A Librarian Responds to Blinkist, Speed Reading, and Other Reading Shortcuts

A Librarian Responds to Blinkist, Speed Reading, and Other Reading Shortcuts

 


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What it comes down to is this: It’s all fine, as long as you choose your reading mode with full awareness. Put another way, know what you’re getting and what you’re missing. As a librarian, I know how information is organized not just in a library (hello, Dewey), but out in the world, too. I have an intimate relationship with different information conduits and know the trade-offs with each. That’s how I help people find the right resources for their research. Sometimes, what they need is a big book written by an eminent professor and sometimes an encyclopedia article will do. In the latter case, do they need a specialized encyclopedia or will World Book or Britannica (or even Wikipedia) work just fine?