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

S. Fine looked out at the road to make sure that the road was clear for him to enter. As was his habit, he looked left, then right, then left again before entering the stream of traffic. He did not take into account that traffic was coming from an opposite direction from the one he was accustomed to. Predictably, as he entered the flow of traffic he was hit broadside and his right fender was demolished. Fortunately he himself was unhurt. The Hertz Rental Car Company representative was very sympathetic and helpful. The business man was, after all, a very good customer and well insured. He was promptly provided with another car. Again he pulled out of Heathrow Airport, and with even greater care looked both ways before entering the flow of traffic. And again, habit took over. He looked left, then right, then left again - and was hit broadside and his right fender demolished. So powerful was the force of habit! So crucial is the human factor in determining our future. In the information professions, the human factor has serious implications because people interact with information in complex ways. Technology further complicates that interaction. We've already learned from experience that technology has the power to change our personal and professional lives forever. We know it because, historically, major technological events and milestones have slowly and inevitably changed the way people live, love, work, interact, move from place to place, raise their children, view illness, cope with death, communicate with each other, create music and define art, fight wars and make peace. We already know that technology changes the basic structure of societies. We already know that technology has a psychological impact on its users. In order to look at the psychological impact of technology, particularly information technology, we must not look only at what technology can do, but at its nature - what it is about the technology of today that affects the way people react to it, and how it differs from any technology ever before known in human history. There are features that are common to all modem technology, the features that we strive for when we create, improve, sell or buy, and evaluate technology. Perhaps by identifying those features, the psychological implications will also become clear. Modem technology is characterized by three principal features: speed, volume, and interactivity. Speed is the principal characteristic of technology. Increased speed is the reason for its development, the purpose for its existence, the measure of its value. Even when we talk of greater efficiency, we are often really talking about greater speed. But speed is a complicated aspect of human behaviour. We know, for example, that our perception of speed changes as we adjust to it. For example, not so long ago we perceived that the computer was working at amazing speed, but in time we found ourselves complaining about "slow turnaround time" or worse, at the 136 Thoughts in the library"