I love libraries and have since I was old enough to read. I credit their influence on me to be able to confidently say that not everything in them are true, either. Yay libraries!
LLM’s like ChatGPT lie rampantly. They reply as though they have accessed a book or some specific source. Confident quick response should not be conflated as truth. It is easy to project our own intelligence onto these tools but that doesn’t make it true.
Beware false intelligence.
Facts. If I could talk to a liberal in real life I would ask them to please stop watching the mainstream. Please watch videos IN FULL, UNEDITED, NOT NARRERATED. Like if u see something crazy that someone supposedly said, look for the FULL video. U will be so surprised how the media twists.
To be fair not everything in libraries is true either. But that's exactly why it is important to read a lot and by a lot I mean a LOT and exercise your decision muscle...it hurts, but it's worth it in the long run...
Having a library card gives you the chance to use many resources without having to pay for them, which can save you a lot of money. If you wanted to buy all these things, it could cost a lot of money, but with a library card, you can enjoy them without spending anything. It's a great way to learn.
If you live in the state of Georgia, call your local congress member or send it because it’s going up for vote the bad librarian bill. You can look it up. Let me see if I can find the information about it though.
Libraries must contain books of all positions and cultures. Where else can we truly learn about "the other person" who's not like us. My Mom was a High School Librarian all her adult career and she would be appalled at the ignorant, misinformed people that call for book bannings.
Love me some librarians. I had a family with a librarian before the other day I was finally told the truth of how I do not matter if not in their control on dope makes me feel like dying when I was happy for first time in my life starting 2005 doped 17 years by pharmatrash. A gift2treasure&develope
Not all books in a library are true, no. However, you are more likely to find accurate history and resources from experts in their fields, without the commentary/opinions of the rest of the planet. And that is valuable.
I think the internet is highlighting the need to problematize knowledge generation. There is little difference between what's online or in a library except scale. Dominant group narratives become accepted as truths while minority voices are suppressed.
I love books and libraries but just because there's a dusty edition with a pretty cover doesn't make it "true". All truths are socially constructed. Who is not represented in books & libraries? Who doesn't get a say in which texts are available? If you're defensive about this it's probably not you.
Any person can go to a library and ask for them to include representation in books. They are for the public. And I haven't met a librarian yet who wouldn't at least consider a request like that. Any person can choose to be more involved in their local library in this way.
All true. Libraries offer choices, and it’s up to us to have the discernment as to what is true. Relying on the internet exclusively for all information is a very dangerous business. Especially as our government is slipping into fascism.
Message is: we need to support our libraries.
You're right to be skeptical, but someone saying something doesn't mean someone else is silenced. Being able to change your mind based on new information is a life skill we all need and many of us already have.
I'd gently push back that the underlying argument is for media literacy - it becomes instructive rather than dangerous to read anything and everything when one can independently evaluate the biases and entertain ideas without accepting them. 💙
75% of what is on the internet is bullshit. The great thing about the internet is that everyone is a publisher. The worst thing about the internet is that everyone is a publisher.
Closer to 95% of what's on Internet media forms is bullshit. It's almost all exaggeration, spin, posturing, pretending, misdirection, misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda. Very little is factual and literal. It's the paperback fiction stand in 1980s grocery stores.
If you took select pieces of media from major media and social sites today and showed them to someone in 1985, they'd almost certainly think it came from the National Enquirer.
To be fair, not everything published in a book is true either. See D.J.Trump and THE ART OF THE DEAL, or J.D.Vance HILLBILLY ELEGY, for two examples of total bullshit masquerading as non-fiction!
1) Yes, I can, because plenty of books exist that aren’t factual/truthful/honest, and 2) the points are equivocal: bad information is bad information whether it’s online or in a book/magazine.
While those are great points I think you are completely wrong. Let’s give a kid an hour unsupervised in a library and an hour unsupervised on the internet. Which will do more harm in an hour?
Depends on if the Internet is restricted to only certain websites, or if they are allowed to look at anywhere in the Library. Both have their pitfalls to unsupervised children. Both also have their merits too. This is kind of my point!
Okay this conversation is just a waste of time. If you’re going to put qualifiers on simple obvious questions there is no point. Libraries are much safer than the internet. It’s harder to get misinformation inside a library. You know it too.
As children we daily used our full set of the deluxe Encyclopaedia Britannica and loved it.
Today, my grandchildren would laugh me out of the house if I tried explaining how great they were.
