Technology

I really didn't know what to write about. Dave suggested that I write about how technology has changed the way we study, the way we learn.

I have to admit, with some blushing, that this post may age me. I remember when my little brother got all excited about the computers. He talked my dad into letting him "build" his own computer. My dad, of course, let him do it. (Not to sound bitter but I asked for a computer when I started high school and wound up with a Tandy where you had to "write" your own programming.)

Matt knew about the Internet long before I did and was able to use better than I for learning. I was already in college. I was still learning about e-mail while I was at Sam.

Now I have a hard time thinking of what my life would have been like without being able to jump on the library website and see if my favorite author had any new books out. As a librarian, I am ashamed to admit that although I spent a lot of time reading, very little of it was in a public library. I visited my school library (high school and college) but not the one in town. Part of that was caused by the fact that the library was across town and I didn't drive. So almost from the first, I have made use of the internet. I didn't drive for most of my college career and the internet connected me to libraries, colleges and other people during that time and I never had to leave the house.

This is why I am so excited about ihcpl. I am learning about new technology, new applications that allow me to connect to people who were like me, a prisoner without a way to reach the world. Downloadable books, social networking, podcasts, all these things are changing the way we gather information and the way we respond to change. What a difference a little brother makes. (By the way, now my brother works on computers in the military.)