It's worse than that - it's the phenomenon of something not online = not
visible, and not wanting it to spread to not on twitter = not known.
I have a great example of this. Every year there are a few really bright,
really tech-smart students who get keen on both Cataloguing and Digital
Humanities. The top academic for this is, obviously, Gordon Dunsire. When
I tell them about him, his name is new to them (one did say to me "The
Registry Man?", which I hope Gordon appreciates as an epithet). Karen
Coyle writes on many of the same issues, but she is neither as academic
nor as innovative as Gordon. Those tech-focused students know her name.
Why? Because she blogs, blogs, blogs, blogs, blogs. In fact I recommend
Karen and Gordon both in the same breath, and respect them and their work
equally.
Every year, those students read Gordon's work and come back to me telling
me how exciting it is for them. But they've found out about it how? The
offline way - their library school lecturer has told them, and, from now
on, they'll find it the even more old-skool way, because I mention
Gordon's work in the preface to my book (which if no-one else reads my
students will have to, since it will save me killing trees to print
handouts).
"If it's not on Google" ... Is a a bad enough phenomenon. I dread the day
when we may have to say "If it's not on Twitter ...
Anne
On 28/03/2012 16:13, "Nicola Osborne" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Heather said:
>
>"I think Anne W is dead right about the "echo chamber" effect. Donšt we
>have a problem if much of the valuable CPD is advertised on social media,
>happens in social media and is reported on social media? Aren't we
>excluding an awful lot of people? So perhaps if we are going to try to
>record it, perhaps it should be recorded on not-social media. Invitations
>for engagement are great, but everyone needs to get the invitation! "
>
>That's an interesting issue. Do you think it's exclusionary to use social
>media or is it just about being exclusionary when these things are *only*
>advertised, reported, etc. in social media?
>
>I'm also curious if you would see blogs as exclusionary as a reporting
>tool? They are being recommended by many public funding bodies and are
>usually made available freely on the web but they are, of course, quite
>different to paper or in-person communications.
>
>- Nicola.
>
|
