Reading: It's Not Just About Books Anymore

Linda Braun gave a fascinating presentation about what reading is in the 21st century and how it has been changed, and augmented by technology. It always surprises me when I meet a teen who tells me they are not a reader. I ask them "do you text with your friends?" Yes. "Do you follow any blogs?" Yes. "Do you listen to any podcasts?" Yes. "Do you post to Facebook or MySpace?" Yes. "Then you're a reader!"

Too long librarians have been tied up in the idea of the book as the only way to "read." There have been other forms of reading around for centuries and now it is expanding to the Internet. How far does your idea of reading reach? Braun argued that books, magazines, newspapers, ebooks, audiobooks, blogs and text messages are all reading. Technology hasn't just opened up new forms of reading and communicating information and narrative but it has allowed readers to interact with their literature in a way they never could before

Here are some of the resources that Linda Braun shared:

• Twitter: a microblogging web application that allows users to "tweet" messages of 140 characters or less to each other or to an entire community. One of the more interesting Twitter projects called Many Voices where any one on Twitter could contribute 140 characters to a continuing story.
• Tumblr: a cross between blogging and micro blogging it is meant for short blog posts and links to pictures or video. It also allows link sharing and doesn't limit you to 140 characters.
• Wordia: a new video dictionary that allows users to make and submit videos describing words.
• Voice Thread: Record your presentations, both video and audio and make them available online.