A good day for the backlist

“What’s new?”

That’s a fine approach to staying up to date on a situation or field where you are well-informed. After all, if you notice what’s new and incorporate it with what you know, you’ll remain well informed. This is the thesis behind Slack and even email.

The small town police chief has been to every house, met every resident. Hearing about the changes in town are enough for her to stay on top of her job.

The deluge of information being created in every corner of the world, though, means that it’s really unlikely that we’re actually well-informed. Knowing what’s new isn’t sufficient to keep us informed.

It’s possible that you’ve heard every single recorded performance of the Grateful Dead, or read all of Isaac Asimov or understand the nuances in the tax code. But it’s unlikely. And so, if you’re busy checking to see what’s new on the last Sunday of summer in the northern hemisphere, perhaps it makes sense to set the breaking news aside and take a look at the backlist instead.

You can search all of my blog posts at this link. We’ve installed a new search engine and it’s fast and effective. Type in a concept you’re interested in (here’s one) and you might be surprised at what’s there.

That’s the beauty of the backlist. That, and you can always find more of it, whenever you’re ready.