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Nadia Ayesh
Synthesis Paper
Information Landscapes
04-04-2006
“Librarians + Technology = Knowledge”
The goal of ‘Information Landscapes’ was to train a new wave of young librarians in the way of instructing and helping others access knowledge. The access to knowledge is an acquired skill, which a small percentage of the human population sadly, will never learn how to do. It is in this hollow of knowledge, that librarians fill the void. They seek to enlighten others around them without hesitancy or judgment because the addiction of knowledge is a great one. Those refusing to progress out of fear of learning the valuable skills technology can give are left behind as the progression of human knowledge moves forward, and consequently rely on librarians to fill the technological gap. Librarians have become not only the keepers of knowledge, but gateways to the future for some. It is then evident that through the entire year of ‘Information Landscapes’ the impact and the advancement of technology closely interweaves with knowledge. Within this interweave, there is a thin line between organic and inorganic subjects working together in harmony as one. Knowledge is to technology, what oxygen is to fire. Without it neither part can flourish, and cycle.

“We are all Cyborgs, Yod.”
People who are technologically afraid of computers, or who are hesitant to progress towards a future predominantly run by computers suffer from an anxiety of their relationship with something inorganic. Organic, tangible things are far easier for human beings to accept because they are in no way a threat to humans as we are the superior species of the earth. However, when technology and inorganic objects are brought into the equation a new thought emerges. Will technology advance past the human race enough to threaten our existence? The movie ‘eXistanZ’ is a striking example of how people wrestle with the idea of reality and technology, and the fear that technology will someday consume our entire being. ‘eXistanZ’ promoted the idea that humans will rely on computers for pleasure, and in the end will eventually incapacitate us enough to rely on it to live entirely (virtual reality, and chat room identities). However, humans are part of the animal kingdom and it is engrained in us as living, and breathing human beings to stay organic. This is also why a conversion to an entirely electronic library will never happen. Books are organic, and the idea of relying on something entirely inorganic will always instinctually provoke hesitancy in some small way. People who do however, embrace technology and interweave it within their lives have come to be known as Cyborgs. Cyborgs are the flawless mesh of organic and inorganic. Librarians have progressively transformed into the ideal Cyborg, and are constantly working with computers as an extension of their knowledge.

“InfoLand”
We began the first week with an introduction to the giant leap education took from paper to electronic. Through electronic and computer devices, teachers were suddenly caught in a knowledge battle between their students because the Internet provided a constant flow of information thanks to online journals. Suddenly, Masters students could write articles and were able to publish them electronically as fast as the papers could be typed. Undergraduate students could access these vast pools of knowledge by going online, ultimately aiding them in their learning. Technology evidently is ever changing and constantly moving forward. Online journals progressed to online blogs, and the access to information took a shift into high gear. With the movie ‘Love in Action’, blogs opened up a vortex of new possibilities. Blogs are an even quicker and easier pathway to information, whereas journals have to be accessed with subscriptions (usually libraries and universities provide access to visitors and students), which could pose as a problem to those uneducated enough to use the libraries’ or college’s utilities. The Internet, because of Google and its unique search engine algorithm, provides people with access to knowledge from the convenience of their home computers. With this easy access though, comes the great responsibility to sift through information that is relevant, reliable, irrelevant and unreliable. Librarians on the other hand, know the information they have access to, to be reliable, credible and even published. This is an advantage over those using the Internet from home, as people can or cannot distinguish between the information themselves. Furthermore, throughout the quarter we have had the unique opportunity to access each others (students and faculty) progressive learning because of blogging. Every week students posted their papers, allowing their peers to read them and come to class having an idea of which direction seminar was going to take. This gave our faculty an advantage, as they were prepared with how much information we did know, and could adequately fill in the information gaps with thoughts not brought up in our papers.

Also ‘The Search” by John Battelle makes a startling prediction, the ultimate goal to replace organic librarians with in-organic search engines. The online search engine of the future isn’t the search engine as we know it. It will be and act like an intelligent agent- a robot able to predict the thought patterns of a human mind. “A reference librarian with a complete mastery of the entire corpus of the human knowledge”. The movie ‘Desk Set’, filmed in 1956 eerily predicts the exact situation Battelle did nearly fifty years later. Librarians being replaced by a super computer? The hesitancy to whole-heartedly rely on something inorganic is an idea that has haunted man for a while it seems. Already we know that a machine can replace people by sorting and putting books on a cart (the Seattle Public Library), can machines also replace the reference librarian when asked to specifically research a personal question? Is the future of a reference librarian that of a computer waiting to have a question typed out in its search engine? This seems highly unlikely, as there will always be a triangle between the user, information and the librarian. Librarians act as gatekeepers of information, integrating technology with knowledge, creating a working medium. Librarians know the tricks of the trade and how to access information properly. They also maintain and preserve the information at hand, whether it’s in organic form such as a book or in digital form like a disk or CD. Access to information is as limitless as the user’s imagination, and techniques learned from librarians to search for the knowledge they seek.

