Text searching has allowed our generation as a whole to get the quickest information any generation has ever received. We live and thrive off of Google’s brain and it has even shaped what our education systems deem to be useful information now 1. Text searching has allowed our generation as a whole to get the quickest information any generation has ever received. We live and thrive off of Google’s brain and it has even shaped what our education systems deem to be useful information now. I feel confident that there is a privilege that millennials have because of our ability to instantaneously keyword search. I am on the speech team here at Mason, and we have a whole class before the season starts on keyword searching and how to do it effectively, especially when working with databases. I do believe that you can use digital projects to create social change. They can function as educational tools for people studying those topics, facets for famous people to see issues and donate, or simply as a place to create community.
As for what is gained or lost using digital media, it is clear that a lot is gained but some pretty important senses are lost. What is gained is a vast ability to access anything and everything whenever one chooses. Many people would not normally have access or “stumble” upon many primary sources that they do. Or, the detail in which these sources are presented. These databases lead us right to what we are looking for including the “date, newspaper page number, the section it appears in, and a further click brings you to the entire page, scanned at a decently high resolution, search terms highlighted for convenience”. You can look up any old artifact like the one Tony Guidone presented in class (coins), and be able to see it almost as well as he showed it even though he had the real one. And, again, it reiterates the privilege that accompanies the commodity of the Internet.
Many elderly people struggle with switching to e-readers because they like the feeling of paper in their hand or feel that television is biased in how they receive their news. I feel like this is what is lost in technology. The experience of the artifact. The act of searching for something in the library and finding it or locating the one person who has what you need and igniting conversation about their journey with the item is something that absolutely can not be transferred in technology.
Overall, the digital world has been extremely beneficial in helping us understand anything at lightning speed but it does not come without the cost of leaving behind the experience. But, for many new generations, it’s a price they’re willing to pay for the immediacy of information.
I feel confident that there is a privilege that millennials have because of our ability to instantaneously keyword search. I am on the speech team here at Mason, and we have a whole class before the season starts on keyword searching and how to do it effectively, especially when working with databases. I do believe that you can use digital projects to create social change. They can function as educational tools for people studying those topics, facets for famous people to see issues and donate, or simply as a place to create community.
As for what is gained or lost using digital media, it is clear that a lot is gained but some pretty important senses are lost. What is gained is a vast ability to access anything and everything whenever one chooses. Many people would not normally have access or “stumble” upon many primary sources that they do. Or, the detail in which these sources are presented. These databases lead us right to what we are looking for including the “date, newspaper page number, the section it appears in, and a further click brings you to the entire page, scanned at a decently high resolution, search terms highlighted for convenience”. You can look up any old artifact like the one Tony Guidone presented in class (coins), and be able to see it almost as well as he showed it even though he had the real one. And, again, it reiterates the privilege that accompanies the commodity of the Internet.
Many elderly people struggle with switching to e-readers because they like the feeling of paper in their hand or feel that television is biased in how they receive their news. I feel like this is what is lost in technology. The experience of the artifact. The act of searching for something in the library and finding it or locating the one person who has what you need and igniting conversation about their journey with the item is something that absolutely can not be transferred in technology.
Overall, the digital world has been extremely beneficial in helping us understand anything at lightning speed but it does not come without the cost of leaving behind the experience. But, for many new generations, it’s a price they’re willing to pay for the immediacy of information.
