It is an understatement to say that technology has increased the power of connectivity between books and alternative information sources like the internet or television. I belong to a local library bookclub where we are reading Richard North Patterson’s Exile. The bookclub allows for each member to choose or nominate texts.
To greater understand this one I have been using the State Library of New South Wales electronic resources to find information on the conflict between Palestine and Israel. These are, interestingly enough, categorised under Modern History and include the BBC website’s Country Profiles of Israel and Palestine as wells as the the Middle East Research and Information Project.
I felt ignorant and ashamed that I had not made more effort to think much about this conflict which is played out on my TV screen every night. In Australia we are lucky to have access to many different forms of information even if some may have a government bias. And Patterson talks about the importance of the living room to America and the armchair view we sometimes hold of the world.
Being critical thinkers and encouraging evaluation of information sources is part of our quest for information literacy and continued lifelong learning. It's also a way to see the world as more than a TV screen. To me, book clubs are an important part of life whether they be through a television community, online or in person. They promote lifelong learning, encourage perspective-taking and condition empathy with others.
