In Praise of Slow Reading

In our efforts to absorb information as quickly as it comes at us, we tend to skim, skip, glance, and peruse articles and books rather than sit and read them. All our gadgets, facebook pages, news feeds and twitter feeds do is provide snippets of information, tantalizing bits of news and current events. In the end, we know a little bit about everything. "Wait" you say, "that's what librarians do, they know a little about everything. What's so bad about all the skimming and quick reads?" Well, I must confess I too dip and skim, but that's not reading, it's not absorbing information, facts, and provides no time for wrestling with the essence of an article. You must slow down and read deeply.

There are two terms used somewhat interchangeably "Slow Reading" and "Deep Reading". They refer to the concept of taking your time, reading and thinking about what is in front of you. Slow and deep reading provides time to absorb and analyze the information, to hear the words within your head and contemplate upon their meanings. Slow reading means ruminating, fixating, and often re-reading again and again until you 'get it' and actually learn what you are studying. Here's a nice definition of the deep reading http://grammar.about.com/od/d/g/Deep-Reading.htm Scroll below the definition for some quotes in context.

Jeanne Whalen's article "Read Slowly to Benefit Your Brain and Cut Stress: At Least 30 Minutes of Uninterrupted Reading With a Book or E-Book Helps." Wall Street Journal  (Sept 16, 2014): http://online.wsj.com/articles/read-slowly-to-benefit-your-brain-and-cut-stress-1410823086 promotes reading without distraction for long periods of time. There are some tests and quizzes to determine the speed at which you read and absorb information. Try them out. See how well you do. 

In terms of school, you need to read in uninterrupted chunks of time, in a non-distracting place. Not in front of the TV or computer screen, unless of course you are reading on that screen. Read without the distraction of facebook, e-mail, and phone. Take your time. Think about the concepts you are learning, test the ideas and techniques against what you already know, apply the techniques to the exercises and subjects you are studying. 

Slow and deep reading is important for absorbing what you read and for enhancing your long term memory. Try it and let me know what you think.

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Here are some other articles that talk about deep or slow reading:

Coleman, John. "For Those Who Want to Lead, Read"
Harvard Business Review (Aug 15, 2012): http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/08/for-those-who-want-to-lead-rea/ 

"Defining "Deep Reading" and "Text-Dependent Questions" Turn On Your Brain blog (March 29, 2012): http://turnonyourbrain.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/defining-deep-reading-and-text-dependent-questions/ This article has a nice video about the subject.

Carr, Nicholas. "The Death of Deep Reading." BigThink  (April 20, 2013): http://bigthink.com/in-their-own-words/the-death-of-deep-reading

"Why Johnny Can't "Deep" Read." NPR (April 21, 2010)  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129348373

Learn Something New Every Day

You all know my mantra for librarians is to learn something new every day, with every reference interaction, with every project. How do we do that? By keeping an open mind, by not tuning out when answering reference questions, particularly repetitive ones, by thinking "outside the box." I once asked a colleague how he could stand doing repetitive research, particularly after 40 years in the same field. He said, "There's always something new to learn from the encounter, from the research." I took that attitude to heart and starting looking beyond the repetitive projects to understand "why." I began to really understand how the records worked, how the information was really arranged. I went beyond practice to understand the theory, the rationale behind the ideas and routines. It's made me an expert in various types of records. So the next time, you think something is routine, (other than directions to the restroom or elevator) think about how or why the database works in a particular way, why the information is arranged just so, or why you always have to ask for the information twice.

The New York Times has a great blog / service that can help you learn something new every day and stay current. It's their Learning Network. While the website is geared for K-12 teachers, librarians can learn a thing or two from it. Here's the link to the NYT Learning Network "How to Use Our Blog" page http://nyti.ms/1q72sTI . I'm intrigued by the literacy skills. The piece is entitled "I Hate These Word Crimes" http://youtu.be/8Gv0H-vPoDc

 What have you learned today?

A few books, a few new facts

As the semester begins, we'll be learning a little bit about librarianship. You know that's what librarians and archivists know, a little bit about everything, or almost everything, and, more importantly, where to find what someone else is looking for. 

That notion brings me to my find of the day, Harlequin, yes Harlequin Books has a new publication Let’s Get Lost http://harlequinforlibraries.com/2014/08/introducing-the-ultimate-lets-get-lost-educator-librarian-and-book-club-guide/  At first I thought it was promoting the idea of 'getting lost in a good book', but it's actually a guide to a book about traveling and discovering new things along the way. While I'd prefer the first, I'll take the second because you can always learn something new along the way, on the journey to somewhere else.

So as you travel up and down the highway on your way to class, think about who you meet, the new things you are learning, and try not to get too lost along the way.