We've all heard legends about their amazing power of shushing; however, they also have the superpowers of finding what patrons need, and of respecting confidentiality.
They are there for us, connecting us to resources, ideas, information, and stories.
Agree. It’s a message to support our local libraries. If we lose them, and are forced to gain all of our information on the internet, how easily can that be abused and controlled by a corrupt government??
True. But libraries allow us access to choices. We can discern for ourselves what we see as true, or not true. Imagine if the internet was the only form of information? That’s a dangerous direction for a country to go…
Oh. Right. One looking at the internet has no discernment, all understanding of right from wrong, fact from lie, out the window. Maybe for the gullible, but I’m telling you the grown ups in both places have to practice discernment. If you turn yours off when you turn your device on, that’s on you.
Massachusetts isn't Utopia, but the signs at Boston Public Library tell us explicitly that it's free for everyone, and that access to information is crucial for a stable democracy.
Libraries need all our support and more. That said, I checked out a lot of ghost and UFO books as a kid and I can assure you that not everything in libraries is true, either.
I'm hanging out in my Library! (#Boise) today because my house is being painted. Ten minutes after they opened, the individual desks and tables on all 3 floors are nearly all full. People of all ages & socio-economic groups USE the library. Daily!
Not everything in books is true either. That's kinda how we got here, people believing nonsense just because it was typed or printed from some "official" source. It's really all the same. It's the people that are the problem due to not being able to comprehend crap like we used to be able to.
You could do both! I have my own library that's hosted on a server that has redundant storage in my RV. There's more books in there than I could even possibly fit in a house too. I love reading...probably a bit much. It's useful to have a lot though since you can make the contents all searchable.
Agreed-Not being able to be in our bodies, experiencing our own feelings and looking for answers from the outside, doesn’t cultivate self-trust or self-esteem.Then-when we are disappointed by the choices we make based on external factors we blame and weaponize our victimhood. No growth or selfesteem
This is like clinically accurate and 100% true about a lot of things like people being burned by a brand they were loyal to for some reason. I could never figure that crap out. Why not just buy something better when its time than just from one brand. It's baffling--to a crazy extent to me
Libraries are filled with published books. Edited books. Not self- published or on line conspiracy claptrap. You’re far less apt to find misinfo in a library or book store than on line.
As a former librarian and book publisher I’m pretty confident of that.
Oh there's plenty in every public library I've ever been to that aren't true. Especially religious books but also others but you aren't wrong, most aren't and especially older books like the ones I learned more about engines and physics from as a kid
"That's kinda how we got here" - I mean, is it though? I feel like at least half of the problem is rejecting the other guy's "official" sources, as much as credulously accepting your own. Who's right has become more about what team you're on more than who can justify their claims
Problem is many books are opinion and not fact, political and religion especially. Republicans are now trying to erase facts in textbooks, of all things. We are trying to become less and less like America, and more and more like Russia and China.
For the best, most reliable source of information, you can use both to fact check each other. Dating information is also an important step in critical thinking.
Ultimately, your best bet is to hit scientific paper websites and to look up actual research information.
SAME! I read an account of the Tibet invasion written by a Chinese person and it was wildly different from the American version. Which one is true? I'd go with one written by a Tibetan person who was actually there.
That's true saw a post from HuffPost where they were comparing photos of Chump and Biden problem was the other photo was not Biden and Chump but Netanyahu making me wonder if someone at Huffpost is a bit dim?
Hey, #Ohio libraries need your help this week! Our budget proposal will cut $100 million here, cut food assistance and build the Browns a newer stadium. Libraries are a HUGE part of Ohio culture. If you have time, can you call and advocate for more funding? Info here: https://www.olc.org/government-relations/advocacy/save-ohio-libraries/
In 2016, one man told me trump would keep this country strong against our enemies. I said “You DO know Abraham Lincoln said you can’t believe everything you read on the internet.” He looked at me and said, “I don’t think Abraham Lincoln was on the internet…..?”
👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 People weren’t taught how to comprehend and differentiate facts from fiction! They don’t read deeply enough to find the source of what they are reading before they take it as truth and spread the misinformation. It’s dangerous. It’s concerning!
My proudest years were working as a credentialed teacher librarian for my middle students in southern ca. My patrons were the smartest kids with the biggest hearts! I wish them all my love and gratitude for their support.
technically speaking the same could be said for the books in the library. Although the tend to be more accurate due to the format used to record the information.
