Librarianship

Spencer Johnston

Scholarly Journal LIS

LIS 2941

Seguin, Dalrymple

Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson have written “Bring Back the Joy”, an entry in a scholarly journal pertaining to librarianship.  The purpose of this writing is to assist librarians in teaching methods through creative means.  Much of the text is pertinent to librarians in K-12 schools.

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From the very beginning, the two authors make it be known that “creativity is declining”, especially in terms of its being utilized in an academic setting.  Children and young adults undoubtedly have imaginative thought processes.  Ideally, this knowledge is highly applicable in a teacher or librarian’s realm.

Much of today’s concerns about the future of librarianship are focused on technology and its place in the library.  “Is technology a friend or foe of the library?” is a popular question.  “Bring Back the Joy” sheds positive light on the uncertainty of libraries futuristic future.

As time goes on, media consumption and computer literacy are continuing to snowball.  This is not a bad thing.  In fact, for the library and information science communities, it’s quite good.  Lamb and Johnson offer alternatives to dry lesson plans that utilize young people’s knack for technology.  This not only improves the students’ perception of the library as being dated (as I have overheard), it also appeals to the creative learning bone.

The suggestions that are made help to think outside the box.  When integrated into lessons, audio books, visual thesauruses, and animation tools serve exceptionally well.  Perhaps most interesting to me was using “avatar generators” to help young authors envision the characters in their writings.

I understand and appreciate the holistic approach of this article.  It is very similar to the book I’ve been reading entitled “Ideas for Librarians Who Teach” by Naomi Lederer.  This is inevitably the human aspect of integrating valuable technologies into libraries and its respective classroom environments.  I feel it’s very important to keep in mind that without proper education and execution of such technological advancements, their worth as tools is virtually lost.  This reminds me of those television programs that talk about “the world without humans”.  All that is left is ridiculously huge shells of buildings that no longer serve a meaningful purpose.

In summary, this particular scholarly journal entry helps to perpetuate our advancements in technology and their respective places in the library in particular.  The suggestions it offers serve two main purposes.  Its conventional purpose, being an aid to librarians and related staff, is relatively simplistic.  However, unconventionally, the article serves the library community in another complimentary and perhaps alleviating way:  job security!  For me, it has shed new light on what has been conveyed to me as a bit of a paradox.  Hopefully other students of library science will feel the same way that I do in that technology is to be used as a tool, not feared as a replacement.

Fiat 500's eco: DRIVE

I've seen it, you've see it.  The Fiat 500 appeared in the United States early last year and has been very successful.  Although it's limited fan base is primarily excluded to young people in their late 20s and early 30s, the Fiat's new "eco: DRIVE" technology makes fuel economy a transcendent characteristic for all 21st century car drivers.

Check out the link:  http://www.fiat.com/ecodrive/us/default.htm

Have fun saving gas!  Check out some of my other blogs, in which I talk about other good stuff, which may interest you!

DNA Testing is New Liposuction

by Spencer Johnston

DNA is essentially the voluminous instruction manual for the genetic material of animals.  So, it makes sense that skipping to the ending or the good parts could be tempting, confusing and perhaps most importantly, misleading.

Genetic testing is attractive to the field of science as well as individuals for a number of reasons.  For scientists, it's kind of like the holy grail.  Being able to pin down such biologically important information is powerful and would no doubt create instant success for those professionals involved.  Because of the revealing aspects of genetic testing concerning one's present and future health concerns, many individuals yearn for their respective results.

While this all seems very intriguing, the science of DNA testing is a bit more cloudy than clear.  The technology can be very useful to individuals with a greater hereditary risk of certain diseases and health problems, through indications of genetic alterations.  "However, a genetic alteration might only indicate susceptibility to or a high risk of developing a disease, but not the certainty of having it" (Di Pietro, Giuli, Spagnolo).  So, DNA tests can be inaccurate in terms of predicting one's future health concerns, which is the primary reason for their existence.

Because the decision to market the at-home versions has largely been retracted, serious problems have been avoided.  For instance, if such inaccuracies are present in an actual laboratory, without the presence of doctors and medical professionals, the results would close to worthless in terms of accuracy.  "Human error will almost certainly be a contributor
to such undesirable outcomes" (R. Latino).

Ethically speaking, much of the world is strictly divided on the issue of DNA testing.  Personally, I feel as though traditional medicine is perfectly capable of detecting health risks and concerns as long as the respective individual does what's necessary to stay informed about their health.  Personal responsibility is by far the most important factor in lifestyle and related health concerns.  There is perhaps a correlation between those that are unwilling to care for themselves and those who see DNA testing as a feasible alternative to periodical medical checkups; a sort of one time fix-all.

In short, I'm not interested in such technology as a means of understanding my future health concerns.  Human life is a finite, mixed bag of experiences that are unique to all life forms.  While the debate as to whether or not human life is more valuable than that of other animals and living things is as strong as ever among religion, science and human rights arenas, there is no doubt in my mind that there is something special going on inside of each and every one of us.  Because we have the ability to produce outstanding technology is not reason enough to exploit it.  In this way, I would relate DNA testing to fracture drilling.  The decision by private companies and coercing from the FDA have ultimately amounted to the de-utilization of this technology and the downward spiral that would inevitably ensue following its widespread adoption.

Reference:

Di Pietro, M.L., Giuli, A., Spagnolo, A.G.  "Ethical implications of predictive DNA testing
for hereditary breast cancer".  Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.  Rome, Italy. 2004. http://annonc.oxfordjournals.org/content/15/suppl_1/i65.full.pdf

Latino, Robert J.  "Cost & Truths of Human Error".  Hopewell, Virginia.  January, 2008.  http://www.reliability.com/healthcare/articleshcp/jan_08_Cost%20and%20Truths%20of%20Human%20Error.pdf 


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