Libraries have become a broadband lifeline for students
arstechnica.com
arstechnica.com
I realize how much of a role librarians can play in guiding people towards more reliable information sources. The key takeaway from the article shared is that libraries are still effective places for people to build self-reliance with regard to information seeking. It's an important skill that doesn't always get taught in schools for whatever reason.
Modern resources such as Wikipedia are a treasure, but are only valuable if examined with a critical eye.
Support your local libraries, especially their outreach programs.
I think a far greater cause is the lack of critical thinking taught in schools, the lack of engaged debate and encouraging people to think for themselves and gather their own information. We had to write persuastive papers, research topics from encyclopedias, etc. It seems kids don't do that in school these days. (get off my lawn)
I just said it was a symptom since the article was about libraries, not THE symptom or the only symptom :) Remember, this is a new problem. Growing up, I had channels 2, 4, 7, 50, and 62. If you didn't mind the static and repositioning the antenna, there were a few more channels :). National news was on for one hour a night, maybe more on Sundays and was presented by erudite news anchors in a time where good looks were not a factor in getting the job. If you wanted to comment on an issue, you had to write a letter by hand, giving you time to cool yourself down and not respond in a knee-jerk way.
I somewhat agree, but information used to be curated by gatekeepers well versed in the subject matter, not released in a torrential digital firehose with little or no curation. Has the level of critical thinking really declined or was it always this way? People from my father's generation may have had less critical thinking skills as they were much more trusting of authority. Those educated under No Child Left Behind aren't really old enough to be in charge yet.
Somewhat relevant story: I appreciated the education I received, but I remember when I questioned why fuck am I reciting the Pledge of Allegiance when the entirety of it is horseshit...especially the liberty and justice for all portion. So, instead of performing the pledge, I finished up some homework that was due in AP Calc. My math teacher was so incensed he threw me out of class and told me to report to the principal's office where I proceeded to say I didn't stand because I injured my foot so that I wasn't suspended.
I want to highlight that these are completely normal looking middle aged men and women that do not appear to be under the influence of drugs. These are not the (false) stereotypical backwoods conspiracy nuts. Again, this is suburban Los Angeles. I don't know what their educational levels are or where they attended school, but clearly (and stating the obvious) -- our educational system is failing to impart basic research and critical thinking skills to huge sections of our population.
I joke, but I also weep knowing that if there were an article that claimed that either candidate supported relaxing or increasing regulations on the chemical dihydrogen monoxide, a significant number of people would think it was a serious issue without actually researching it.
Just my 2c regarding PewDiePie: He may be a youtube star, but he not a comedian and not humorous IMO. Don't make jokes about touchy subjects if you aren't exceptionally funny or have a very thorough and intimate understanding of the subject. There's a reason Louis C.K. can do skits on controversial subjects without being pilloried, he's not a crass amateur. If no one laughs, at best it comes off as insensitive. Also, his fan base is primarily 12-15 yr olds, not exactly old enough to understand the subtleties of satire. Kramer's racist rant post-Seinfeld at least was aimed at adults.
http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2017/03/president-s-b...
China, which happens to have >1 billion more people than the US, will be spending less than half of what the US is already spending (before the $50 billion increase) as soon as they double their defense spending.
Look at south korea. Plenty of military, no brain.
I'm genuinely curious - what did you mean by this?
The IMLS was established in 1996 with an annual budget of merely $200 million. As a comparison, the funding for libraries in tiny Arlington County, Virginia with a population of only ~200,000 is 13 million dollars[1]. This department may be doing meaningful work, but it is hardly work that could not be undertaken by local governments coordinating for the betterment of their own residents.
As a broader argument, libraries are primarily supported at the local level with state oversight. There's no real need for an entire Federal department to further oversea and attempt to control the practices of local bodies.
I am a great fan of government, and government funding of the arts and education but I believe it should be done at the local level where citizens can meaningfully affect the government which is doing the work.
Federal funds, if given, should be given gratis to states without any mandates or provisions the most general sense.
[1] https://arlingtonva.s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/wp-...
This assumes that what should happen will happen in the absence of federal funding. Can you provide an historical example of when this has been the case?
* one had a really bad internet you would activate by asking for a coupon, it would then be limited to 500MB
* the other one had no internet if you did not have a library card
For someone who spends a lot of time in libraries to work, I found it really sad :(
European libraries are really nothing like American ones, at least the few I've been to. They are still very much in the "books and only books" mindset that American libraries were at 50 years ago. It's funny, too, because libraries are such an American institution that you'd think the power of tradition would be fairly strong here. Perhaps the constant fight for funding and relevance has propelled their evolution.
