Coming to some agreement regarding a regional vision is extremely challenging. Considering the long and rich history and enormous diversity of the region, that challenge will be doubly difficult. How should such a vision be pursued? Let’s consider a few possibilities.

VISION: Networks of Memory and History

Carlyle defined history as “the essence of innumerable biographies.”  But the problem is that most of those biographies were never written. That need not remain true in the future. Information technology makes the dissemination of the information and networking of development activities readily and widely available. As one of this country’s legendary politicians, Tip O’Neill taught us, “all politics is local,” and the work of capturing the American experience must be grounded in the local experience.

Capturing that experience for North Jersey must be comprehensive, involving the creation and recording of the stories of people, towns, clubs, institutions, and governments. It is not the servers, databases, libraries, and web pages alone that render this work important, but the ability to locate, access, and use the information. Thus it is the bibliographic, organizational, and information literacy work of librarians and information specialists that make this vision realizable by assuring that the information is available for easy access and use. Since much of the story can be captured visually and digitized, it requires “cataloging” by means of metadata, or information about the information. The development of this comprehensive collection of data and stories requires the disciplined work of many people and organizations, particularly the region’s libraries.

The advanced educational levels of the area, the capability of technology to capture and manage information, the dissemination of information made possible by telecommunications, and the rich internetworking of our society make possible a mind-bending vision: capturing the personal, social, political, and economic life of the region. The vision also encompasses the collaborative development of access to the storehouses of knowledge already developed in addition to steady support for the ongoing discovery of new knowledge.  Explanation of the vision involves several perspectives.

Engaging People to Tell Their Story:

Engagement can be defined as involved learning in a social context. Life history, or autobiography, is a great starting place. Writing one’s own life history is invariably engaging; the biographical method enhances the development of one’s identity in a given social and cultural setting. Life history provides a differentiated approach for a diverse population that can still consider a general issue, such as the challenges and shared experiences of living in a given city or circumstance. Such methods require grounding in information resources, making the library the ideal venue for such activities. Libraries are geared both to informal and formal learning, by individually and groups, as the popularity of genealogical studies attests.

The role of memory is a critical; two points are pertinent. The first is to recognize the power of story in assisting memory; people remember stories better than logical explanations. When knowledge is encoded as story rather than logic it becomes readily available, useful, and transferable. Memory, thus, can be considered a synonym for knowledge (Schank and Abelson 1995). This provides another rationale for stressing the “life story” approach to knowledge creation.  Memory facilitates engagement and learning

Biography and history are, of course, only two available approaches to engaging people in learning. It is important to determine interest and find ways to pique that interest in a manner that fosters serious engagement.

VISION 2: Growing a Learning Community

A community is characterized as a group with a common purpose. The term is used loosely for a village or identifiable section of a city. But the term is flexible and can be used in many contexts. The reality of community today is in question.  Robert Putnam (2000) chronicles the decline of community in America, citing the loss of membership of churches, unions, service clubs and fraternal orders. Many fear that the solitary surfing that characterizes the internet will shatter community even further, but others cite the virtual communities of interest and the interactive gaming of the cyber domain as evidence of the potential of new forms of dispersed, but networked communities. It is notable that Putnam later found a viable counterforce to the loss of community in the branch libraries of Chicago. The role of neighborhood libraries in reviving community with extensive volunteerism and championing, for example, the practical wisdom of the “experience corps” of “old hands” to tutor the young in schools has done much to revive the spirit of community across the city. By providing access to the internet, meeting rooms for community activity, displays of local art, and collections geared to local needs (such as materials in the language of recent immigrant populations) the Chicago public libraries  have done much to reverse the prior loss of community (Putnam and Feldstein 2003). 

