Preparing a talk to be delivered at Online Information last year (a talk that never actually took place due to the strong antipathy that exists in this country between railways and snow) led me to reflect on what reading actually is. Is this what first flashes into your mind when you hear someone use the verb ‘to read’ – someone alone and at rest, completely absorbed in the text? Well maybe it does if, like me, you’re an English graduate. When you come to look at it more objectively, however, you notice that reading covers a huge spectrum of activities, only some of which involve quite this level of immersion and ‘dwell time’. Continue reading →