Preparing for the Dissertation Project

The dissertation project require a lot of work and in depth research to be done. This week we had a meeting about what we need to fill out so that we can start the dissertation next year. But a lot of preparations needs to be done before we actually conduct the dissertation.

At this stage I feel that I have a good idea now of what the dissertation project requires as we already had an assignment unit based on that. This unit was as an introduction to the dissertation and we had to find out a topic which interests us, but can be changed next year. As a requirement to this unit we had to find and read from different sources to formulate a bibliography list. Then the proposal form and its presentation and then the literature review and its presentation. These were only a requirement for this unit as to reach the given criteria, with the aim that we get knowledge about how to start the dissertation. Although we created our own title for the unit, everything can be changed or refined till next year. In my opinion this unit helped me more to understand certain requirements that are very important to the dissertation.

Moreover, I still feel uncertain about my chosen title as there might be room for improving the title as I think, it could be more specific to what I intend to research about. My topic will be related to interior design specifically on public libraries. I still need to develop realistic and better arguments about the title. Doing more research during next summer should help me be prepared to develop arguments. Furthermore, we need to fill the ‘Statement of Intent’ form again and although I already did one during the unit mentioned earlier, I don’t feel confident filling the real one, as I’m not certain if I’m doing it right and I’m still waiting for the marks and feedback of that unit, which I hope that I did well and if not, I’m hoping for a good feedback of what I did wrong so I could improve upon.

As mentioned earlier, the meeting we had this week, was to inform us that we need to fill a form about who I would prefer as my supervisor, based on their area of knowledge. I already have in mind who I will be listing in my preference list.

Debates

During this week’s lecture, we had to debate about the controversial tunnel that is being proposed between Malta and Gozo. I was chosen with the in-favour group and another group were against. So, we started researching as a group from our devices to find the best arguments possible to attack the opponent and also to formulate good arguments to defend our side. In my opinion, it was a very interesting topic to debate on, and last week's topic, was on the flood relief project in Malta, which it wasn't a really interesting subject to have good arguments on.

These exercises (debates) have been happening for the last weeks to help us understand the real purpose of a debate. Debates for me are quite a difficult task to do and I think that such exercises during the lecture will help me out understand what and how to actually do debates and put us on the right track. My main difficulty is that I’m a very shy person and talking in front of a number of people with their full attention towards me gets me nervous and I usually feel very uncomfortable in such situations. I believe that having great arguments won’t do magic in debates, I think that having an outgoing and a confident personality is much important as to convince the opponent, which I feel that such thing might get against me in debates.

Something that I’m not that sure and still need to get used to is how a debate is build up. If I recall correctly firstly, the first round starts by a five-minute introduction, then the opponent another five. Then only one group gets a five-minute round to ask multiple questions to the other group. This round needs to be done by quick questions from one group and the opponent needs to just answer. Then the debate continues by five-minute each group one after the other, answering, defending and attacking the previous arguments being mentioned in the same debate. Things that needs to be avoided during debates are the tendency to interrupt each other and that we let our emotions talk rather than the real arguments themselves. 

Are Libraries Being Overlooked Nowadays? (Dissertation)

It is a fact that libraries are losing popularity and they’re not being used as much. I did some research from the National Statistics Office of Malta’s website, where I found the real statistics of how much libraries in Malta are being used along the past years.

According to the National Statistics Office – Malta (NSO) in 2013 the number of book loans from public libraries in Malta were lower than the previous year by 9.5 % (Ellul, N., 2014). In 2014, loans were also lower by 17.3% from the previous year (Galea, J., 2016), however during the year of 2015 the number of book loans increased by 22.5% from the previous year (Caruana, E., 2015).  These statistics are accurate ones and one would notice that libraries are not being used as much from time to time. For instance, taking the number of book loans during the year 2015 which is a total of 777,804 compared with 2012 which had a total of 848,167 book loans (Galea, J., 2016) (Caruana, E., 2015) (Ellul, N., 2014). That is a considerable decreasing amount, which can be worrying towards the use of libraries in the future.

Not only in Malta, the use of library is decreasing but also in England, which is a worrying fact that needs to be taken care and action upon, before libraries are forever gone (Flood, A., 2014). Another issue is that very few people are choosing the role as a librarian (Flood, A., 2014). 

One of the reasons that libraries are being overlooked is because of the new technologies, which are somehow taking over. Technology such as eBooks are sometimes being preferred over books as they have some advantages over the use of a book (Abram, S., 2010). EBooks can be very useful to people who are visually impaired as they have the option to let the device read aloud the text for them (Abram, S., 2010). This provides an easy opportunity towards such users, who are usually in the minority. EBooks has multiple other advantages such as, having the option to change the font size or type easily, dictionary function, etc. (Abram, S., 2010). Moreover, it can hold thousands of books in just one device, which allows the user to easily browse their preferred book in just few clicks (Abram, S., 2010). On the other hand, printed books will provide a user experience, by its smell and feel which enhance the user’s memory according to the article ‘P-Books vs. Ebooks: Are There Education Issues?’ by Abram, Stephen. While printed books can be long lasting and can be borrowed, although risks passing germs from one person to the other (Abram, S., 2010).

