Looking back over an old article about myths

     I have a few friends who give me articles they feel I might be interested in reading, especially if they're about books or reading.
     Today I fished one out of my file and read it again.  This time the re-reading made some questions cross my mind that I realize I'll have to ponder in my spare time. 
     The article came from The Chronicle Review last April 2011.  It was written by Robert Darnton, a professor and university librarian at Harvard University.  The essay was based on a talk he gave at the Council of Independent Colleges' Symposium on the Future of the Humanities.  Once it hit the Internet, it had quite a few comments posted, thus making even the comments something I need to think about a little longer.
     The article "5 Myths About the 'Information Age'" listed:
1)  "The book is dead."  Professor Darnton stated that one million new titles would appear worldwide in 2011, with a huge explosion in the output of titles produced by self-publishing authors and "micro-niche" print-on-demand enterprises.  Also that the book business is booming in developing countries like China and Brazil.  The professor stated that the population of books is increasing, not decreasing, and certainly not dying.
2)  "We have entered the information age."  Whoa! I thought.  That is a myth!  I thought we've been in the information age since when...how long...do the old timey phones count? How about all those smoke signals and beating drums? The professor stated "...every age is an age of information, each in its own way and according to the media available at the time."  I certainly had to agree with that.
3) "All information is now available online."  This is where the majority of commenters howled; they agreed with the professor when he said, "The absurdity of this claim is obvious to anyone who has ever done research in archives."  But then an attorney commented by saying he didn't know any attorney under the age of 45 or so who uses printed books to research cases or legislation...that it was extremely rare that he consulted printed books when doing legal research, other than "secondary" sources.  A true "online" type of guy, huh?  However, one commenter said researchers should use both print and digital material in their research.  I had to agree with that!  Professor Darnton also said, "Not only does most information not appear online, but most of the information that once did appear has probably been lost."
4) "Libraries are obsolete."  The professor stated that "everywhere in the country librarians report that they have never had so many patrons."  Well, in 2012 many libraries (ours included) are having their budgets cut profoundly, despite the increasing number of patrons.  I liked what one commenter said: "Libraries are still useful, but they are having to rediscover their use."  We've all read or heard about the libraries that are not only offering new material and services, but have included more enticing ways to bring people in to study or "just hang out," like coffee shops and gift shops.  Of course, we hope when they "hang out," they get a real feel for the books, magazines, and newspapers we have to offer.  They're already at our bank of computers all day long.  So far, we haven't felt our library is obsolete.  Obsolete is absolutely a myth!
5) "The future is digital."  Professor Darnton said, "True enough, but misleading."  He continued, "...the prevalence of electronic communication does not mean that printed material will cease to be important."  He added, "Radio did not destroy the newspaper (but it might be going!); television did not kill radio (NPR is always there, we hope!); and the Internet did not make TV extinct."  Of course, he did talk also about e-books and other means of new technology as part of the mix.
     And then came my time to ponder.  I like that word.
     I took a little time to ask myself the following questions:
1) What way do you get most of your daily information?
2) Do you read "printed" books at all?
3) How do you do most of your reading? "Real" books or "digital" versions?
4) Do you feel libraries are obsolete?
5) Do you think the future will be all digital?  Are newspapers dying?  Will we have to pay for all radio some day?  Will television become all cable?
     What other myths are out there that we have to deal with on a daily basis?  Makes you ponder, doesn't it?