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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."
We should have done this 5 years ago. The sooner we move to digital libraries the better, why? Simple. No one likes physical books anymore, they are heavy, they are difficult to store, theres a limited amount of them, and overall people are less likely to read when they have to use the old system.
I think online libraries are the future, and if we really want to help people we should offer free access to these libraries to anyone in the third world with internet access. This is good news folks.
Now the only way to make this better is to allow anyone from any college anywhere in the world to access one giant online library of combined college networks.
What is this irrational nonsense about Africa and how exactly did Africa get involved in the debate about libraries?
It has nothing to do with the majority of people. The majority of people will never step foot into a physics laboratory. But most schools still have one. Strange, huh?
It also has nothing to do with being cool. If there was ever a time when the library was the cool place to hang out, I haven't heard of it.
If you have a "good" culture then you'll consider the library the coolest place to hang out. If you are in college and you don't hang out at the library, perhaps you should spend your time doing something else because thats basically what college is about. You pay to hang out at the library, talk to professors, and maybe occassionally with students. If you go to a college to party, then you are letting your valueable money go to waste and I'm fine with that because its not my money.
Just because you, and some people you know, don't find libraries useful, doesn't mean universities and colleges should get rid of them for everyone. There's still a large number of people, even if they're a minority) who prefer reading books to reading online. I'm thinking about going to graduate school, and not having a traditional library would rule out a school immediately, no questions asks.
If you are going to debate with someone, at least debate things I've actually said. I never said libraries werent useful. I said books arent useful to me personally. I don't have a use for books anymore because I know the technology. I'm posting here on slashdot when I could be reading a book, the newspaper, etc. Why? The internet has more diversity of information. The library has a very restricted westernized style of handling information, a lot of the best information might not be at that specific library you are at, and I doubt you want to travel from library to library looking for that important book.
I don't know about you but all that matters to me is portability and access to information. PDAs are more portable than books, and the internet is a better model of distribution. These are facts and you cannot argue against it.
Huh. Well, who'da thunk it.
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