Reading as Transdisciplinary Art 2

A student asked an interesting question this morning: what did I think of using Kindle or Nook as a platform for course readings? It sparked a chain of thinking related to purposeful reading and study. Electronic reading platforms are an incredibly convienent and fast way to access information, arguments, and critical sources, especially as the amount of work available increases. For those who prefer their information in this form, there is much to say for reading in this way. It is accessible, inexpensive, ready to hand, and searchable. It can automatically bookmark and return us to our last page, even in different readers. And if coupled to a laptop or a smartphone, can provide a place for note-taking that is just as portable and digital as the source.

The difficulty is when we bring our reading habits in other on-line and digital sources to bear on serious, reflective and critical reading. Quickly skimming over the screen, progressively reading less and less as we move down the screen, hurredly flipping from page to page, and barely holding anything in mind for long seem characteristic of how many of us read online. The format is well suited to encourage  superficial reading, especially as it is often done 'on the go,' caught in snatches as we move form task to task, activity to activity in our frenetic lives.

That said, 'traditional' reading from printed materials both benefit  and suffer from similar if distinct dynamics. Books and journals function independent of mediating technology, free from the need for electric recharges, and can be marked in and noted on with impunity. Manual searches in library stacks and bookstore shelves often turn up related and interesting material a search engine might overlook. And there is the satisfaction (for some) of looking at a bookcase of well-read and loved books that a digital list in Finder cannot really replace.

But if we bring the same habits from the casual reading of these materials to our serious reading, they are heardly better as sources of critical study. Sitting down on our comfortable corner couch, with the warm sunlight beaming in over our shoulder as on a Sunday morning leafing through the paper, flipping through pages waiting to find a phrase that catches our eye, or rereading pages when the bookmark has slipped out until we realize, yes, we had read this once before, all lead to the same superficial reading we can so easily blame the new media platforms for encouraging. The point being that both digital and paper media have ways that lend themselves to light reading, and force us to make decisions that promote serious reading and reflection: sitting at a well-lit desk or table, or a good chair with a side table alongside, with note-taking instruments near-by, and preparing our minds and bodies for work, not leisure, are important habits no matter the media. Without such discipline and attention to the matter at hand, the form of delivery hardly matters.

So here's to diligent study, intelligent reading, thorough note-taking, and the critical questioning of texts, whether read on a glowing screen or under a burning incandescent bulb (OK, CFLs can be included). Here's to significant stretches of time dedicated to intense labor over ideas, words, and arguments. And let's not debate whether a book in the hand is worth two in the nook unless we are really prepared to really read them.