1970s campus librarians foresaw our world of distributed knowledge and research

I have always viewed libraries as form of distributed knowledge and research using the current forms of technology. The 1970s is about when electronic data became practical. The issue with information is knowing where and how to find it when needed. The internet only represents the where to find it.

The best views on media and human development I have seen was a book called tube of plenty. This is a condensed version of a a three book series. I enjoyed the condensed book so much I read the 3 expanded versions.

https://www.worldcat.org/title/1036961770

This brought back memories. I was introduced to computers back in the 80's, as a child. Naturally, once familiar, I would look to share that experience with other children, and adults.

I learned early that re-enforcing the fact that you "can do no harm" [1] was key to getting people to relax, which improved both their enthusiasm and enjoyment. [2]

I guess for adults it was something like learning to drive , and so there was a fear if "breaking it". Computers were expensive, and rare enough, that people approached them with done trepidation.

Now if you drop it in the toilet you just get another one.

[1] the machines of that era only had floppy disks, so any damage at all would be limited to the disk. And copying/ formatting disks was, dare I say it, childs play.

[2] some of the early computers -could- be physically damaged with specific instructions, but it wasn't possible (probable) that you could do that accidentally as a new user.

I cannot recall the rest of the book or its title.

I was amused when a few years ago I asked google that question, and got back "tin" as the answer.

It's still the only fact I know about Bolivia.