Ugh, the pettifogging people here quibbling over the obvious fact that not everything in the library is “true” (i.e., there are fiction books! and art! etc.)... Good grief, talk about missing the forest for the trees.
That doesn't mean we shouldn't support libraries or fight for public access to information and resources, but the aesthetics of truth can be exploited.
There are also very good websites out there, some of which you can access through your library card.
And I dunno, I'm just one person but I think it's okay for a post that I have quibbles with to lead to discussions about truth and media literacy. I find this topic interesting.
In fairness not everything in a book is true either. Books, like the internet, are just people saying stuff. Printing words on a page doesn't make it any easier or harder to lie.
Reading without media literacy is operating a machine with no understanding of what it does or how or why or to what end
Speaking of libraries - contact your lawmakers and DEMAND that library & museum funding is restored - Trup loves the poorly educated & he wants our libraries and museums closed - we NEED LIBRARIES & MUSEUMS demand their funding be restored @schumer.senate.gov @booker.senate.gov I'm talking to you
To be fair, libraries are better at fiction, their reference sections are normally pants.
EXCEPT for local history.....
Another exception are national libraries which of course are great... Such as the national archive in Kew Gardens. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
We've all heard legends about their amazing power of shushing; however, they also have the superpowers of finding information for patrons and of respecting confidentiality. They are there for us, connecting us to resources, ideas, information, and stories.
The same could be said about the library. ANYBODY can write a book and what that books contains is not always reality and truth. Those books are called Novels.
Just because it true does not mean it's correct. The word "atom" is from Latin for atomos which means "indivisible" and science once said that the atom was the smallest any matter could be and was taken to be true at the time.
Comments
I am stunned. You mean I can’t rely upon Facebook for my news?
I am so disillusioned. Tissue please.
Thanks.
In fact, there is a dozen specific books which caused millions of deaths already :)
Beware false intelligence.
The victors write history.
Brave New World
Brave New World (Revisited)
1984
The Handmaids Tale
Animal Farm
A Clockwork Orange
Glad you weren't upset with the joke!
Just saying… sometimes what’s not printed is what hits the hardest.
They call it "the fiction section".
Personally, love the fiction section best.
Not everything is available online.
For every "accurate text" someone else's story has been silenced.
Message is: we need to support our libraries.
Hooray for the printed word!
Donaldo delenda est
So who do I believe? 🤷♂️
Check them out.
But return by due date.
Obviously.
- Trump
Today, my grandchildren would laugh me out of the house if I tried explaining how great they were.
What a world we live in?
Wouldn't it be nice to get back to common sense intelligence and REAL KNOWLEDGE, not made up BS.
We've all heard legends about their amazing power of shushing; however, they also have the superpowers of finding what patrons need, and of respecting confidentiality.
They are there for us, connecting us to resources, ideas, information, and stories.
- R. David Lankes (Professor and Director of the School of Library & Information Science at the University of South Carolina)
#LibraryWeek
"The commonwealth requires the education of the people as the safeguard of order and liberty."
#nationallibraryweek
#democracy
See: The Bible
(This is a joke. Also applies to school textbooks.)
As a former librarian and book publisher I’m pretty confident of that.
It was always an issue for me, balancing my distaste for flagrant clap-trap against customer demand for that same clap-trap.
Ultimately, your best bet is to hit scientific paper websites and to look up actual research information.
Something I didn't realize until fairly recently is that there usually isn't a rigorous fact-checking process for non-fiction books. https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a33577796/nonfiction-book-fact-checking-should-be-an-industry-standard/
There are also very good websites out there, some of which you can access through your library card.
The best thing you can do is MORE research on the topic from many sources with different viewpoints.
The big question now is, WHAT IS TRUE?
Reading without media literacy is operating a machine with no understanding of what it does or how or why or to what end
...or even halfway decent.
I'm all for libraries and reading, but this particular POV is a bit strange.
My head hurts.
EXCEPT for local history.....
Another exception are national libraries which of course are great... Such as the national archive in Kew Gardens.
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
We've all heard legends about their amazing power of shushing; however, they also have the superpowers of finding information for patrons and of respecting confidentiality. They are there for us, connecting us to resources, ideas, information, and stories.
It's true that printed books from major publishers are held to a higher standard -- but unfortunately that standard is still not very high.
💀 Common sense is dead. ☠️