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College Libraries Without Books
Groo writes to tell us CBS News is reporting that books are a thing of the past at a University of Texas library this fall. The University will be converting the library to a 'social gathering place more akin to a coffeehouse.' This push is done in response to the increasing use of online research as a part of undergraduate studies. According to the article the missing books will be replaced by "colorful overstuffed chairs for lounging, barstools for people watching, and booths for group work. In addition to almost 250 desktop computers, there will be 75 laptops available for checkout, wireless Internet access, computer labs, software suites, a multimedia studio, a computer help desk and repair shop, and a cafe."
Have they guaranteed that every piece of printed matter in the library is available in electronic format, equally easy to access, before doing this?
If not it seems like a move to effectively rob students of necessary learning resources.
Surely people wanting to study in a library are more interested in access to good materials than in a coffeeshop environment which they can get elsewhere easily.
Then again, no doubt the university will make a shed load of money from the coffee, etc.
For tech subjects, there's nothing like Google.
For tech subjects.
Get into the real world, of detailed data though -- suddenly, all the detailed data is in the literature. We must find a way to expose that data to the new mechanisms of search -- searching indices of books in the Dewey Decimal System is over, and it's now a matter of factual extinction vs. getting the data out there.
I went to the University of Texas, and their library was always inspiring. Their libraries were huge. I remember checking out a 300 page book on moth's probiscus... I don't think that kind of information is available online, at least not anywhere near as in depth... Atleast to me, this is a huge disappointment...
WANNAWIKI Wannawiki WannaWiki WANNAWIKI!
This seems odd to me. After receiving an Honorable Mention from Playboy in their "America's Best Party Schools" list in 2002, one would think they'd try to turn that reputation around. I mean sure, Internet research is all well and good, but nothing will ever replace a long boring Saturday holed up in the library with a stack of books.
"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
why? my school's (cal poly slo) library has 2 labs with about 100 computers, we have laptops available, and lots of tables, group rooms, and comfy chairs.
we also have 4 stories of books above that.
you're telling me a cal state school has a bigger library than UT?
I just found the box to change my sig. Um.... [timeless witticism].
They may have given the books away to other libraries in the system, but I have a feeling that when they say "software suites", they are including the digitized versions of the books they are eliminating.
Information is not a static thing, and the progress from static books to dynamic online resources is a reaction to that. However, there is still value in understanding what people believed back before the "curent truth" was understood. Spontaneous Generation, a defunct theory of abiogenesis, was once the prevailing theory of germs. Now we know better and have better theories to explain the phenomenon. But does that mean that the thought processes of those early medical pioneers were wrong or only incomplete?
An older book which contains the original theory as it was understood to be correct at the time will present the evidence with a positive bent. Any modern book will only present it with a desultory tone.
Our understanding of the world grows all the time, and books are excellent in recording these things for posterity. The internet, on the other hand, is designed around change. It does not make sense to keep an out-dated theory around, as it just takes up disk space and bandwidth. So there is a chance that we may lose little bits of historical knowledge here and there, and all that adds up.
Of course, it happens with books as well. However with books, the texts are printed once and forever and will contain its information until it is physically destroyed. Bits on a web server can be wiped out with just a command.
Which is why I don't think that they are getting rid of the book information, just the physical copies. It makes sense to keep the digitized copies available for research purposes, even if they may contain old and outdated information.
Jesus saved me from my past. He can save you as well.
its because the funding was cut on the UGL
its sad that they are proclaiming that this was the plan all along though
there were protests all over campus last semester to keep the library the way it was.
the large library (the one that most people used if they were using books) is still there.
to tell you the truth i didnt know a single person who used the UGL, so maybe this will end up being a nice fix to something that could have been just bulldozed instead.
*shrug*
i get back to campus in 3 days, so i guess i'll find out then
Internet coffee would suit better.
The undergraduate library at UT hardly has any books anyway. It's basically a place where students go to study. I have never heard of anyone going to find a book there. They don't have research journals or anything like that. There are something like 15 other libraries on campus that have all the books and journals (eg. Life Sciences Library, Engineering Library, Main PCL Library, etc.).
Whenever I have to read a large computer document, I print it out; they weigh less than a laptop, can be easily stored in a bookshelf and I can store more books in bookshelves than I will ever be able to read.
They also allow me to make notes, put markers, read anywhere, any time and even without electricity. They also allow me to keep both the text and my own work next to eachother at the same time without having to buy a second laptop.
Reading from the other comments on this topic, I gather that atleast 90% of the populace still prefers paper to screen reading for these and other reasons.
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Books aren't a collection of highlights, they're (potentially) multi-page, often multi-hundred-page long works. Maybe you;re able to read somethng that long on a screen comfortably and efficiently, I can't.
The library just isn't as cool as it once was simply because no one wants books anymore. We outnumber folks like you
This is a fucking UNIVERSITY. If university students can't read an entire book except in blipvert fragments, it's goodbye to civilisation as we know it.
I am a university researcher, and I do use Google Scholar and Citeseer almost exclusively. The university is subscribed to almost everything out there, and I only rarely need something that is not available through the web. It depends on the field you are in, of course; I rarely need something more than 10 years old.
There a two different usage patterns concerning books in my humble opinion.
Research, where I really enjoy beeing able to full-text search through thousands of (e.g.) pdfs and online information (through spinweb etc.)
Reading a book I much prefer if it is for entertainment or if I have to dig deep into a subject. There I don't need full-text search and a book has no other fancy features that distract my attention.
My son's middle school was designed in the mid 90's. It did not really have a refrence library only banks of computers. This year they sacrifised two clasrooms and converted them to a complete refrence library containing real books. The quality of the childrens work improved.
that grabbing and flipping the pages is not an extra step?
