On the bookcase in the room in which I write stands, amongst other books, The Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought, 1977 edition. Much of the scholarship contained in that fairly substancial tome is outdated and yet I am loathed to throw or give my book away. Looking at the Dictionary brings back memories of taking down books in the school library. As I write the excitement of finding a hitherto undiscovered author or work of reference is rekindled. I recall reading “The Story of Medicine” and other Ladybird books. The thrill of discovering new knowledge is a wonderful feeling, one which drives the student or, indeed the general reader to enhance his or her understanding of the universe.

Now most works of reference have been replaced (or are in the process of being superceeded) by the internet. Wikipedia is now the fount of all knowledge (well not quite judging by the number of articles which have caveats appended) but you do, I am sure grasp my point! The internet is a wonderful invention which, among other things allows us to access a world of knowledge with the click of a mouse. It is wonderful to click on a site dedicated to Charles Dickens and learn about the author and his world without having to traipse to the public library in the pouring rain. However the joy of searching through dusty old shelves of books, discovering something new, sitting down and becoming lost in a good book is a pleasure which, I fear children growing up today may not experience. Youngsters can click on Google or the search engine of their choice, ascertain the information for which they are searching all without needing to leave the comfort of their home. Leaving aside the issue of whether one can trust all the sources pulled up by Google there remains the intangible matter of the joy of discovery which is, as I said above in danger of being lost. Of course there exist excellently researched sources of information on the web but to someone who, like me was brought up in a world of books the internet can, on occasions appear somewhat arid compared to the garden of books.

I am no luddite. Being blind I recognise the vast benefits of the world wide web. With access technology which converts text into speech and braille I can, using a Windows computer access information which in years gone by I wouldn’t have accessed without the assistance of sighted friends. None the less I have a gut feeling that people of my generation (I am 45) have experienced something precious which many younger people risk losing, the joy of wandering around a library (in my case full of braille books and cassette tapes) and discovering something new in the world of literature, history or some other field.

Signed, King Ludd

(Note, while writing this post I looked up the word traipse using, you guessed it Google as I no longer possess the braille edition of The Little Oxford Dictionary of Current English which I once owned!