My Acts of Reading by Andrew Prescott is a personal and enjoyable narrative about his process of adopting digital tools for academic reading and writing.
I share Prescott’s vivid memories of learning read with the help of supportive parents and adventures to the local library as a child. I also share his hesitation to fully adopt digital-first practices in his academic work. I came of age at a time when digital tools and resources were becoming ubiquitous, but have remained a digital skeptic despite it being a primary element of my professional work. I relate to his desire, or need, to continue the practice of note taking with tangible materials. To this day, I use legal pads for all of my professional and personal record keeping. Despite my archives stacking up, I intend to continue this method of note taking because I feel more connected to the thoughts I’m putting down. They are also easier to revisit than any notes I take on my computer.
I appreciated Prescott’s acknowledgment that his process of going digital has been a gradual renegotiation of habits; much less intensive than “disruption.” I rely heavily on digital resources to go through life every day. I’m by no means opposed to their use, but if I’m going digital in a new way then I intend for it to provide an improvement to my routine or my work, not just a response to the latest option on the market.
I found it interesting that his process of writing became digitized before his reading. Even more so that this experience began as early as 2003. My personal experience has been quite different. Perhaps because of my age and growing up in an underserved community, I didn’t experience innovative digital academic tools until I was well into college; around 2011. I didn’t even have a computer at home until 2009.
My inclination toward using physical documents and books may be due to my limited digital exposure growing up, but life in the pandemic has expedited my transition to digital reading. Like many of my millennial peers, I don’t own a printer and have long relied on printing necessary materials at work even when they were for personal matters. I’ve completed every reading assignment this term on my computer simply because I didn’t have a means to print it. In time, I’ve become used to it and my preference for printed reading material is likely in the past.
The final aspect of Prescott’s piece that I’d like to address is his assessment of how digital resources have changed the way scholars and students approach research. Prescott asserts that today Google has replaced bibliographies as a first stop. Identifying relevant articles early in your research can provide sub-topics that will guide you in building out your research. I find it interesting that he considers this novel, as it’s the only way I’ve ever learned to do academic research.
My Acts of Reading pushed me to consider how my processes of reading and writing have changed. I never thought about their evolution, but they have developed in time and place. Prescott’s reflections have actually provided me encouragement to continue evolving the ways I engage with academic and professional materials. Willingness to adapt to new technologies will be necessary in my career and forming an openness to adaptation is necessary sooner or later.
Bibliography
Prescott, A. (2015, September 23). My Acts of Reading. Digital Riffs. https://medium.com/digital-riffs/my-acts-of-reading-c97b2fe4c339
