Monday, February 20, 2006

Information - Changing Needs

When I was about four my parents bought Encyclopedia Americana, and I thought it contained everything that anyone would ever need to know. At night I would sneak out of my bedroom and look at the big books. Of course, I couldn't read and there were few pictures. But I felt very grown-up.

Throughout my childhood, each year we bought the World Almanac and subscribed to National Geographic. My father saved Readers' Digest. Later, as his career advanced, my father started subscribing to Fortune and American Heritage. We saved them all!

When my mother died, and my father closed the house, we had to part with our cherished Encyclopedia Americana and about 30 years of annual yearbooks, plus all the old magazines of every type. By then there was Southern Living to add to the collection. Nobody really wanted them, not even the hardcover American Heritages. Not that this should have surprised me. My years as a librarian taught me that these things are hard to dispose of. Libraries subscribe to the publications that want to keep. They are beseiged by potential baby boomer donors looking for a good home for cherished old magazines and encyclopdias, and, of course, a write-off.

When I was in college, they told us it was very important for a teacher to maintain a resource file. As a professional, it was important to create a file of all those topics that were of professional value and collect clippings about those topics. Of course, it was also important to save your textbooks and to create a professional library. I listened intently and did just what they said. By senior year, I had a book collection worthy of a large metal shelf and a small metal file filled with treasured articles. I felt very professional!

As the years went by, I kept up the habit of collecting information and filing it. They must have told my husband to set up a rsource file and save textobooks, because he did the same thing, even as an engineer. Now four decades later we are inundated with old books, magazines, and files of interesting articles.

My personal major contribution was to save Travel and Lesiure magazine from the first issue. Now they are taking over my bookshelves. I need to see if the early issues are worth anything on E-bay before I take them to the dump.

You see, I have reached a major realization. I don't need to collect information anymore. Some reference books, and even magazines, have value in the marketplace. Others have sentimental value. There are a few with very specialized, hard-to-find information. For the most part, however, whatever information I need, I can easily find using Google. I even was able to buy all of National Geographic on a set of CD-roms. And that's the point!

I have developed the habit of clinging to information because I might need it later. I grew up with that mindset, and my education nurtured it. Soon it became a habit, more than a need. Now, it is just silly!

Within about 30 seconds, using my Treo phone, I can find out almost anything I want to know. It makes sense to save my bookshelves for the books I truly love and want to read again and again, as well as those valuable treasures that make sense to pass down through the generations. But the rest....it is time to part company!

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