Task 1

Class debate

in teams of four, we needed to debate a key question or proposition based on popular library stances. One team is on the ‘affirmative’ side and the other is on the‘negative’.

Proposition: “ The traditional role of the library is outdated in the 21st century”

negative team

speaker 1 Chava:

1.Role & importance of library(recreational+educational) a collection of information

2.Compare Internet(modern+data-driven) and Library(traditional+Knowledge-driven)

1A) Users without/not familiar with the internet (eg. Homeless body, Elderly, less developed countries) still require a physical library to access media.
1B) Internet: free articles, websites, posts (unfiltered information, unsourced materials, the quick spread of false information, virus)

Library: Quality content of free books and media that have been published and selected. Safe and reliable resources. Academic publications.

2) Data, Information and Knowledge

the definition of data from TechDifferences, data is “raw, unanalyzed, unorganized, unrelated, uninterrupted material which is used to derive information after analyzation.”

It doesn’t have significance until it is analyzed to meet a specific user’s needs. Information is the set of data that has already been processed, analyzed, and structured in a meaningful way to become useful. Knowledge is the combination of information, experience and intuition lead to knowledge which has the potential to draw inferences and develop insights. To sum up, we can say that, information is the building blocks, but knowledge is the building.

speaker 2 jim:

No, the library is an essential part for every city or university. It can provide people with a physical book that can be touched, it gives people more reality about reading rather than read the book on smart equipment.Also people can write annotations next to the text that can enhance the memory of the knowledge. Library as well can build the learning atmosphere, the atmosphere that many people study in a quiet space together can make yourself more focused on your work. Not like we study at home and are distracted by the phones, computer games and the noise. So, study in the library will be more efficient.

More and more important things can not be recorded by the Internet. For example, one country’s timeline, it is a huge amount of events need to be recorded in order,physical books are more easy to record, search and compare.Also Master’s and Doctor’s thesis. It is too dangerous to put these crystallizations of research into the Internet because it is easy to plagiarize by the people on the Internet. You can see most people will go to the library when they want to search about history or plenty of information about their writing, not stay at home and research online.

speaker 3 sofia:

For years, the primary purpose of a library has been to provide a place for the exploration of knowledge and ideas as well as to provide resources and services towards the community. A place where order and structure is, as well as a place to tell stories of a culture, individuals and communities/countries. For many a library is a gateway to the community and history where everyone is welcomed. Is that still not what a library is today? Where newcomers and immigrants are welcome with open arms and embraced to help widen each other’s knowledge and skills, within a shared public environment.

The role of the traditional library has been seen to adapt throughout history as each new era comes. From one of the oldest libraries of Ashurbanipal where original libraries were known to only hold tablets, then developed into libraries such as the library of Alexandria where scrolls were kept to then store books during the industrial revolution to now with more vast sorts of media. Each point in time the traditional library constantly adapted to its new context and social context yet still keeping its traditional structure and purpose, as a place that a place in which an assortment of document are kept to be share and accessible to a wider community.

rebutal options

Disadvantages of digital = Naomi Baron professional linguistics (2015) digital devices discourage:

Reading longer texts
Rereading
Deep reading
Memory of what you have read (which is often aided by handwritten annotation)
Individual (rather than primarily social) encounters with books
Stumble-upon possibilities
Strong emotional involvement

2) Book environment = higher productivity

Growing up with almost no books is associated with literacy levels at about half a standard deviation below the mean in the pooled sample.
Having had approximately 80 books in adolescent home library raises literacy levels
Study done by Joana Sikora from the Australian National University

3) Introduction to outside distractions e.g. café shops and food chains

“Somehow, just being in the library refreshes the soul, imbuing one with an elusive sense of the sublime…it may be the lack of food and drink in the library that contributes to its feeling of sanctity.”” (Nancy Maxwell).
Addition of cafés to libraries may have the unintended consequence of reducing them more to bookstores
Such spaces may maximise student relaxation, but relaxation alone is not enough to improve learning. For optimal results physical relaxation from time spent in a quiet environment must be coupled with improvements in the reader's mental receptivity.

speaker 3 liam:

To conclude, the traditional role isn’t outdated as libraries are essential in any day and age providing information that isn’t always easy to access from ones home or on the internet. In saying the library provides many reliable resources that may not necessarily be found on the internet. It can also be found that libraries are a great place for studying as it creates an environment where one can focus without the distractions of the outer world.

As shown throughout history, the way of recording documentation has evolved around the time of which and how it’s been recorded. In saying this, the traditional role of the library hasn’t changed as it is all about recording and providing information to the public however, as we evolve, so will libraries in the ways information is documented and presented.

In saying all this, when googling and looking at a range of definitions of what a library is, all link back to the traditional meaning of a quiet building that sources a collection of books or things in other formats that contain information to study. With that being said, all of the arguments regarding what the role of a traditional library is in the current day, all fit the criteria of what has been mentioned.