John Miedema

Walt Crawford has written a thoughtful piece on slow reading in the March 2010 issue of Cites & Insights. I am honoured that Walt highlighted some of the important themes that I have discussed at this blog and in my book. He also refers to a number of other related writings by T. Scott Plutchak, Will Richardson, and Steve Lawson. Well worth reading.
Walt is not new to the subject of slow reading. In my research, I ran across an article called “Contemplation and Content: Getting Under Their Skins” in …

Today was a great day at the FLICC Forum at the Library of Congress. Thanks to the organizers who invited me to speak on Slow Reading, and for arranging the afternoon tour of the Library (thanks Chris for your amazing tour). Here are some followups:
The text of my speech. It was cut a little short because of time constraints, but the full speech is here.
The handout. Attendees have this in their folder, but here is a copy.
Thanks to one audience member who recommended an an essay I never heard of, …

Next Thursday, I will be presenting at the Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC) at the Library of Congress. They are hosting a forum on the future of reading. My topic is called The Speed of Reading, but of course I will be talking about slowness in reading, drawing on my book. I am busy polishing and rehearsing my speech, so posts here will be on hold till I get back. See you then.
FLICC Home
Forum Call
Agenda

The eHealth kaffufle in Ontario has nothing to do with privacy, but it got me thinking about online records and privacy. The eHealth project involves putting all of our medical records online. Usually I think that forms are just the sort of thing that should go on-line. Forms hardly deserve slow reading, after all. But some forms require enriched treatment of another sort. Medical forms have highly sensitive information, and a greater respect for privacy is needed.
Making medical records more accessible makes them, makes you more vulnerable. Maybe you …

There are currently five book reviews of Slow Reading at LibraryThing. I am pleased the readers enjoyed my take on the subject. Also some food for thought for me about academic writing. Got any thoughts on slow reading? Join the chat.

I’m not the only one with opinions on slow reading. Indeed, I’m finding there’s a legion of us out there. Come join a chat about the book, hosted by LibraryThing. It’s live now till May 22. Haven’t read the book? No worries. You can read a chapter online if you like, or just jump in the conversation.

Please join me for an author chat about Slow Reading, from May 11-22. Author chats are listed here. When the chat goes live, I will post a direct link here to the chat, along with a first post to get things rolling. It’s an opportunity to discuss anything you like about the book. I hope you join me.

Leigh Anne Vrabel is a senior staff librarian in Reference Services at the Main Library, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. She has written a significant review of Slow Reading:
In five short chapters/essays, Miedema defines slow reading and mounts a cogent defense of it in the face of technological advances that frequently predict the death of print. Stressing the need for multiple reading experiences and ways of learning, Miedema’s short, yet powerful, book, should be required reading for library school students and library management who do not hold the MLIS, and …

For this last (no promises) bit of publicity of Slow Reading, I would like to thank some people.
I am grateful to the advance readers of Slow Reading who offered blurbs for the back of the book:
Catherine Ross is a professor at Faculty of Information & Media Studies, University of Western Ontario, where I am student. She is author of Reading Matters, along with McKechnie (see next) and Rothbauer. I refer to Ross’ research in Slow Reading.
Readers make choices in the kinds of attention they give to texts–from scanning, skimming …

More than one person has teased me that he or she is going to read Slow Reading sloooowly.
The book is about slow reading, but a central theme is that there are many styles of reading. With all the recent talk about newspapers ending their print runs, some might again think that print is dead. Personally, I think much of what is in newspapers should go digital. After all, the news is fundamentally about quick updates, and digital technology is good for quick reading. Not everything deserves a slow read. …

Here is an overview of the chapters in Slow Reading:
1. The Personal Nature of Slow Reading. This chapter traces the practice of slow reading from its origins in the symbolic eating of books by prophets, to the scholarly technique of close reading, and the freer forms of slow reading used by modern educators with students of all ages. Personal control over the rate and content of reading is essential to the enjoyment of reading, which in turn creates lifelong readers.
2. Slow Reading in an Information Ecology. Read it online!
3. The …

Chapter Two of Slow Reading is available to read online.
The book, Slow Reading, is organized into four essays, each providing a fresh perspective, supported by research. The essay in Chapter Two is entitled, “Slow Reading in an Information Ecology”. It is one of my favourites because it is a well developed argument, including material tested on the road, and timely due to the latest round of debate about print vs. digital media. I am very pleased that Litwin Books agreed to provide it as a sample of the contents of …

I’m a fan of the Dewey Divas and the Dudes, a great source of book talks by Canadian publishers’ reps. Slow Reading was the subject of a recent post by Maylin Scott at their blog. Thanks Maylin.
I had the pleasure of hearing Maylin Scott speak at the Toronto Book Expo. As a book rep for Random House, her job often requires speed reading to keep up with the volume of books out there. Many of us, myself included, speed read for practical reasons. Not everything should be read slowly. But …

I am pleased to announce that my book, Slow Reading, is now available for purchase. The book is a meditation on the many meanings of slow reading. It is organized into four essays, to be summarized in forthcoming posts at this website. The book can be purchased at most online book stores and from the publisher, Litwin Books. A description and book store links are provided here.
Slow Reading emerged from writings and dialogue at this website, from independent research as part of a Master of Library Information Science program, and …

Slow Reading is in press and will be available soon.
I thought I might have the new version of OpenBook done beforehand but the publication is moving quickly. The cover image to your left is from Open Library via the current version of OpenBook.
The cover features a photo by Clara. I found the photo over a year ago when searching Flickr. You will enjoy looking at other photos on Clara’s site. See these other photos of snails and books. (Clara, as soon as I get the author copies, I …