Reading one of my FIS 1311 classmate's blogs (Hamilton, 2007) I've just diagnosed another anxiety disorder in myself. I don't know if this is something that any of you (yes, you two people who are reading my blog) suffer from but it’s a mildly irritating one for me. It is called (or rather, I am calling it) Historical Redundancy Writing Anxiety. Let me explain…
In training to be librarians we are all learning about just how much and how rapidly things are changing in our field. Same old story, advances in technology mean new rules, new practices, etc. But as Angela points out (Hamilton, 2007) how do we know which technologies will last and what will become the next friendster?
So this is where my anxiety comes in. How do we even start to talk about new technologies, start to plan for their implementation, etc. when they could never really happen (and by happen I mean be successful enough that everyone uses them)? I am muzzled by my ridiculous fear of future generations reading my work and laughing at how dumb I sound in raving about fanciful technology and its implications. I don’t want to be the person who in the ‘50s talked about moving sidewalks and flying cars!
That said I realize that we need to have these discussions, obviously it isn’t all science fiction, we can sort out some facts, look at trends and make an educated guess about where things are going. We need to make contingency plans, even if they become outdated two minutes later. And yes I’m being a little facetious with this anxiety (really I haven’t let my fear of what others will think get THAT bad) but my point is really that these things are changing so fast and they don’t necessarily evolve in a logical way! As Bowker and Star point out, there are a myriad of other factors that influence which system remains (economics, advertising, conspiracy) and it is rarely related to which is the best or most effective system. (Bowker and Star, 2000) So in some ways it requires some kind of mystical fortune telling ability to accurately predict what Information Studies will look like in even 10 years.
Reference List
Bowker, G & Star, S.L. 2000. “Introduction: To Classify is human” in Sorting Things Out:
Classification and its consequences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. (p. 9-32).
Hamilton, A. “Trying to See the Future” (2007) Retrieved September 22, 2007 from http://www.indestructible.ca/
Hamilton, A. “Trying to See the Future” (2007) Retrieved September 22, 2007 from http://www.indestructible.ca/
2 comments:
I've always found it fascinating that science fiction "gets it wrong" so often, but that's part of what makes life so interesting! As someone with an English degree, I've also liked how science fiction has influenced scientists - NASA's flights to the moon used the Vernsian method - based on Jules Verne's "From The Earth To The Moon" - written in the 19th century!
I also share your anxiety about this changing field but in terms of Archives. Taking 1330 at FIS which discusses traditional Archives concepts and definitions and my research experience, I feel that I have a pretty good idea of what is going on and what I might do as a career. Then I work on a project on Digital Archives and read all sorts of articles from people in the field that are trying to adapt to changing technologies, not all of them sure how. It leaves me both excited and frightened to enter field that has been going on for so long and yet is still changing all the time. I guess all we can do to quell our anxiety is to look forward to what the future holds.
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