the pause is important because nothing happens in it
- Dr. David Carr, The Promise of Cultural Institutions
the process of learning … and I think the process of scholarship is not about continual interaction and engagement. There is a need for reflection and contemplation. There is a constant sort of dance that takes place between states of action and engagement, followed by withdrawal. Each is as important as the other.
So when I speak of libraries as a space where information can be turned into knowledge, it is because libraries (offline) provide a place for both of these activities. This is why I think such a thing as a digital library may not actually exist. If one cannot be online passively, if the very definition of going online requires action and strives for interaction, then one cannot withdraw while in such a space. In your very pauses, you are going offline. Is it therefore possible to truly create a ‘digital library’?