I set up a temporary office in our living room while we do some work in our house. Our living room is what I call our “qualitative space” in that there is no TV. It is a space denoted for sitting by the fire, reading a book, drinking a glass of merlot… listening to, or playing music.
But I just looked up and discovered a bit of a contrast. My laptop is perched right in front of a set of encyclopedias we got at a garage sale for half a buck. This relationship of the established with the new seems to represent the future to me… how things will get done, and how peace will be maintained. Listening, understanding and collaborating for a better good.
see think share 
My Dad was famous for hauling out the encyclopedia to settle a point of fact or opinion in the middle of a conversation. I used to love browsing an encyclopedia or dictionary. My eye would get caught by the articles surrounding my original reason for inquiry.
These great compendia were considered authoritative. Our searches for information on the Internet force us to winnow and sift, for the sources of information are so diverse. For instance, I choose MedLine as a base for medical information, and some sites devoted to specific areas of health. If a site touts one miracle cure after another, I don’t trust it.
Britannica’s online encyclopedia gets updated constantly. They tried doing without a print edition some years back, but people insisted on having a print edition and print annual updates.
Collaboration — people read as much or more than they ever did, lots of reading online.
Jon, you have got to see and comment on http://www.thelittlehouse.com/ImageGallery/.
It seems the smallest house in Toronto is for sale. LOL put up some of the photos. It’s seven feet wide.