References:

• Abram, S., 2010. 'P-Books vs. Ebooks: Are There Education Issues?', Multimedia & Internet@Schools, 17, 6, pp. 13-16, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 11 February 2017.
• Caruana, E., 2015. Statistics on Libraries: 2014. NEWS RELEASE. National Statistics Office – Malta. [pdf] Available at: https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_C1/Living_Conditions_and_Cultu re_Statistics/Documents/2015/News2015_117.pdf [Accessed 11 February 2017]. 
• Ellul, N., 2014. Statistics on Libraries: 2013. NEWS RELEASE. National Statistics Office – Malta. [pdf] Available at: https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/Archived_News_Releases/Documents/2014/News20 14_118.pdf [Accessed 11 February 2017].
• Flood, A., 2014. Library usage falls significantly as services shrink. The Guardian. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/dec/10/library-usage-fallsdramatically-services-visits-down-40m [Accessed 11 February 2017].
• Galea, J., 2016. Statistics on Libraries: 2015. NEWS RELEASE. National Statistics Office – Malta. [pdf] Available at: https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/View_by_Unit/Unit_C1/Living_Conditions_and_Cultu re_Statistics/Documents/2016/News2016_140.pdf [Accessed 11 February 2017].

The Importance of Reading Education in Relation to the Library. (Dissertation)

This blog is going to discuss few arguments related with my dissertation title which is, "Discovering Innovative Ways to Design a Local Public Library".

A research article named ‘Sharing resources - how library networks can help reach education goals’ written by Ruth Makotsi, argues about reading education within southern countries such as in Africa where people are very poor. It argues that in order to have well literate and educated people, it is to the utmost importance that they read, but to read they actually need reading materials (Makorsi, R., 2005). Reading is a very powerful tool to be invested in people to help them get knowledgeable, “broaden horizons and think independently and critically” (Makorsi, R., 2005). Promoting literacy is very essential to such countries, at the same time it is also important to other countries. Libraries could be a great way to promoting reading by providing updated reading material regularly. This article emphasizes on the impact of reading culture in southern countries, how it would improve their expansion in education therefore this would result in a better economy. “Libraries can provide information about all sorts of issues which can help alleviate poverty, and act as a focal point for the community” (Makorsi, R., 2005).

The article ‘The Role of Libraries in the Creation of Literate Environments’ by Lisa Krolak has similar arguments to the previous article mentioned ‘Sharing resources - how library networks can help reach education goals’. It is very important that environments such as libraries are well maintained, as this might encourage people to continue flourish their literacy skills by going to libraries more often (Krolak, L., 2005). On the other hand ‘The Role of Libraries in the Creation of Literate Environments’ argues that in order to have basic interest amongst people, basic education needs to start at home as parents should also be educated enough to encourage their children to read and make use of available reading material (Krolak, L., 2005).  According to the same article mentioned in this paragraph, children who are brought up in literate environments are more to succeed rather than those who are not. Schools are mostly beneficial to promote reading to children. It also argues that on the other hand, children today might get easily distracted by having more than enough easy access to technology such as televisions, computers, etc. which these eventually acts against reading education. Such technologies are also providing enough fun to children and they are distracted from reading for fun (Krolak, L., 2005). It also argues that libraries worldwide are not well funded and has low budget allocated to libraries individually. Due to this, libraries can be effected negatively 4 towards its service and in its provided materials including books, furniture, computers, DVD/Cds, etc. which are most to require funds (Krolak, L., 2005).  These things are important to be kept in safe and dry place, where there’s no excessive humidity (Krolak, L., 2005). It’s also important the place is safe from theft by having installed the necessary equipment/tools to act against theft (Krolak, L., 2005). 

In contrast to the previous articles mentioned, where they mention the importance of the library towards society, the article ‘Architectural Design Education: Designing a Library, Public Communication and Information Center in the Manufacturing Zone of Central Eskisehir Turkey, a Case Study’, argues that libraries aren’t important anymore and that “it is a fact that their [libraries] golden age has past due to contemporary reproduction and copying possibilities”, and that the internet is taking over the main role of the library (Caglar, N., Uludag, Z., 2006). Libraries are just places where people just sit and read together in public, according to this article. It adds that “libraries will survive for the sake of the attractiveness of the ritual of reading together in public that it serves.” (Caglar, N., Uludag, Z., 2006). 

References:

Caglar, N., Uludag, Z., 2006. Architectural Design Education: Designing a Library, Public Communication and Information Center in the Manufacturing Zone of Central Eskis ,ehir Turkey, a Case Study. International Journal of Art & Design Education, 25: 231–240. https://goo.gl/AzgWGD [Accessed 04 February 2017].

Krolak, L., 2005. The Role of Libraries in the Creation of Literate Environments. [pdf] United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Available at: http://www.ifla.org/files/assets/literacy-and-reading/publications/role-of-libraries-increation-of-literate-environments.pdf [Accessed 04 February  2017].

Makorsi, R., 2005. Sharing resources - how library networks can help reach education goals. [pdf] Book Aid International. Available at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c5ad/3692f8bfc620b24a54a3c25b5e56a6898b41.pdf [Accessed 04 February 2017].