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Now, my brain is a single node in a network of nodes. Information passes in, and out, and through it, all the time. Every day I’m asked for the answers to all kinds of questions, and every day I ask different questions of others. I provide opinions. Others provide them back. I can ask individuals by email or I can ask the world via a website. Why hold it all in my head? It would be impossible to do so anyway, but why bother? If I want to know anything, I just need to ask the web.
I've been giving away a lot of reference books recently, or selling them on Amazon. I just don't need many of them now that I have the web. Today I am about to take the following to the charity shop:
- The Hutchinson Encyclopedia in Full Colour 9th Edition 1990. hardback. pp 1,241. Very heavy. Haven't opened it since the kids grew up.
- Good Housekeeping Family Health Encyclopedia: the complete modern reference book for the home. 1989. Hardly ever looked at it anyway and certainly don't need it now there is so much updated medical information online.
- Everywoman's Medical Handbook. 1988. To be honest, this was never very useful.
I plan to do the BookCrossing thing at some point and release some books into the wild, but I never seem to be able to organise myself and the right book to be in the right place at the right time. Giving away books in public seems to be quite complicated!