An ancient concept warrants revival. As the brilliant classical Athenian polis emerged it developed an inspirational model of citizen involvement. The Greek paideia ideal envisioned personal and social learning to enable a life of artistic creativity and personal discovery amidst public discourse and decision. The material well-being of an admittedly exclusive and prosperous slave-owning society allowed such an ideal to flourish. A world based on the richness of knowledge and the displacement of matter and energy with information allows a glimpse of such a society as a potential reality rather than either a utopia or a society based on exploitation. If information and knowledge are truly the new source of wealth then—unlike the role land, capital, and natural resources in the past—a community can nurture and develop that wealth through its own efforts and thereby take control of its own destiny. 

Other themes for this project include social change and valuing business.

Social Change:

A big theme of the North Jersey story is social change and transformation.  The shifts from an agricultural to an industrial to a post-industrial society occurred here earlier than in most states. One recent example of social change is the “rise of the creative class” described by Richard Florida (2002). Educated, talented, and driven by goals of openness, collaboration, inclusiveness, and self-realization rather than materialism and competitiveness, the “creative” contingent appears to be less fully captured by the prevailing social-economic paradigm and more open to alternatives.  This interpretation is compatible with David Brooks’ (2000) perceived “bourgeois bohemians,” the highly educated but mannerless new class of the children of the baby boomers.  Testing these theories in the attitudes and reality of North Jersey will be illustrative.

Valuing Business:

In times like the post-2008 financial meltdown era, it is corporate misdeeds that influence public perception. Business is necessary for a good society; our society is healthy and prosperous and dynamic in good part because it encourages and rewards enterprise and hard work. And yet business is not honored and recognized as well as it might be. Non-financial research and information is not as readily available to the business community as it might be.  And guidance in gathering the records, preserving the archives, and writing the “life history” of a given enterprise is nowhere nearly as available as it should be. Opportunities for networking, discussing books and ideas and films, and making connections among people in different professions, disciplines, and domains who willingly share problems and perspectives can be facilitated through brainstorming or focus group activities. These are neglected areas of opportunity and service which the library as an institution can address. And such activities open doors to friendships and partnerships that can benefit society enormously. There are preservation leagues to protect historic buildings; are not long-lived businesses that provide jobs and tax revenues and services to communities over decades equally worthy of attention, documentation, and recognition?

The Project

Simply put, Finding North Jersey envisions a cross-organizational endeavor—in partnership with libraries, historical societies, museums, public agencies, schools, associations, and corporations—to engage the people of North Jersey in writing their stories. Books, videos, and other media will be utilized. The project develops and relies on trained volunteers to attract and involve as many people as possible. Certain themes would be emphasized in the beginning; other themes will emerge from the process. Life story writing and organizational narrative and presentation in various formats including print, graphic, video, and dramaturgical media are the basic approach. The method is adaptable to communities and associations as well. As the project develops partnerships, subscriptions, and sponsorships will be explored to assure sustainability.

REFERENCES

Brooks, D. (2000).  Bobos in Paradise : The New Upper Class and How They Got There.
    New York: Simon and Schuster.
Florida, R. (2002). The Rise of the Creative Class.  New York: Basic Books.
Putnam, R. D. (2000).  Bowling Alone.  New York: Simon and Schuster.
________., and Feldstein, L. W. (2003).  Better Together: Restoring the American
    Community.  New York: Simon and Schuster.
Schank, R. C., and Abelson, R. P. (1995).  Knowledge and Memory: The Real Story.” 
    In Knowledge and Memory: The Real Story, ed. Wyer, R. S., Jr.  Vol III in
    Advances in Social Cognition.  Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1-85.
 

We can add to the mix Negroponte’s digital world distinguishing place from space, with people communicating and working from anywhere, interacting a-synchronously rather than simultaneously in a world of complete individualization where the audience for an event may be one. Others foresee the fusing of human biology with machine intelligence, with implanted genetic, robotic, and nanotechnology components dramatically increasing human intelligence, longevity, and capability (Kurzweil, Mitchell).

