Open Content: Paperless in 2010?

New Year’s Resolutions? Meh. Let me tell you about my 2009 resolution: to go paperless. Yeah. Right. What was I thinking?

The idea was to use as little paper as possible. I thought this was quite progressive of me. I even started a new twitter stream (www.twitter.com/paperless2009) to track my progress. A stunning 11 followers hung on my every word – not that there were many words; my tweets twitted away after a month or so – #fail.

When I talked about going paperless most of my friends and colleagues said something like, “OK, sure. Good luck with that,” in a tone of voice that really meant, “OK, sure. What are you, an idiot?” Our paper dependency is deep; the 12 step program involves many changes and adjustments.

Looking back, what worked? Quite a bit, really. For example, I attend many meetings with huge packages of documents associated with them. Senate, Board meetings, planning workshops, etc. can have hundreds of pages of documentation, minutes, reports, blah, blah, blah for each meeting. Important information to read, reflect on, and have available to you at the meeting. Where I used to print out all this stuff for the meeting and then toss it away or file it (never to be found or retrieved again), I now read it online, bring it to the meeting on my laptop, and e-file it later. I use e-post-it notes to annotate the texts with my comments.

Looking back, what didn’t work so well? Lots. Sigh. First off, the tweets I suppose. My resolve to document my progress was the first victim. More importantly, your ability to go paperless is dependent on the paperlessness of others. Not to shift the blame, but we all have to be on the same page (ouch, sorry about that). I don’t have ready access to a scanner; this was a mistake. If people are going to give me paper, the least I can do is scan it for further e-distribution and use. Pay it forward, digitally.

My biggest failing was my personal paper notebook; the journal that I carry with me to jot down notes during meetings, etc. Combined with my near obsessive use of paper Post-It Notes (I have all sizes, colours, and shapes; it’s a sad, sad affliction), I was unable to do without this. Here’s why. I have a wonderful To-do list program on my BlackBerry; I could easily use this to keep notes during meetings. However, while writing notes in a notebook is socially acceptable in meetings, keying notes into your BlackBerry makes you a pariah. Not done. You’re obviously checking your email, and not paying attention. No one assumes you are merely doodling in your notebook.

While reading on the screen is generally no problem, I find that if the document is, say, over 10 pages I’m either printing it or only skimming it online. Sustained, continuous reading of a text on the screen is a problem. What about e-books? Very soon the Library will provide access to nearly 250,000 e-books; a collection that ranges from 17th century texts to current Linux manuals. Amazon claims that it sold more e-versions of Dan Brown’s new book, The Lost Symbol, than print copies. Stunning if true.

All this is because of the rise in the past year of the e-book reader: the Kindles, Sony e-readers et al. Very cool devices. For many, the key feature with be the readability of the screen. Technology like e-ink and other advances are making screens more effective for reading, more like the experience of reading from a page (reflected light), rather than traditional screens (direct light). The latter is responsible for eye fatigue that many experience after even short sessions at their computer.

So my 2009 New Year’s resolution was a mixed success. Not nearly as heroic as planned but not a stinking mess either. Paper, it turns out, is pretty damn useful. What about paperless in 2010? Dare I publicly announce this – again? I suppose it is the trying that matters not necessarily the success. Humbled but not defeated, into the breach once more. Here’s to paperless in 2010.

Michael Ridley is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Librarian at the University of Guelph. Contact him at mridley@uoguelph.ca or www.uoguelph.ca/cio.