My anedocte (it's probably the 2nd time I posted this):
I am a public employee, and I had to pass a rather difficult test to get my job (500 candidates, 5 openings, I was #3). And I studied all of the test's subjects (civil law, constitutional law, legislative process, administrative law) off a Palm III's screen -- translated all texts and codelaw into HTML and plucker'ed them: autoscroll was my friend. With some smart indexing and x-refing. Now, if I was to carry all this with me (I studied a lot while commuting) I would have to carry appoximately 20kg of books, instead of 200g in my pocket. And I obviously have no problem reading from a screen.
It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
Background: I attended UT Austin as a professional student 1973-1981, and did refresher work in 2003-2004.
First, it was officially named the Academic Center since at least 1973. It was known informally as the Undergraduate Library. Renaming to "Peter T. Flawn Academic Center" occurred much later.
Second, what is really happening here is that the Academic Computing and Information Technology Services organization is growing, and needed space. Rather than build a building, it was far cheaper to take the remaining space in an existing building. The ground floor was computer labs, magazines, and study carrels. The second floor was ACITS offices, a huge open lab, and a large open space. While I was there, ACITS filled the open space with support offices, and also took some of the open lab for office space. The computers that had been located in that part of the open space were relocated elsewhere in the building, mainly to the third floor. The third floor contained what few books were left, along with the media library (formerly the audio library).
Finally, there is one question I haven't seen addressed, and I really wish I was a student so I could get the question asked in public. The library system had always paid for the guards for the building. Library system budget cuts forced the Academic Center to remove the guards on third shift. When the guards went away, ACITS closed the open lab on that shift, because there was now no one to make even nominally certain that hardware didn't walk out the door. There were some loud grumbles about closing the biggest 24-hour open lab on campus, but nothing ever came of it. Now that the building is entirely an ACITS facility, will ACITS find the money for guards to have the building open for students 24 hours a day?
And I should mention that I spent a LOT of time studying in the Academic Center and using that open lab.
So how many people here find something interesting on the web, then print it out to read it if it is more than a few pages?
How many of these students will print out reams of paper that they would not have done if they had the book infront of them?
At work we kill lots of trees to print out tech manuals and product manuals that are sent to us electronically.
At school I did the same thing, especially with homework assignments. The school wanted all the professors to start sending out homework assignment electronically. However, it ends up costing the school more since all the students then go and print out the assignments on the school computers/printers. Cost per page of a photocopy is less than the cost per page of a lazer printer.
Fly me to the moon Let me sing among those stars Let me see what spring is like On jupiter and mars
You prefer to read from a book because it's a superior technology. The book's resolution is far higher than the screen, as books are typically printed at a resolution of 1500dpi or better, compared to around 100dpi for most modern monitors. The book's display is an absorptive technology, which is easier on your eyes than the projective nature of the monitor. You also can't beat the book's infinite "battery life," compared to a few hours for notebook computers.
While technologies like digital ink, which is an absorptive display that doesn't consume power unless you're changing the text, may offer a superior technology to books in the future, the book is a much better technology than current computers for reading large amounts of text.
The only way for people to actually get educated is for people to have a list of all the best books and the way the library is current set up its impossible to 1. read every single book 2. know which books are the best books Of course, the nice thing about libraries is that they have librarians, who are there to help you find the information you need. At least, libraries should have librarians. Some have part-time undergrads, which is not the same thing AT ALL. So when universities skimp on the librarians, you suffer.
Some background: I am currently an undergraduate in my last semester at Lehigh University.
At my school, there are two main undergraduate libraries on campus: The more liberal arts-oriented one (called Linderman) with creaking wood floors, hand-carved wood covering the walls and ceilings, and a very nice (no longer functional) fireplace inside the massive reading room; the other is the more "modern" library that has no need for a description...just picture every other "modern" library on campuses around America (called Fairmart amoung students).
Now, Fairmart has the majority of the library computers with the main concentration of such on the main floor. Every other floor has more computers. Linderman lacks computers everywhere but 9 in the main reading room. NINE in an entire library (obvious exceptions being in librarian offices).
With all this technology creeping into Fairmart, I see more and more of an interest among the student body to study in Linderman. Where there's technology, there's noise. It is virtually impossible to find a seat in Linderman during exams...even in the "haunted" basement.
I, for one, do not like this trend of technology creeping into university libraries. Even our beloved Linderman was just approved for renovations...what an uproar that caused amongst students. It seems like everyday we are losing one more quiet place where we can get away from it all and just bury our nose in a book to study.
As far as this electronic "paper" is concerned: I hope they make it as indestructible as my textbooks so I can throw them across a room when a concept doesn't make sense. Furthermore, when the switch to digital happens, what am I going to sell to other students to recoup some of the money that was gouged out of me by the bookstore? Surely, there will be some sort of DRM and they will still charge $100 for one book.
I don't print anything for reading. To the contrary, I scan everything I can so whatever I want is on one slim notebook computer or a few cubic inches of 0.5TB storage.
... but truly worthwhile material (NOT relatively transient stuff printed to be read once and tossed) should be printed, bound, and shelved as long-lasting human-readable low-tech backups.
... but absolutely should retain the physical copies. One good-sized EMP and the computers will forget everything. And there's nothing like spending hours wandering the stacks, browsing thru whatever strikes you.
Moving into an apartment led me to reduce paper as much as possible. While reading paper is nicer (mostly because that's what we grew up with), I have no qualms about reading long texts online. The tradeoff favors a paperless existance.
That said, I do have about 3000 books in storage, hopefully destined for a dedicate personal library when I find a new house. Online text is great for speed and portability
The library should digitize all its books
Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?