There is a "difference between information and knowledge," Vartan Gregorian, former president of the University, told an enthralled audience of 200 celebrating the centennial of the John Hay Library in a lecture yesterday afternoon.
The lecture, titled "Information and Knowledge in an Age of Technology," addressed the way technology constantly bombards society with facts, theories and data. He emphasized the importance of "analysis as well as synthesis" of information, and the ability to distinguish between "what we know," what the "screen" is telling us and "what we don't know" in order to truly understand something.
The premium placed on specialization is one way knowledge is stifled in the modern technological age, he said. We focus on "marketable skills" and confuse the educated person with the specialist. Today's new technology makes it all too easy to continue on this specialized path, ignorant to the knowledge and views of others. Technology also allows the formation of "isolationist" groups which keep people "safe from having to relay" their ideas with those who may not agree with them, Gregorian said. But "all knowledge is actually provisional," he said, and people must not be blind to other views and perspectives.
Universities can overcome this trend of specialization by striving to "promote a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach," he said, adding that the "major challenge" is being able to make connections between different fields and disciplines. Though he acknowledged the negative effects of technology, he also discussed how it can help promote a wide-ranging education if we know how to use it correctly.
Libraries can be an essential tool in correctly harnessing the power of technology because they bring many different types of knowledge together in one place. Some fear that technology will bring about the demise of libraries, but Gregorian said this is not the case. "We are not a virtual society yet," he said. Along with helping us integrate different sources of knowledge, libraries remain vitally important as places that provide community and allow for the sharing of different ideas. The need for libraries and books will only grow stronger, and it is important that they remain available to everyone, especially those who cannot afford comparable resources on their own.
The John Hay Library, which holds the University's archives and rare books collection, was funded by Andrew Carnegie in the early 1900s as a library that would be open to the public. In her introduction, President Ruth Simmons said Gregorian was chosen to speak on behalf of the Hay's centennial because he was "prominent enough, cute enough and persuasive enough."
