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Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age
 
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Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age [Hardcover]

David M. Levy (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)

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What's up, doc? Information scientist David M Levy wants us to look at the documents that fill our lives, and his book Scrolling Forward is a thoughtful reflection on their near-omnipresence. Levy has the perfect resumé for this job--after getting his Ph.D. in Computer Science in 1981, he moved to England to pursue the study of calligraphy and bookbinding. His love of books shows in his writing, which is rich with references and anecdotes from Walt Whitman to Woody Allen.

Drawing on examples as disparate as grocery store receipts, greeting cards, identity papers and (of course) e-mail, Levy finds the common threads binding them together and explores how and why we use them in daily life. He looks at digitisation closely, considering how speed, ease of editing, and potentially perfect copying changes our traditional considerations of documentation. Though he insists that he's looking at the present, not speculating about the future, it's hard to see how to avoid looking ahead after reading Scrolling Forward. --Rob Lightner

From Publishers Weekly

Levy's book may not give documents the same cachet that Simon Winchester's The Map That Changed the World gave to maps, but readers will never look at a deli receipt in the same way after finishing this gripping discussion of written forms. With digital media acquiring an increasingly important place in communicating news and ideas, Levy looks at what the continuing transition from print to digital means at both practical and symbolic levels. The Internet and other electronic publishing platforms now deliver information faster than at any time in history, but tend to lose the depth of the printed page, Levy argues. And while there are good reasons to receive certain types of information quickly, there are also good reasons to read an entire printed book at one's own pace. Levy, who has a Ph.D. in computer science as well as a degree in calligraphy and bookbinding, maintains that one isn't necessarily a Luddite because he or she still prefers to read information on the printed page. To help support his position, Levy devotes one chapter to explaining why he prefers reading Leaves of Grass between covers to reading it on an e-book. Still, digital delivery of information has its merits, and striking the right balance between print and digital works is something that needs to be worked out in the years ahead. Although Levy does not come to any striking conclusions, his assessment of how documents work and what they say about our culture and values is a worthy one.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Customer Reviews

8 Reviews
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4.4 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars Is paper to disappear?, Jun 3 2004
This review is from: Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age (Hardcover)
The changing face of documents and images in the digital age is considered in a title which covers all kinds of documents and the changes they face from the digital world; from recipes and letters to business memos and other writings. Is the book doomed? Is paper to disappear? Scrolling Forward: Making Sense Of Documents In The Digital Age by David M. Levy examines documents of all kinds as they relate to culture, history and technological changes.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Documentation for our times, Feb 24 2004
By 
Daniel Akst (Hudson Valley) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Scrolling Foward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age (Paperback)
This meditation on the changing role of documents in our lives is simply marvelous--wide-ranging, literate and even profound. Levy is no Luddite--quite to the contrary--but his essays here will change the way you think about the digital revolution. I might add that the prose is a model of what writing of this kind should be: modest, inviting and free of academic jargon or posturing. Nicely done.
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1.0 out of 5 stars If you have too much time on your hands, April 25 2003
This review is from: Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age (Hardcover)
Working at PARC in research is something a lot of scientists might dream of. Lots of money and time to burn, living in the beautiful hills of Palo Alto. I used to run my bicycle around there in the morning. Mr. Levy had probably fun writing the book, but I did not have fun reading it. Obviously the author read a lot, knows a lot, but does not get to the point. The story gets lost in a mythical view about paper and information. I have to commit, I made it only to one third of the book, then I gave up, but hey, I don't work in research.
An excellent book about Information in the internet age: Die Bibliothek der Zukunft from Dieter E. Zimmer; unfortunately not in English;
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