“Riot in the streets”
“Working knowledge”, presented an interesting quote that has been thought provoking for a majority of the quarter. Data and information are constantly transferred electronically, but knowledge seems to travel more effectively through a human network. Knowledge is absorbed in discussion easier than reading information electronically. Perhaps, it is because the mind is triggered to process thoughts more intensively when speaking, rather than just reading. In “Library, an Unquiet History”, history has shown us that monks would read books aloud in order to hear themselves and process information more effectively. Visual and verbal integration of information will always be more effective than reading a flickering computer screen silently. Furthermore, Evergreen’s own seminars are a perfect example of reading a piece and discussing it in order to fully absorb the ideas being presented. When in doubt of understanding the meaning of the text, the opportunity to ask peers questions and gain their valuable insight to integrate with ones own is also more advantageous than merely reading without processing. The reference desk at the library is another example of knowledge being processed more competently, as librarians are there to help people first before they jump to a computer or go in search of a book to find what they seek. E-mail is also another powerful example of how knowledge moves through one person to another, maybe hundreds, even thousands of people in the blink of an eye. The article “Cyber-Ethnography and the Emergence of the Virtually New Community,” by Katie J. Ward provided us with the term ‘Cyber-ethnography’. Cyber-ethnography is the study of virtual communities and their online interaction. Online communities with Cyborgs such as Moveon.org and its use of moving knowledge from one person to another in record time, is an excellent example of knowledge transfer. The overwhelming response to an unjust war spread online like wildfire, and thousands of people were automatically connected by one email. Because of this monumental use of technology people gathered in major cities to protest the Iraq war within a matter of days. Moveon.org proved to be an exceptional use of technology because it revealed how technology can promote knowledge. Without the interweaving of a community and technology, the protests of the Iraq War would not have had as big of a turnout as it did.

“Rebel Code”, by Glyn Moody was right on target in understanding the idea that humans are afraid of inorganic entities. This book is about the code of good embedded in humanity’s DNA, which naturally rebels against evil. Inorganic technology raises an awareness and a threat to humanities existence, thus the body reacts the only way it knows how; with emotion. Fear within us to become attached and entirely dependant on something (rather than co-dependant) is a direct threat to humans’ territory. Rebelling against computer giants that threaten our freedom to access any knowledge, and our privacy is the natural reaction to technology. For instance, the Open Source movement flourished because programmers with the knowledge of writing code could constantly rewrite the Linux operating system, offering a free alternative to a computer giant (Microsoft, Apple) that wanted money for the luxury of having a computer (a key to the giant door of knowledge). Linux is more organic in thought than Windows because people are allowed to mold and manipulate the program to do whatever the user wishes it to do. Windows however, is far too mechanical in its performance that it is almost impossible to fix any fluke within its system without entirely crashing the program. It is in this odd complexity that something inorganic such as Microsoft can be rejected, and something slightly more organic like Linux could be more readily accepted into the American household. More so, Open Source is about freedom, creation, sharing, and community, beauty, having fun and being joyful to those who use and promote the Open Source products. All of these are organic experiences. Open Source also supports a community by giving it what it wants and that community supports the company back. This exchange is directly putting technology into the hands of the user and in no way threatens humans’ direct impulse to survive as the strongest. In fact, it gives Cyborgs the knowledge they need to understand computers, alleviating the hesitancy to embrace technology.

“Burn baby, burn.”
What is it then that prevents people from acquiring knowledge, and moving forward with technology? ‘Information Landscapes’ has presented interesting theories as to why this is happening. Reality and existence within reality, such as the film ‘eXistanZ’ hint that humans are afraid they will rely on computers to live a happy, fulfilled life. The idea of integrating something organic with something inorganic startles people only because it is not found in nature anywhere else. Humans fear what they think is evil, and without a sufficient understanding of computers, people will always feel threatened by technology as if it were challenging us as a superior species. Those who manage to take hold of their anxiety, and embrace technology are met with millions of opportunities to learn. The Internet, online journals, email and blogging have swept the nation as a powerfully effective way to communicate thoughts and information in the blink of an eye. Knowledge has never moved faster between people in all of history. Some theories presented threaten the idea of an organic librarian and library by replacing them with ‘super’ computers. But, there will always be a triangle between the user, information and the librarian. Librarians act as gatekeepers of information by integrating technology with knowledge and creating a working medium. The human being possesses the amazing ability to improvise, something no computer will ever be able to mimic. Thus search engines can only progress so far. Furthermore, information is passed more effectively with verbal and tangible, visual communication. An entirely virtual library would never be absorbed as well as a real library would. By integrating technology and knowledge effectively (such as Linux), technology can still remain partly organic. In order for technology to grow, it must breathe knowledge and in order for knowledge to then flourish it must burn technology. Without either part, the fire dies and the cycle of co-existence is broken. Technology can and will progress as far as knowledge can take it, burning millions of light years into the future with Librarians laying the kindling.

“The best way to predict the Future is to invent it.”
~Alan Kay
From “Revolution in the Valley” by Andy Hertzfeld