Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2006 12:56:24 +0530 From: Rafiq <rafiq.ansari@timesgroup.com> Dear All, We are debating a very subjective issue. People not coming to Library and not borrowing books in no way indicate decline in reading habits. Reading today has shifted from print to electronic. Downloading e-books or taking print out of searched pages from the Internet is as good as physically borrowing books from the Library. In the present milieu (though it has always been so), the world is a university where learning is online. And no learning is possible without reading; I repeat reading - be it physical or online. The crux of the issue, nevertheless, is that "Reading is Living", and a person who does not read dies before time, he may be physically alive, though. So let's strive to promote "reading habit" per se rather than wasting efforts in finding results of surveys indicating that the reading habit is declining. Regards, Rafiq Ansari Senior Manager - Library Television Division The Times of India Group Mumbai Tel - (022) 24810633 rafiq.ansari@gmail.com -----Original Message----- Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2006 9:49 AM Subject: [LIS-Forum] Declining reading habits Dear All, Declining reading habits are one of the major concerns of nearly all libraries today. [truncated]
It is not reading habit, rather it is what one is reading which is more important. What type of by-products of reading are becoming visible? We want our readers to be independent learners, critical thinkers, innovators and creators. If people are reading light fiction for entertainment only, that will not carry us too far. That is only one dimension of reading. Reading must fire one's imagination. A book is a book only, whether it is p-book or e-book. But the the portability and stability of the p-book and interactivity and flrxibility of the e-book are supporting each other. Therefore, we must learn to enjoy the symbiosis of both the formats in our self-actualization. Jagtar Singh -- Dr. Jagtar Singh, Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, Punjabi University, Patiala Pin - 147 002 (India) It is not reading habit, rather it is what one is reading which is more important. What type of by-products of reading are becoming visible? We want our readers to be independent learners, critical thinkers, innovators and creators. If people are reading light fiction for entertainment only, that will not carry us too far. That is only one dimension of reading. Reading must fire one's imagination. A book is a book only, whether it is p-book or e-book. But the the portability and stability of the p-book and interactivity and flrxibility of the e-book are supporting each other. Therefore, we must learn to enjoy the symbiosis of both the formats in our self-actualization. Jagtar Singh -- Dr. Jagtar Singh, Professor, Department of Library and Information Science, Punjabi University, Patiala Pin - 147 002 (India)
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