What does all this amount to? Nothing less than a new “world view,” with new perceptions of time and its utility, of humanity and its potential, and of many civilizations, religions, and ways of living merging into a single, global civilization. There is “pushback” as peoples, cities, and nations assert and cling to their unique histories and cultural identities (Castells). Supporting these community building efforts offers an exciting new role for libraries to provide leadership and guidance to the enterprise.

I offer a few more points for consideration. First, a word on mindset: Librarians can be early adapters, as demonstrated in their embrace of new technologies during the past half century. They can also be resistant to change, clinging to outworn processes and patterns of thinking. There is a steady reluctance to undertake professional redefinition, a clinging to the familiar library focus rather than other models, such as “informatics” specialist or learning manager. Forces outside the profession may determine how the matter plays out if librarians fail to become more proactive.

We must review our history and rethink our roots. For centuries the library was “where the books were,” and because the codex was the primary means of exploring, proposing, recording, and transferring knowledge, those collections made the library the “heart of the university” and the primary source of information for the community. The books (and periodicals) were fundamental, but people came to use them to learn, independently and in groups. The library served as the “learning center” long before such a trend was popularized. That center of learning must remain as the core of our enterprise. New “learner centered” opportunities, such as inquiry, collaboration, and experiential learning offer important new professional roles to explore.

Obviously, the dominance of the web and visual culture require technology competence for long-term professional success. Not a given software program or social media innovation, but a basic comfort level and attitudinal commitment to continuous development of these skills. A counter-intuitive requirement is to better understand—in order to effectively promote—reading skills. Help with reading and information culture literacy should be available in any library with professional staff. Purposeful reading (volunteer reading encouraged) is required to counter the shallowness produced by the distractions characterizing internet searching and communication (Carr). Reading remains the essential learning skill and librarians must coordinate efforts with educators, publishers, and authors to vigorously champion its importance. Libraries are particularly well situated to assume that role.

A few years ago it appeared that original cataloging would become a rare practice. But the addition of archival and photographic and audio and web page resources demand a renovation of this skill with the addition of metadata description. Organizing and presenting information is a needed cultural skill that should be promoted publicly rather than tucked away in library “tech services” rooms.

Another portal for the profession today is to participate in the emergent restructuring and redefinition of knowledge. The massive accumulations of scientific data—particularly “big science” data gathered in server “clouds”—cannot be effectively represented in linear print. Consequently visualization is now a cornerstone of the new information literacies. A related process is the shift from departmental/disciplinary foci to multi-disciplinary research methods. The great issues of our day, to list only global warming and carbon dependence, involve multiple perspectives spread across scientific and social-science disciplines. Yet our research training remains heavily discipline specific and academics are avoiding the needed discussions to change that fact. Librarians should play key roles as catalysts and bridge builders converging narrow professional and epistemic perspectives in new “mode 2” scientific methods (Rausing; Nowotny).

The challenges are great, but the possibilities are breath-taking. Librarians must adapt their mind-set, learn new skills, and promote ourselves as part of the solution rather than as cost centers. Librarians, exploiting the rich record of human accomplishment, failure, and future prospects sitting on library shelves (and overlooked by far too many), can position themselves for a vital and bright future.

All the library school profession needs to do is prepare present and future librarians to accomplish these goals … and to adapt to whatever challenges appear next. 
     
Further reading:

Carr, N. 2010. The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. NY: Norton.
Castells, M. 2009. The Power of Identity: The Information Age, II. 2nd ed. New
    York: Wiley-Blackwell.
Kurzweil, R. 2006. The Singularity is Near. New York: Penguin.
Mitchell, W. J. 2003. Me++: The Cyborg Self and the Networked City. Boston: MIT.
Negroponte, N. 1995. Being Digital. New York: Knopf.
Nowotny, H., et al. 2001. Re-Thinking Science. Polity/Blackwell.
Rausing, L. 2010. Toward a New Alexandria: Imagining the Future of Libraries. The
    New Republic (March 12).
Robertson, D. S. 1998. The New Renaissance: Computers and the New Level of
    Civilization. New York: Oxford University Press.
Shirky, C. 2010. Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age.
    New York: Penguin.
 

