Future Shock!

When I became a librarian, I wasn't particularly scared about the arrival of e-technologies: libraries would survive, they had a point of difference (paper, relaxation) and the exisiting digital competitors were cumbersome and the antithesis of what a library could offer.

But now everyone has an iPhone, iPad, Kindle or other portable device. Books can be downloaded in less than a minute, and you can carry hundereds (thousands!) of them away with you on holiday.

A whole generation is growing up portable and on the move. Downloading is the first step, not the last resort.

Is there a role for libraries in this new paradigm, which has altered terrifically since the release of the first iPad and the saturation achieved by Amazon and its Kindle?
Perhaps - as giant, one stop, legal store houses for e-books and other digital information. Libraries with authorized music downloads; libraries with legitimate access to streaming sports; libraries with huge e-book stocks; libraries as Flickr. Places you plug into, and pull information out of.

But places you go and sit quietly and read a paperback? Tick tick tick...

Kitty chan!

Ok, we don't actually have this book... yet!
But we are so going to get it for the library.

What is this amazing and wonderful book called?
Hello Kitty's guide to Japan in English and Japanese.

You can use it to practice your English!
You can use it to practice your Japanese!
You can learn all about Japanese culture in English or Japanese!
This book sounds like it would be a useful (and popular) addition to our collection. Especially given the addition of Sanrio's well known and loved Kitty-Chan!

The English does look a little clunky, but it's still technically correct. And although it's not super elegant, the text makes sense.
We have many students here whose first language is Japanese, and lots who are studying Japanese.
And as if we needed another reason to buy it, it's Hello Kitty.

This morning I was trying to decide whether or not my own love of cuteness was stopping me from being objective. Then I found this review.

My reaction to this book was interesting. It showed me how much advertising can suck us in.
Even when you think that it doesn't. My instant reaction was 'Let's buy it, we need it now!' It was really tricky to take a deep breath and look to see if it is actually a good book to add to our collection.

When I get a class where all the kids only want Princess books (of the sparkly, Disney variety) or dinosaur books, I think about how marketing may have had a role. Let's face it, beautiful, interesting and carefully packaged things are much more intersting than the generic version.
There has been much discussion of 'the cult of cute' - just do a quick google search, you'll find heaps of stuff.

One of the articles talked about a company in Japan which offered Miffy bank cards to their customers. For adults as well as kids. Sounds pretty good to me. And with a Miffy ATM card, you can feel like you have a link with literature... or something.

When the maximum level of cuteness has been reached it all gets a bit overwhelming. Like you've eaten far too much candy floss. And then it's time to go for the grown up options.

Has Sanrio managed to suck me in? Maybe. So far I've resisted the Hello Kitty toaster. It is awfully cute though...

Finding your way in the world

Today we've been doing atlases with the year three, four and five classes.
And it got me thinking. When I was a kid, I loved looking at atlases. They had all kinds of interesting places, with exotic names. Most of them I'd never heard of.
New Zealand is pretty far away, being situated at the bottom of the world as it is. Anything other than Australia, Samoa, Fiji or the Cook Islands sounded amazing to me.
That was my local area (not that I'd been to those places...)

Now we have so many options. There are still atlases, but Google maps have revolutionised the way we look at the world. Having such a fantastic tool makes everything that much more accessible. In some ways, it's a little creepy. We can see images and maps of the whole world with the click of a mouse. Satellites float above every city, continent and town on earth, constantly capturing images. Everything from a mountain range to someone hanging out their washing.
If it wasn't used properly it could be a bit creepy.
But since it's usually used for good and is so useful, I'm all for Google maps.
How many times has it saved me from getting lost? Especially now I have an android phone. That thing is a life saver.

There is also a whole lot of other digital mapping technology. TomToms and other navigation devices are really popular now, and you can get so many different electronic and online sources to help you find your way. An electronic map can be updated way faster and cheaper than a paper map can be.

I hope that atlases survive this digital revolution. There's something nice about holding a thick volume in your hand and flicking through the pages till you find a place you want to visit or a place name that you've never heard of but just love.

Even though the new technology is awesome, finding places in an atlas is a different kind of skill. It's useful to be able to use both kinds of resources, digital and paper. For now at least, Google maps and atlases happily exsist side by side.