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Marshall Law

I recently received an email from the library at work saying that they were having a clear out, and that staff could help themselves to any unwanted books before they were thrown into a skip. Whilst I was delighted at the chance to pick up some free books, I was more concerned that said books were being thrown out in the first place. It is understandable that the library needs a clear out each year, particularly as most reference texts quickly become outdated and space is needed for new stock, however there must be a better solution than dumping them in a skip.

The increasing levels of information available on the internet means that people spend less time researching using text books, especially for low-level academic study; why bother to spend hours finding something in a book when it's readily available at the click of a mouse button. I am all in favour of online research, I even did some while preparing this column, however much of the internet is not regulated by any particular authority, and hence it is populated with vast quantities of false and/or misleading information. There is something about the printed word which seems so much more trustworthy, as if the process of getting something into print is itself a barrier to bunkum. Sadly this is not always the case (after all Jordan managed to get a book published), although there is definitely a much higher risk of encountering false information on the internet, especially if you are not aware of the pitfalls.

Books have been forced out of many modern homes by more accessible media such as television, DVD, computer games and to a lesser extent mobile phones. The idea of sitting down to read a book is alien to many people (particularly younger generations) regardless of vocabulary or reading competence. Part of the problem lies with the image of reading, which is considered geeky and un-cool, although I feel a greater portion of the blame lies with our demand for instant information. It is hardly surprising that people don't want to use their own imagination to enjoy a novel, or use their own powers of reasoning to analyse a text; it is far easier (and quicker) to just watch it on television or search for the answer on Google.

The mere act of using a high-tech medium such as the internet to find information gives people a sense of being part of the modern world. The experience carries a unique set of connotations which go far beyond simple convenience values, and hence the medium is as important, if not more so, than the message. 'The medium is the message', so said Marshall McLuhan, the renowned 20 th century media theorist, in his 1967 book of the same name (ironically the title was originally misspelt at the typesetters so it read 'massage').

The key point of his theory is that content is secondary to the actual medium used to distribute it, and that changes in media shape human consciousness. The theory is broken down into four questions (laws) called the Tetrad, which McLuhan claims can be used to analyse the effects of any given medium. They are as follows: what does the medium extend; what does it make obsolete; what is retrieved; and what does the medium reverse into if it is over-extended.

If we consider television in terms of McLuhan's theory, the response to the first question would be that television extends our access to events across the globe, removing the barriers of time and distance. The second response would be that it diminishes communication with those immediately around us, particularly in the family home where switching on a television can reduce a room of people to silence. The third response would be that it gives a greater sense (and knowledge) of what is happening to mankind as a whole, and the fourth would be that if over-extended, it becomes the theatre, whereby the events on television are akin to those of actors on a stage and have no real significance. In a crude sense this can already be seen with televised news; each day people sit and watch terrible events unfold whilst picking their noses and relaxing on the sofa, many will even drift into their own world deciding what to eat for tea while footage of death and starvation is being shown onscreen.

Once a medium is superseded by a newer and more efficient alternative it becomes functionally obsolete, and as such is no longer over-extended. As the printed word becomes less important as a means of mass communication and hence less-familiar, there will be increased pleasure in sitting down and actually reading a book. With this in mind I think it is very wasteful to simply throw unwanted books into a skip. I propose appointing someone to hand them out (for free) in the town centre, with the primary task of matching the subject of the book with the person. For example a nervy housewife might appreciate a book on self-confidence; an introduction to economics would be welcomed by a spendaholic secretary; and what better than a Thomas Hardy classic for a homeless bum.

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