The Allure of Screens

I often find myself wondering why all these Web 2.0 applications must have names like Jing, Skype, Twitter, or Flickr. What is it about this technology that makes everything seem so incomplete and so intangible? It is all so alluring. You can see and talk to your friends around the world using Skype--for free. Share your photographs with your friends and the rest of the world on Flickr. Stream insignificant comments about almost anything to your friends on Facebook and spend endless hours playing games like Farmville or Frontierville. Turn whatever you create on your computer screen into a video--they call it screencasting--and share it with your colleagues using Jing. It is addictive. It seems so fleeting. Still, the possibilities are intriguing. Can imaginative librarians and archivists learn to use this technology in ways that will matter?

Archivists and special collections librarians spend careers building collections of enduring value and depth that will support research on the subjects that are the focus of their collection. So, how do we adapt to this world of screens? I have used Facebook to publicize a collection with great success. I found that, once created, the Archives Facebook page took on a life of its own. With over 600 "friends" or "people who like it," this community of users began to take ownership of the page. I also found that it took quite a bit of time to "nurture" the page by adding new pictures or videos and to answer questions posted.

Screencasting could be a wonderful instructional tool for podcasts on a web page. They could also be useful for sharing information with colleagues that are not in the office next door. In trying to create a screen cast, I discovered that it is more difficult than it appears. Yes, the different software I tried was easy to use and the directions simple to follow. The problem, I found, was that it captures every wrong move and every time that you stop to think. Those pauses seem small when you are creating it, but they seem to never end when you are watching the finished screencast. How many times do you have to practice it to get it right before you record it? It makes me thankful for editing. Thinking back to all those times that I have spent on the phone trying to talk someone through all the clicks to find the information that they want on a web page, I would have been grateful for a way to show them.

Skype also offers all sorts of possibilities for communicating with researchers or with colleagues without the expense of international phone calls. If you were working on a project together, it could be a wonderful way to exchange files and view each others' computer screen. On a personal level, it is a wonderful way for international students to communicate with friends and family while they are so far apart. I have even seen a musical duo practice together, write songs, and perfect musical arrangements over Skype with one person in Norway and the other in Tennessee. The possibilities are limited only by imagination.

Yet, with all these possibilities, I am still bothered that we are becoming a society lost in screens and separated from the real world. What are we missing around us as we spend hours communicating through screens and other digital devices? Are we losing our connections with the community or place in which we live and the people that surround us in a three dimensional world. Are we losing our sense of place? I hope not.