Finding North Jersey intends to change all that. Interested? Send me your e-mail address for follow-up, a survey, and possibly a Meetup group when we get a discussion started.

(more to follow)

Reading is in dramatic decline. The essential practice of extended, critical, and book-grounded reading retains its importance in reality but is declining in practice amidst today’s technology-centered frenzy. Reading is “at risk” in American society, especially among the young (NEA 2004, 2007). Not casual reading, as of e-mails and instant texts, but extended, concentrated reading of narratives and novels. The extent of the consequences of this trend will not be known for some time, but one that has been identified by Nicholas Carr (2010) is the “culture of distraction” that is having profound impact on how we think. Computer users can scan, multi-task, and perceive vast amounts of data, but they are losing the ability to concentrate and focus their attention with persistence.

RIP, the Book. Few cultural topics have drawn more attention and generated more discussion in the past few years as has the “future of the book.” Many writers have pronounced the book dead, or certainly doomed. But the characteristic extended reading of the narrative is a primary prescription for countering the onslaught of the constant interruptions and “surfing” of internet use. Two points are useful here: a) pundits, the prominent, and former presidents all produce their book. Fame and media attention prove fickle; lasting influence is achieved by writing an extensive account of one’s “story” and seeing it placed on the library shelf. Thus is the story presented and preserved for lasting influence. And b) no topic has seen more rapid and steady growth than text guides to new software and hardware. No sooner is an important program, let’s call it XYZ software, introduced than appear various handbooks: XYZ for Dummies; Complete Idiot’s Guide to…; Quick Reference Guide to…; XYZ Zen, on and on.  If e-learning were the magic bullet in fact, these guides would soon disappear from the shelves of bookstores and libraries. The book will be around for a long time. It serves many needs well.

Rewiring our brains: There is growing evidence that the internet is rewiring our brains, creating an “ecosystem of interruption technologies” and patterns of distraction and forgetfulness. Younger generations are absorbed in the constant interruption of this “age of participation” and social interaction of the internet and mobile communication. The decline of deep reading and the accompanying loss of the fusing of minds, imaginations, experience, and meaning across space and time on the printed page will have a far-reaching effect on language and our entire culture (N. Carr, The Shallows, 2010).

Long live the book: While reading is increasingly de-valued in the internet age, it remains the essential learning skill. Reading (free voluntary reading) improves vocabulary, writing, understanding, and communication skills (Krashen 2004). Serious reading is not “natural;” it has to be learned and cultivated. But examples including the phenomenal success of Oprah’s book selections and J. K. Rowlings’ Harry Potter novels among the young demonstrate that people will read what interests them. Deep, or extended reading characterizes the intellectual achievement of the modern world. The power of literature, the sciences, the humanities and social sciences enabled unprecedented advances in the 500 years that the printing press and steadily growing literacy created the tools for this achievement. But, serious or popular, extended reading is the desired goal. Uncovering and stimulating intrinsic interest to increase voluntary reading is the primary mission of University of the Book (UBk).

The trouble with college. Not all of our institutions have adapted to the new realities. Traditional college education is coming under increasing fire for being too expensive, too inflexible (with tenured professors teaching obsolete theories) and lock-step curricula running along narrow disciplinary tracks, using mind-numbing jargon; and with growing administrations that outnumber teaching faculty. The system remains embedded in an information transfer model, what John Seely Brown calls a ‘push’ paradigm that marginalizes essential skills for dealing with accelerating change. Better tools are required for ‘pulling’ needed information out of the static and noise of information glut. The long ignored best means to that end is simply to focus on what the learner needs to know. The mainstream model inadequately cultivates this essential skill.

The campus is slowly adapting, experimenting with undergraduate research, inquiry and discovery learning, problem-based learning, learning communities, and distance and online learning. But these endeavors continue to bear the weight of extended overhead and disciplinary (epistemic) control of the curriculum that is too extensive and often out of date.

