Domsa Károlyné, Fekete Gézáné, Kovács Mária (szerk.): Gondolatok a könyvtárban / Thoughts in the Library (A MTAK közleményei 30. Budapest, 1992)

KÖNYVTÁR ÉS KORSZERŰSÉG – LIBRARY AND MODERNITY

Libraries and technolagy: the humán factor But what are these facts and figures really teliing us? That we are happier more informed, more productive? More morál? More logical? More compassionate? That we make better decisions? Perhaps they are only teliing us that there is more data than ever before, not that there is better data or more useful or relevant data. And certainly the evidence around us suggests that we are not a more knowledgeable and thoughtful society or that our social problems are diminishing. On the contrary. A third aspect of technology is its interactive nature, that it responds to us. It is the interactive nature of modem technology that makes it different from any technology we have ever known before - more powerful, more appealing, and perhaps more frightening. The quality of life for most of us is defmed by our relationships with other people. The computer offers us an alternative. It relieves us of the burden of interacting directly with other people in the workplace. There have been a number of studies that confírm that interactive technology is changing the way we interact with other people. For example, studies have shown: — That people who interact by computer don't like each other as well as people who interact face to face. — That electronic mediation changes the way groups make decisions. — That people who communicate electronically often use angry words and verbal abuse that they wouldn't use in person. — That people who communicate electronically tend not to use words of affection, even with the people they love. — That people who work in automated offices at sophisticated work stations often experience isolation and feelings of loneliness. — That people who deal with computerized businesses often experience uncontrollable frustration when the computer doesn't respond to their complaints. — That people who use their computere to work at home often do so at the expense of time spent with their families. — That a growing number of people prefer the inanimate company of the machine to humán company. — That computer crimes are increasing becoming more clever and more costly. Joseph Weizenbaum, a distinguished computer scientist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the foremost university in the areas of science and technology, worries that there is more communication between machine and machine and between humans and machines than there is between people and people. There is no question any more that technology affects our interactive lives. ,, Gondolatok a könyvtárban " 139