by NYC Private Schools on February 14, 2010
Back in the fall of last year, we reported on the Cushing Academy, the first school to officially changeover its library to all digital. The transformation of this school’s library, complete with big screen TV’s and a $12,000 coffee maker, began to stir up more and controversy not because if its singular decision but because of the possible beginning or end that it signifies.
The New York Times ran an Opinion piece on Cushing Academy and invited the headmaster, James Tracy, as well as various authors and librarians and other relevant to the debate to weigh in on the written and digitized word.
The Cushing Academy Headmaster of course reinforced his ideas on the future and a digitized library, with smart commentary on the fact that a library must reflect the learning ways of the people it serves.
Cushing Academy Headmaster James Tracy
small collection of printed books no longer supports the type of research required by a
21st century curriculum. We wanted to create a library that reflected the reality of how students do research and fostered what they do, one that went beyond stacks and stacks of underutilized books.
Others brought up very real arguments of the tactile and personal nature of a physical book and wonder if it can ever really be replaced.
Author Nicolas Carr
The pages of a book shield us from the distractions that bombard us during most of our waking hours. As an informational medium, the book focuses our attention, encouraging the kind of immersion in a story or an argument that promotes deep comprehension and deep learning.
Author William Powers
embracing these new tools doesn’t require us to simultaneously throw out all the old ones, particularly those that continue to serve useful purposes. Who says it has to be an either-or decision?
The idea that books are outdated is based on a common misconception: the belief that new technologies automatically render existing ones obsolete, as the automobile did with the buggy whip. However, this isn’t always the case. Old technologies often handily survive the introduction of new ones, and sometimes become useful in entirely new ways.
The debate continues on the increased digitization of our libraries, but most agree at this point that an evolution in our libraries is happening, and how we work with it and mould it to our own needs and purposes will be the mark of its success.
by NYC Private Schools on November 14, 2009
Older students at NYC Private Schools are often expected to prepare for and understand some of the more sophisticated situations that face adults on a daily basis. This past week, students at Dalton were given first hand experience with the both the legal any journalistic side of adult life after a visit by Supreme Court Justice Kennedy.
The NY Times carried the story of Justice Kennedy’s speech at the school, and how students learned the importance of journalistic integrity.
WASHINGTON — The school newspaper at Dalton, a private school in Manhattan, contained a cryptic note from its editors last Friday.
“We are not able to cover the recent visit by a Supreme Court justice due to numerous publication constraints,” the note said. It promised “an explanation of the regrettable delay” in the next issue.
It turns out that Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, widely regarded as one of the court’s most vigilant defenders of First Amendment values, had provided the newspaper, The Daltonian, with a lesson about journalistic independence. Justice Kennedy’s office had insisted on approving any article about a talk he gave to an assembly of Dalton high school students on Oct. 28. Kathleen Arberg, the court’s public information officer, said Justice Kennedy’s office had made the request to make sure the quotations attributed to him were accurate.
The justice’s office received a draft of the proposed article on Monday and returned it to the newspaper the same day with “a couple of minor tweaks,” Ms. Arberg said. Quotations were “tidied up” to better reflect the meaning the justice had intended to convey, she said.
Ms. Arberg indicated that what had happened at Dalton was unusual. “Justice Kennedy does not have a general policy for making such requests,”
Some very clear points were made by those who criticized the practice as the age and sophistication of the students were a factor in the criticism.
Even at a high school publication, Mr. LoMonte said, the request for prepublication review sent the wrong message and failed to appreciate the sophistication of high school seniors.
“These are people who are old enough to vote,” he said. “If you’re old enough to drive a tank, you’re old enough to write a headline.”
Either way, the students at this NYC Private School were treated to an experience that will not be soon forgotten and have most likely learned an important lesson on politics, legalities and the difficulties that professional journalists must face.
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