The Sacredness of Print Literacy

Reading is an important skill to possess to be success as an individual in life. Reading any literacy, such as books, magazines, articles, journals, etc, will help an individual have what it takes to possess the reading skill. Along with what we read, there are many purposes for comprehending literature. Some of the main purposes for reading can be for school education, work, sports, or pure entertainment. With all of this being said, Is the print of a book better than reading literacy digital, or vice versa? The decision to which one an individual chooses to read is what that individual actually prefers. All digital reading has sky rocketed in today’s world in many different ways. But, print literacy has the greater advantages to be more desirable than reading any digital literacy.

Print literacy has been around for ages, and it seems to be going no where any time soon. Not that reading print is better than digital learning, but print has greater advantages for educational purposes. An article that I read titled, “A Test of Character” by Sandra Aamodt, has many reasons to why reading print is a better option for everyone. Sandra Aamodt argues that, “Fifteen or 20 years ago, electronic reading also impaired comprehension compared to paper, but those differences have faded in recent studies” (Aamodt 2009). The comprehension of reading print is more efficient compared to the electronic reading. Even though Aamodt talks about these differences fading doesn’t mean there isn’t comprehensive difficulties still roaming around in our literacy skills. Due to these comprehensive difficulties, the pace of a reader is substantially different when it comes to reading print from electronic. Aamodt claims that, “Electronic reading has become progressively easier as computer screens have improved and readers have grown accustomed to using them. Still, people read more slowly on screen, by as much as 20-30 percent” (Aamodt 2009). For the pace of a reader to be different from 20-30 percent is a substantially good amount. People having the print literally in their hands rather than on a screen can be the main reason why people have trouble reading faster on a screen. The print version will be less of an effort as a reader than the electronic version.

As the reader, it would be more enjoyable to be able to relax, and read your book or magazine. But, when it comes to the electronic reading, an individual might get frustrated with reading on a screen. Aamodt argues in her article that, “Reading on screen requires slightly more effort and thus is more tiring, but the differences are small and probably matter only for difficult tasks” (Aamodt 2009). Having the print in our hands requires a little bit of less effort as an individual. The reader has an easier time annotating what they are reading to be able to make side notes on the side margins, and highlight the important parts of the literacy. Book marking a page with a sticky note, or bending the corner of a page makes things easier on the reader. When reading through a screen, annotation can be more difficult and more effort to take full notes. Scrolling up and down on the page, or clicking back and forth through pages requires a little more effort for the individual reading. The print will allow you to relax while reading, and will allow you to stay away from distractions that are bound to happen during electronic reading.

While reading through digital items, there can be plenty of distractions to occur for the reader. The internet for social networks, and e-mails can be a huge distraction for the reader to get off track for a good amount of time. Sandra explains how in certain studies these distractions happen often. She implies that, “In one study, workers switched tasks about every three minutes and took over 23 minutes on average to return to a task. Frequent task switching costs time and interferes with the concentration needed to think deeply about what you read” (Aamodt 2009). These distractions occur quite a few times while reading, and will take up even more time to finish the reading. As the reader, your concentration will be on another topic you saw on Facebook or Twitter which will cause you to not digest any of the information you read or will be reading. An individual having the reading right in their hands will allow them to relax on a couch or bed to keep away from all distractions that occur while reading an electronic version.

Another article I read which was titled, “Why Printed Books Will Never Die” by Josh Catone, argues why printed versions of books will never die, and why they have their advantages over digital versions. Catone suggests, “the book cover evolved as a marketing tool. It had to grab your attention from its place on the shelf. For that reason, the best designed covers were often beautiful art pieces. Not so in the digital world” (Catone 2013). Catone is suggesting that print versions are better because our at tention is grabbed instantly with the cover of a book. The design on the front of a book will have our interest in it before we even start reading the literacy. If the book has our attention to concentrate before opening the book then we will be more prepared to comprehend the reading right away. To go along with the cover design, Catone argues “People who need to possess the physical  copy of a book, not merely an electronic version, believe that the objects themselves are sacred” (Catone 2013). He is suggesting that people need to have these items in a more tangible form rather than on a computer screen. Individuals enjoy having the printed version of a book to keep as a collectors item. The books take up space, but showing off these sacred items give individuals some sort of honor and happiness.

As the reader, your able to make your own choices and decisions to which one you prefer to read whether it’s the print or digital. Through facts and data, print should be the wiser choice of reading as the individual to be the better reader for yourself. Digital literacy has some advantages over print, but those advantages don‘t out weigh the advantages that print literacy has to take over all literacy. Print literacy will always be around, and will never die in this world. Print versions have their advantages over digital versions, and print allows us to be better scholars rather than reading digitally.

References

1. Aamodt, Sandra. "Does the Brain Like E-Books?" Room for Debate. N.p., 14   Oct. 2009. Web. 29 Apr. 2013.

2. Catone, Josh. "Why Printed Books Will Never Die." Mashable. N.p., 16 Jan. 2013. Web. 29 Apr. 2013.