05-24-2011, 03:57 AM
Hi,
Just yanking your chain
But, really, the more freedom and responsibility one leaves to the individual, the more intelligent, concerned, informed and responsible the individual needs to be. Our library scoff-laws are almost an argument for a paternalistic totalitarianism. They need a father figure (or maybe a Big Brother) to keep them in line.
I've long since come to the conclusion that if you want a good read on the morality of a nation, look at the little things. Murder, larceny, robbery, etc. are curbed by law enforcement and, usually, peer pressure. Look at the little things. Littering. Obeying the traffic laws. Tagging and other graffiti. And, yes, returning library books. Just as the nature of an individual is best revealed by what he does in private, so is the nature of a society best revealed by what it does where there is little, or no, danger of punishment.
We've slipped a long way by that measure in the years since Nov. 22, 1963.
Sue got an iPad from her dad as a present. But she doesn't use it to read much. I'm not sure how to even measure content. I'd like to have a few technical works on whatever, but there's no apparent benefit -- the price for the electronic version of most of them is the same as for the paper. I haven't been able to find much other than in English (I'd like to maintain my Italian proficiency, brush the rust off my Spanish, re-learn my Latin and Scottish and pick up from where I'd slid to in German).
I find the e-readers to be much like the iPod. I was able to find a lot of popular and recent music, less so of good classical and opera, and a poor smattering of folk and traditional. Also, very little except in English (again). Of course, another problem with all those music players is that my hearing is very poor in the left ear and none of the music devices seem to have a left-right balance adjustment.
See. I knew that you could.
--Pete
(05-23-2011, 10:56 PM)kandrathe Wrote: I agree with the principle you espouse, and I am also bugged by her lack of principles. In some respects I can see the value of making an example, medieval or not, of the occasional miscreant, if for nothing more than for LavCat to tape up within view of the "Late Returns" counter. The librarian in ominous goth dress can casually glance over at the article with a knowing smile in silent testimony of what may happen to careless scoff laws.
(05-23-2011, 10:56 PM)kandrathe Wrote: Regarding your mis-perception of a libertarian utopia...
Just yanking your chain
But, really, the more freedom and responsibility one leaves to the individual, the more intelligent, concerned, informed and responsible the individual needs to be. Our library scoff-laws are almost an argument for a paternalistic totalitarianism. They need a father figure (or maybe a Big Brother) to keep them in line.I've long since come to the conclusion that if you want a good read on the morality of a nation, look at the little things. Murder, larceny, robbery, etc. are curbed by law enforcement and, usually, peer pressure. Look at the little things. Littering. Obeying the traffic laws. Tagging and other graffiti. And, yes, returning library books. Just as the nature of an individual is best revealed by what he does in private, so is the nature of a society best revealed by what it does where there is little, or no, danger of punishment.
We've slipped a long way by that measure in the years since Nov. 22, 1963.
(05-23-2011, 10:56 PM)kandrathe Wrote: Being that I can't afford to get whatever I like... I'll probably settle for the one that has the most content available, and that is most readable.
Sue got an iPad from her dad as a present. But she doesn't use it to read much. I'm not sure how to even measure content. I'd like to have a few technical works on whatever, but there's no apparent benefit -- the price for the electronic version of most of them is the same as for the paper. I haven't been able to find much other than in English (I'd like to maintain my Italian proficiency, brush the rust off my Spanish, re-learn my Latin and Scottish and pick up from where I'd slid to in German).
I find the e-readers to be much like the iPod. I was able to find a lot of popular and recent music, less so of good classical and opera, and a poor smattering of folk and traditional. Also, very little except in English (again). Of course, another problem with all those music players is that my hearing is very poor in the left ear and none of the music devices seem to have a left-right balance adjustment.
(05-23-2011, 10:56 PM)kandrathe Wrote: Let's see... More simply said; we see e-books as only a part of a broader strategy to make parts of a course experience (teaching and learning) more interactive (where it makes sense), and accessible to wherever you happen to be at the moment.
See. I knew that you could.
--Pete
How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?