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Iowa College Goes Paperless

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the go-ahead-order-a-transcript-just-try-it dept.

As reported in this Wired article, joelav22 writes that an "Iowa college plans to go completely paperless. There are no libraries, just work stations for e-books and online information. the article supports that 'The school plans to be an entirely paper-free campus. Last year, about 75 telecommunications students participated in a pilot program to go paperless. Each student used a Compaq iPaq handheld to access e-textbooks, syllabi and class materials, and to take notes and exams.' less time spent in a library equals more time for beer and filming amateur Girls Gone Wild digital video!"

4 of 419 comments (clear)

  1. No books? by NineNine · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Call me nuts, but there's no fucking way I'd go to a college without books! I understand their desire to be trendy and cool, but a college without a library doesn't have much of a chance to stay a real, accreddited, college.

    A college without a library is called a tech training school. They teach people how to pull cable.

  2. Copyright? by Apreche · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Isn't the only reason that a library is legal because they have a limited number of copies of a book? I mean if a new book comes out and goes in the library, its ok for the library to lend it out because they only have a limited number of copies. Assuming they will have a collection of fiction these university students will be able to make an e-book copy of every book in the library and share them with the rest of the world. A new book will come out, these students will make e-book copies, and anyone who wants can have it for free rather than going to Borders.
    The book companies have been on "our side" in terms of DMCA and stuff, we don't want to make another RIAA evil organization.

    --
    The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
  3. Re:there goes any real quality by Nilatir · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Just remember not to loan out your Readers License to a classmate. Don't want to flunk *and* goto jail...

    --

    "We were half way to Rivendell when the drugs began to take hold."
    -- Hunter S. Tolkien
  4. Private companies that have gone paperless by PhantomHarlock · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I believe Microsoft is a paper free environment, having all employee related forms and guidebooks online on their corprorate intranet. Would any Microsoft employees care to comment? Anybody else here want to comment about other companies that have gone paper free or at least tried?

    as for replacing BOOKS with electronic texts...that's still a problem because of readability due to resolution. It takes longer to read text on a CRT or LCD vs. a piece of paper. I've noticed it's easier to read text for longer periods of time on an LCD vs. a CRT, but the rate of absorbtion is not as fast as nice sharp text printed at 150 - 600 DPI. Technology will fix this eventually, but until then it's a partial solution at best.

    ---Mike