The electronic screen in the Shanghai Da Zero Bay Library is bright** icphoto
Recently, the news of "declining borrowing volume in university libraries" has attracted attention again. According to the statistics of university libraries, in the past three years, the number of paper books borrowed has fallen off a cliff, and some schools have dropped to half or even one-third of the peak. The decline in the number of paper books borrowed is related to the increase in e-reading such as mobile phone reading.
Changing the traditional way of reading.
In the past, on the commuter bus, subway, high-speed rail, and airplane, there were always many people who were fascinated by books and newspapers. Nowadays, such a picture is hard to see. Instead, the carriages and halls were full of people looking down at their phones and tablets. Whether it is reading e-books, listening to audiobooks, or browsing information, brushing **, playing games, chatting, watching movies and television dramas, everyone is looking for their own fun in the electronic screen, and people collectively refer to this phenomenon as "screen reading".
Screen reading has changed the traditional way of reading, which is mainly reflected in two aspects:
The first is the change in form. In the era of "screen reading", multi-form digital reading carriers such as e-books, audio books, and storytelling** are emerging, and people's reading methods have changed from single to diverse. According to the results of the 20th National Reading Survey released in 2023, from the perspective of the reading form that adult citizens tend to read, the tendency to read digitally has further increased, and the proportion of people who tend to read screens has exceeded the proportion who tend to read paper books: 455% of adult citizens tend to "take a paper book and read it"; There are 323% of adult citizens tend to "read on their phones"; There are 81% of adult citizens tend to "read on e-readers"; There are 68% of adult citizens tend to "read online"; There are 82% of adult citizens tend to "listen to books"; There are 28% of adult citizens tend to "** storytelling".
The second is the change in content. In the era of screen reading, fragmented reading (using short and discontinuous time fragments for short and small amounts of text reading), light reading, and shallow reading have become typical characteristics. Relevant surveys show that the types of e-books that people read are mainly concentrated in entertainment, life and information books, which are more suitable for fragmented reading. In addition, with the iterative upgrading of electronic products, the content on the screen is no longer limited to static text, but also emerges in different forms of content such as **, length and short**, so that people can choose more information.
Reading is a complex process. We read paper books and read mainly words. Text is an abstract system of symbols, and the entire process from seeing words with the eyes to neural transmission signals to the brain analyzing and processing relevant information is complex. Compared with reading text, screen reading is easier, but it also reduces people's thinking activities when reading, which is not conducive to the reader's formation of a complete knowledge logic system.
Make up for the shortcomings of traditional reading.
While screen reading has an impact on traditional paper reading, it also makes up for the shortcomings of traditional reading methods to a large extent.
Although paper books are much lighter than ancient bamboo slips, the number of books that a person can carry with him is still very limited. Digital reading carriers such as e-books, audio books, and short books have broken through the limit of the number of words, and thousands of books can be stored on one screen, and massive resources allow readers to enjoy the satisfaction of reading anytime and anywhere.
In traditional reading, many people are daunted by the tomes of books, and they can't move or read them. There are also some people who want to read but are weak because of their low level of education. The development of listening software and the emergence of storytelling have given these people hope. There was an impressive previous interview with an elderly man who shared his reading experience. He said that he dropped out of school early, couldn't recognize all the words, picked up the book, people are ten lines at a glance, he is ten eyes and one line, until the first listening software, "I feel that the spiritual world is bright, walking, riding in the car listening, eating listening, sleeping also listening, listening to relish, in the book heard a different world."
Storytelling has also injected new impetus into traditional reading. Many people have had this experience, and they can't read a book if they want to know about it. For example, "Capital", the thick three-volume paper book scared off many people. And "ten minutes to understand "Capital", "quick effect to read "Capital" and other lectures**, commentaries**, with a very short time to vividly show the overview or essence of the masterpiece, people feel more cordial, read and want to continue reading, the enthusiasm for reading the original paper has also been rekindled. Therefore, some people commented: "Screen reading solves the problem of getting started with reading and has the effect of draining reading." ”
The coexistence of screen reading represented by digital reading and reading represented by paper reading has long been formed. Dialectically, screen reading presents two characteristics: one is the "simplicity" of information and the "complexity" of the type, that is, in a limited time, although you can only watch the condensed version and the commentary version, which lacks depth, you can read more content, which brings about an exponential increase in the amount of information; The second is the "fragmentation" of the content and the "wholeness" of the senses, just like you can quickly watch a film and television drama through a few short explanations, and some fragmented reading can also spell out a sense of sensory integrity.
Satisfying your own reading needs is the most important thing.
Which is better or worse than screen reading or reading? Some people are fighting for this. In the author's opinion, this question does not seem to be so important, how to give full play to the advantages of the two, and meet your reading needs to the greatest extent is the most important.
In life, most people who love to read will always have paper books at the bedside, in the bag, and on their mobile phones and tablets. Some people choose to let the e-book "substitute" because it is inconvenient to carry the book when they go out, and they still have to pick up the paper book and reread it afterwards, which is his exclusive sense of ceremony; Some people are not addicted to reading paper books, and they have to listen to it again on the audiobook software, and savor the mystery and rich information hidden behind the words in comparison. In short, for people who love to read, both screen reading and reading are for better reading.
We might as well let go of the long-standing deliberate isolation and comparison between traditional reading and digital reading, choose the specific reading method according to the book, and even switch freely according to the actual situation in the reading process. As Luo Yuming, a professor at the Department of Chinese at Fudan University, said, the choice of which form depends on the situation, for example, if you need to go deep into the content, choose traditional paper reading, and if you can understand it, you can use digital reading. In short, in the age of information, what really matters is how to keep reading. Whether it's reading a screen or a paper book, as long as you keep reading and reading high-quality content, you can always enjoy it and gain something.
Author: Zhang Puhua, Editor of the Editorial Department of the Journal of Fujian Normal University).
*: Bright**).