The computer/wifi access does require a library card, but that doesn't seem to onerous to me.
Since having my son I really have had my eyes open to the value of libraries. As a resource for learning, community, and programming, they are immensely valuable. You look around in my urban branch library and you see people of all ages, backgrounds. They are reading, playing, socializing, working. That's what America is supposed to be about.
> Libraries in London are very much like libraries in the U.S.
> Library has wifi too but the quality is not so great
When I was living in Canada, libraries would be open 24/7 during exams. That was just... incredible. In France you're lucky if you have restrooms in the library.
It's on shared copper, just like most of us were when www was invented, for historical accuracy.
While 500MB is low for this day and age, I assume they did this to dissuade people from using the internet for recreational purposes instead of research.
> the other one had no internet if you did not have a library card
In the States, a lot of public services are judged on their utilisation. If a library cannot demonstrate a lot of residents are frequenting it, the government might cut its budget the next time around.
If only there was a way to quantify internet use :)
It hosts great scheduled talks/discussions (for instance on Tuesday Neil Gaiman will be there for an on-stage interview).
The quiet workspaces are great places to get work done, and something about the architecture/interior/history really helps keep one motivated while there.
Maybe this is normal for every state but any resident of MA is eligible to get a library card. It's worth it for the digital rentals alone.
They also host free tours of the building, which I haven't done yet but have been meaning to.
http://www.bpl.org/general/history.htm
On a vaguely related note, in looking up information on production and copyright of books within the US a few months back, I dug through the history of the Library of Congress, and specifically the Librarian's annual report to Congress on the state and status of the library, dating to about 1860. It's quite the trip.
The Library, Internet Archive, and Hathi Trust have most of the reports, in scanned PDFs.
(Flying my library freak flag....)
Pretty awesome community space.
Anecdote: My cousin lives in a rural area and is enrolled in college while working. His only internet at home is satellite, so to do his online homework he has to drive to the library to use the wifi.
I myself am in the planning phase of hosting an open wifi network at my place of residence to do my small part.
The computers have not only internet, but MS Office and Adobe products, and I see everything from playing games and social media to job hunting and learning being done on them. (There's even a special bank of computers with resources for job hunting downtown.)
Pretty much every day, the library holds some kind of starting a business, learning to use tech, ESL, or other kind of class.
Then there's the cultural shows (opera, movies, story readings) and free tax prep services at the central branch downtown.
The library also provides desks to work at, which are used by students (HS and college), professionals, the homeless, etc. The value of a workspace in the city is itself fairly large. I made frequent use of it when working as a freelancer. Cheaper than coworking space, cafe on site, reliable internet, etc.
And of course, the library is still a library. Their ebook collection is nowhere near the size and scope of their physical book collection. Not just the normal stuff of modern books, but fairly large archives of things like financial reports, magazine editions, etc stretching back nearly 100 years (longer in a few cases), a rare book collection, specialty archives, a collection of official government documents, and probably more Im forgetting.
That isn't stuff I need every day, most of my borrowing is (or could be) ebook/audiobook, but I think the city would be poorer without a publicly owned archive of history, even if there were digital copies available. There's something about reading a book older than your great grandparents that digital copies don't replace.
My local library now has as big of a movie rental library (for free!) as any Blockbuster back in the day, has 3D printers available for use, and office areas meant for use by startups needing some space to work.
The library has an extensive DVD collection (TV, movies, etc), CD collection (music, etc), script collection (plays and other theater), sheet music collection, music practice rooms, and of course, a foreign language collection for all the kinds of media.
Oh! And a collection of maps, covering both a large geographic area and over time so you can see the evolution of local cities. (Actually, 3 map collections -- US government Dept of Interior/USGS, other broad scale ones, and then a special collection for local ones.)
Im pretty sure I'm still forgetting things. The library system is actually kind of awe-inspiring in what they manage to collect and archive. Once you consider their relationships with local university archives, other cities, and county level systems, their total system is staggering.
I could never say enough good things about the library, and it's one of the best civic investments we make because it does so many things at once.
But based on our numbers and the community research we've done over the years, I think it's still physical materials the drive the bus. People like stuff, real stuff.
I have a nephew who is 2.5 with 2 uncles involved in tech and his dad writes some code part time. We've already talked about getting him into programming and electronics.
As technical skills become more and more important I worry that the school system just isn't fast enough to adapt and there is going to be a massive inequality between kids who have relative/parents who encourage the development of these skills and those who don't.