Comments on: Are Books Really Critical Or Just On A Steep Decline?

By: Brian Glassman

Brian Glassman — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 03:41:17 +0000

Here is my take

Book = A depth of knowledge on a particular subject or topic,

Dissertation = A depth of knowledge on a particular sub-topic,

Academic articles = A deep look at a very particular sub-topic

White paper = A light or broad look at a particular sub-topic or topic

Blog post = A very brief commentary on a topic

Tweet= A link to any of the above, otherwise it is useless

Books alone will not create a fully accurate understanding on a particular topic, for example, you could read all of the books on “Strategy” you can find, but if you are not familiar with the Academic articles on that topic, you will have a fully accurate understanding of that topic.

Why?

Well because fields evolve and change, each book presents their own perspective, and discussing all the articles and research on a particular topic is often boring and makes a book read like a dissertation, yet that is what is needed for a comprehensive understanding of that topic from a single book.

Now, there is a difference between an operational knowledge of a topic and a fully accurate understanding of that topic.

Often I would give it the 20/80 rule, if you read 20% of the top literature on that subject you will have 80% of the knowledge needed to operate.

However, as a thought leader I am requires to have a fully accurate understanding of the topics I write on and this requires me to have read 80% to 90% of the literature on the particular subject.

Dr. Brian Glassman
Ph.D in Innovation Management from Purdue University

By: odwa

odwa — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:01:07 +0000

Books are as critical as we make them to be, depending on the nature of the need; be it used as a reference, confirmation of a claim, provocation of certain thoughts and proclamations.

Blogs are as critical as our needs shape them to be. This is the most modern form of Dialectics but different in the case that they aim not to persuade others to conform to our way of thinking but stating our views on certain subject matters, in this regard; the importance of one medium compared to the other.

One is interested to see how will we argue the importance of our existing mediums (books & blogs) with the advent of new technologies in 50 years down the line.

By: donnaf

donnaf — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:32:19 +0000

I used books to learn or review fundamentals…the last few I bought were on materials science for learning and a review of the periodic table of elements and critical usage/applications. Some of the books had online chapters so it was a mix of online and written textbooks. Just today, I was looking for a good tutorial book on biocompatible materials and applications.

Having that fundamental knowledge to revisit when needed will make a blog discussion much more accurate and meaningful.

By: donnaf

donnaf — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:31:00 +0000

I still use books (work context) to learn or review fundamentals…the last few I bought were on materials science for learning and a review of the periodic table of elements and critical usage/applications. Some of the books had online chapters so it was a mix of online and written textbooks. Just today, I was looking for a good tutorial book on biocompatible materials and applications.

Having that fundamental knowledge to revisit when needed will make a blog discussion much more accurate and meaningful.

By: Stefan Lindegaard

Stefan Lindegaard — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:22:28 +0000

Charlie, the access to books – whether in a printed or digital version – is definitely an advantage over blogs. You’re right that we might loose a lot of content on this account.

BTW: All my blog posts are still online – with comments

By: Charlie Warner

Charlie Warner — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:33:57 +0000

One aspect of books that has not been mentioned that is critical to me is the fact that it is very easy to access a volume some time after you have read it- say, six months from now you need to refresh your memory about some fact, event, theory, or whatever- it the volume is not in your collection, it can generally be accessed quite readily through a public library (even if the volume is not in the local library’s stack, they can usually borrow a copy from another library). Try to relocate a critical blog entry six months from now…It probably still exists, and if you recognized the significance of the information at the time you encountered it, then you may have a copy somewhere in your files. If, on the other hand, you have to search the web for the content, even when you remember the author, the subject and the site where it was encountered, you may still find it a challenge to locate the specific content that you seek. Stefan- how many of your blogs that you wrote six months or a year ago are still accessible on line, complete with comments? Although I have no use personally for Twitter, I suspect the life expectancy of your typical twit is even shorter than that of the typical blog.
One also has an issue with the volatility of on-line information. For example, the original UN climate study included some critical information on paleoclimate that was eliminated in subsequent releases of the report. Those who have not thought to retain a copy of the original for comparison to the latest release may miss this subtle change. Wikipedia and other sources are also subject to change with time- both a good thing and a bad thing, depending on who is doing the modification and what motivates the modification…
Books give us continuity, which is not always possible with on-line sources…

By: Dave Buck

Dave Buck — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:29:54 +0000

Book to keep, or blog to perhaps search for if you want to review based on new information you’ve discovered? Both have their role, as people have pointed out in response to this question posed at a critical juncture.
I see it as similar to whether you’ll listen to a piece of music once on the radio, that was a nice tune, let’s move on, or something you’d download and keep to listen to many times. Blogs, like music from a street musician, are contemporary but fleeting interpretations. Books and recorded music have a sustained lifetime (classics) and can be revisited anytime. All can be aligned with your interests or 180 degrees opposed, high or low quality. And your interests can be in passing, for a short time frame and forgotten, replaced by more contemporary interests next week, month or year, or sustained or complex, not satisfied by someone’s short blog ruminating on today’s new product announcement.
I’ll not seek out a blog to help my daughters with a physics or calculus problem, I’ll head to my library of college textbooks I’ve preserved along with classic technical or theoretical texts and manuals. I will seek out a blog for an early report of what’s coming out in the next release of a new product.

By: Nitish

Nitish — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:04:31 +0000

Books are an excellent consolidation of literature and experience, if the author does it really well. In addition, books provide a source of incrementally developed/created knowledge, which I guess will not be available on the blogs. Books are the first port of call when somebody wants to learn something new; blogs might confuse a novice. Blogs can be a place where people who are already conversant with ideas and thoughts could learn more – enhance their knowledge base and contribute to benefit others as well.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:22:52 +0000

As a short follow-up comment — this article/60,000 word book dichotomy is obviously an artifical one set by publishers. A terrific intermediate format is the “pamphlet”, such as “Good to Greate and the Social Sectors” by Jim Collins. Essentially an article reprint — but in handy-dandy perfect-bound book form. Give me that format any day — and its probably just as profitable for the publisher as the 200pp hardcover full of pulp non-fiction.

By: Jeanne Yocum

Jeanne Yocum — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:10:21 +0000

As a book-aholic and as someone who has written a half dozen business books, I hope that books are and always will be essential. However, I do agree with the sentiments expressed here about how many books are “padded” to fill out the required number of pages. I have dealt with publishers who demand 60,000 words on a topic regardless of whether the topic requires that or not. I have never once had an acquisitions editor begin a conversation by asking how many words my co-author and I think we need to cover a topic thoroughly. Publishers want to be able to charge a certain price which in their minds translates to a certain number of pages. Many books, and therefore their readers, suffer because of this. I think this is self-defeating for the publishing industry in the long run because it turns people off to books.

Like several others who have commented here, I have always cherished the “experience” of a book. But this weekend, I read my first book on a Kindle and absolutely LOVED that experience, too. It was a novel and a real page turner (“The Help – two thumbs way up), but I am now anxious to see what it will be like to go back to an actual book.