This quote is from 2003 OCLC Environmental Scan..."The 2003 OCLC Environmental Scan: Pattern Recognition report was produced for OCLC?s worldwide membership to examine the significant issues and trends impacting OCLC, libraries, museums, archives and other allied organizations, both now and in the future."
"The freshman class of 2003 grew up with computers, multimedia, the Internet and a wired world. Twenty percent of them began using computers between the ages of 5 and 8. By the time they were 16-18 all of them had begun using computers. Their world is a seamless "infosphere" where the boundaries between work, play and study are gone. Computers are not technology and multitasking is a way of life. This generation of young adults mixes work and social activities, and the lines between workplace and home are blurred. The compartmentalization of leisure activities from work activities that their parents still mostly adhere to is largely unknown to the current group of college students."
It's not just the freshman class that's living this sort of life; I am living that life! The lines between working, learning, and playing are blurred. For example, I'm learning CSS to update this blog "for fun", but it could be seen as a job skill for a library webmaster. I'm in danger of blurring the lines completely...
But I do have one saving grace (well, OK, maybe two). First, I am a geek surrounded by loving Luddites :-) which gives me a bit of grounding and a healthy dose of reality. Second, I have a sense of humour (or a sense of perspective, which is pretty much the same thing if you ask me). These two things keep me from losing myself completely in the "infosphere", never to be seen again...
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