I never did before library school and the computer boot camp finally wore me down. Oh, it was hard! It was almost like switching religions, to go from a sunny belief in serendipity to deciding that I could achieve mastery and precision if I tried.
And lo, the faithful have been rewarded: I find myself on the cozy side of the digital divide. That's a phrase you hear a lot of in library school. On one side are those who use computers. On the other are the digitally dispossessed. There's quite a crowd of them; in fact, there are whole countries on the wrong side of the divide. But even if you do have a computer, it's not hard to fall behind.
The other day I helped a friend set up a new e-mail account to replace an old one with compromised security. As I explained to her, having an insecure e-mail account is like living in a house without a door. I still can't decide if it's worse than not having an account at all, which is like being technologically homeless--that's why they call it an address. She's just finished her first formal computer course. Tomorrow we're going to set up her new monitor. Where do you stand on the digital divide?