Autodidacticism, or self-directed learning has been a hallmark of original thinkers for centuries, from Descartes to Einstein, from Ben Franklin to Thomas Edison, from Abraham Lincoln to Malcolm X. By focusing on the interests and context of the reader, the method can impact ordinary people as well, at any age.

FROM CAMPUS TO COMMUNITY

Assumptions: a) good book collections—available in thousands of libraries across the country and around the globe—provide a rich “wherewithal” for learning and knowledge; and b) professional librarians can guide reading inquiry. Good reading compares with classroom instruction for effect. In the library the learning mode is to match the resource to the individual, utilizing the well selected and ‘presented’ books in the collection (and other cooperating libraries).

A new emphasis on ‘what is learned’ is gaining traction amidst a tradition of emphasizing ‘what is taught.’ A more easily certifiable definition of learning is: “learning is engagement that changes perception, belief, or behavior.” Good books have provided the means to better understanding and perspective (i.e. leadership) for generations. Formative assessment in the form of reading journals and e-portfolios can demonstrate when and if change has occurred. When learner and guide agree that sufficient change has occurred and the learner’s goal is met, then true learning can be demonstrated.

WHAT CHANGES ARE NECESSARY?

Realization of this idea requires several changes:

1) A transformation of the library, from thinking of itself as a source of information, to becoming a center for ongoing, lifelong learning, the hub of the emerging learning society. One component is to implement resource (book) based, learner initiated, reading/ learning (by either the individual or group), librarian guided, specialist advised, technology enabled engagement that changes learner perception, belief, or behavior.

2) An extensive network of tutors, scholars, and lovers of learning and the book must be gathered and coordinated into a force providing support for everyone needing to learn something new, in their context, using their preferred learning style, at nominal cost.

3) A multi-dimensional, hydra-headed campaign to champion the book as a central component of learning and the competent society. Libraries, publishers, book stores, teachers, and all stakeholders of the printed word must coordinate a major campaign to counter the “death of the book” chatter on behalf of deep learning.

The University of the Book champions reading and the printed word as a powerful technology for developing the habits of complex thinking, extended argument, and the creative analysis that characterized the intellectual dynamism of the modern world. Extended reading, nurtured by reader self-selection with knowledgeable guidance, must remain a core skill for anyone who would play a leading role in the civic, cultural, and economic life of the future.

In sum, the University of the Book offers an alternative, scalable system that utilizes existing resources in communities across the globe to supplement the education system to assure that deep reading and the accompanying powers of concentration and discipline remain competencies for future generations and, notably, those who would prepare themselves to lead.

Note: This enhanced activity provides the library with a new role that is stakeholder-engaging and revenue generating, an important consideration today.

In the information age the challenge is to break through the information glut to find the useful knowledge, meaningand understanding needed at that moment. University of the Book (UBook) offers an easy path to educational, vocational, civic, or hobbyist knowledge; a path guiding “searchers” to the information they need right now, for work, play, or life.

Reading remains the essential learning skill but reportedly is “at risk” in American society, especially among the young (NEA 2007). Uncovering and stimulating intrinsic interest to encourage voluntary reading is at the heart of this initiative.

The Book as Experience: For centuries books provided the gateway to learning. Past generations of isolated seekers learned by reading books. Ben Franklin, Abe Lincoln, and author Richard Wright exemplify this from the American experience. Today, reading is no longer the dominant path to learning but remains a useful method for many.

Books are invaluable for profound learning; supplemented with human contact and mentoring, the “right” book can become an experience that “makes a difference,” shaping important life decisions and commitments.

Librarians are skilled at guiding learners—individually and in groups—to resolution of their information needs, and they do not seek to recruit the searcher to their school or course of study. This tradition positions the library to play a prominent role in this alternative learning path. Associated scholars and specialists likewise participate when their special knowledge matches a seekers’ quest. UBook makes these connections effortlessly available either online (OnL), face-to-face (F2F), or a combination of both.

