a refereedelectronic journal that is distributed on BITNET, Internet, andother computer networks.  There is no subscription fee.To subscribe, send an e-mail message to LISTSERV@UHUPVM1 (BITNET)or LISTSERV@UHUPVM1.UH.EDU (Internet) that says:SUBSCRIBE PACS-P First Name Last Name.  PACS-P subscribers alsoreceive two electronic newsletters: Current Cites and Public-Access Computer Systems News.This article is Copyright (C) 1992 by Walt Crawford.  All RightsReserved.The Public-Access Computer Systems Review is Copyright (C) 1992by the University Libraries, University of Houston.  All RightsReserved.Copying is permitted for noncommercial use by computerconferences, individual scholars, and libraries.  Libraries areauthorized to add the journal to their collection, in electronicor printed form, at no charge.  This message must appear on allcopied material.  All commercial use requires permission.-----------------------------------------------------------------

Public-Access Provocations: An Informal Column

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Public-Access Provocations: An Informal Column

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