UBook’s larger vision is to foster development of a widespread and enduring culture of learning.

THE CHALLENGE

Knowledge is being transformed

• The half-life (value) of information is shrinking steadily.
   
• Traditional education, which transfers what is already known, can be insufficient for dealing with new problems not yet sufficiently understood—or even named and defined.
   
• New knowledge becomes real, meaningful when it is in the learner’s mind—or extended mind-space (Ogle 2007)—in some usable form.
   
• “Usability” means that knowledge is social and contextual and enables people to “do something”.
   
• As a result, connections with knowledgeable people and other seekers is necessary in the quest for meaning and better understanding.
   
• A significant process of redefining knowledge is underway, and much of it is happening outside traditional education.

UBook Associates participate in that redefinition, transformation, and search for meaning and are committed to share their knowledge just as they continue their own quests and seek guidance from others. UBook’s use of inquiry and discovery methods offer a navigable path to self education; this system provides a much needed alternative path to learning.

THE LIBRARY

New technologies such as weblogs, wikis, wireless mobility, and texting, and social programs like Facebook and Twitter, support the flexible learning—both OnL and F2F—that characterizes the behavior of the net/millennial generation in particular. Many libraries provide this support, for free, to their community.

Meanwhile, a universe of well-ordered, well-preserved, authoritative, and enduring knowledge resides in thousands of locations in communities across the developed world. In libraries.

UBook utilizes society’s enormous investment in the well-organized and presented print, media, and online resources of the library to support the learner’s quest for knowledge anytime, anyplace, by any means.  By connecting learners, guides, and resources, UBook brings a new level of meaning, purpose, and revenues—and thereby greater sustainability—to this enduring institution.

This is part 7 of a 7-part article series titled "Forget Motivation: It's Time to Engage".

Engagement cannot be directed or commanded, but it can be nurtured. And the new tools and practices of social learning provide fertile ground for it to flourish. The rich interaction and participation of Facebook and YouTube and wikis invite self-selected participation and the pursuit of personal and group interests. Control is out of the question, but there are no limits on imagination and innovation. And the scope of projects such as Linux and Wikipedia can only be understood in terms of engagement; no amount of “motivation” could produce such sustained activity.

A number of writers, theorists, and consultants offer tools, processes and methods to increase employee engagement. These offerings are directed to managers and leaders of corporations to enhance productivity. These often are supported by extensive data, as we see with the Gallup organization’s reports on improved financial performance combined with proposals that their consultants and approach can make it happen for the prospective client. Several consultants and consulting firms utilize similar techniques, including retired professor Kenneth Thomas, who approaches the matter through an “intrinsic motivation” rubric, and Princeton’s Paul Marciano, who offers a “respect” motif to improve employee “empowerment.” These approaches tend to be tested and sophisticated methods and will produce results in many situations.

The caveat here is that all these endeavors offer a top-down effort to assure a positive specified outcome. Since costs are involved, there is attention to providing measurable results in reasonable time to justify those costs. Philosophically, this approach falls back into the command and control assumptions of most businesses today; it falls into the same trap as does the “rewards” approach critiqued earlier in this discussion. The desire to follow this path is entirely understandable but may not achieve the ultimate purpose of engagement. Recall that engagement begins with individual choice and is characterized by learning and involvement. This is counter-intuitive for many but essential for genuine engagement. So, what can be done?

Consider a tool by which the individual measures their own engagement in their present position. If they find the information helpful, they can bring the issue to the attention of their boss or leader. A consultant could be employed, starting from the awareness that employees of that organization feel there is an issue that can be improved for the well being of the company. This changes the context of the effort from a top-down to a mutual leadership-grass roots endeavor more likely to produce a lasting change in the organization’s culture. This in itself would hint at the value of continuing the exercise.

Which brings me to the point of all this: I offer a preview Employee Engagement Self-Profile survey free to individuals, for their information and use. I urge the taker to go with their first instinct and not over-think the question. Any information you provide will be held in total confidence and not shared.