Academic libraries becoming online centers

[SFG75]

I guess it's bound to happen, but my inner-Luddite finds this a bit troubling.

This summer, 90,000 volumes were transferred to other collections in the campus's massive library system - leaving some to wonder how a library can really be a library if it has no tomes.

But a growing number of colleges and universities are rethinking and retooling their libraries to better serve students reared in a digital age.

"While libraries are still focused on their physical collections, they aren't the sole purpose anymore," says John Shank, director of the Center for Learning Technologies at Penn State Berks College in Reading. The advent of the Internet and the digitization of information has transformed the way students learn, experts concur, and libraries are scrambling to keep up.

"For most children coming of age today, information and information technology are really merging so that they don't see any disconnect between the two," says Frances Jacobson Harris, author of "I Found It on the Internet: Coming of Age Online."

I don't know about the rest of you, but I find this somewhat troubling. I believe that technology tends to reverse writing and reading skills. Any thoughts?
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0823/p01s05-legn.html

 

[lies]

Hm. I somehow don't think they'll be doing that over here too soon. My professor recently handed me about a 100 handwritten pages explaining what it is I'm supposed to be doing with my research paper. (And I must say: footnotes look awkward when they're not in print.)

 

[SFG75]

Hm. I somehow don't think they'll be doing that over here too soon. My professor recently handed me about a 100 handwritten pages explaining what it is I'm supposed to be doing with my research paper. (And I must say: footnotes look awkward when they're not in print.)

Try talking to those who did their thesis/doctoral paper using a manual typewriter. It's sooooooooo much easier with microsoft word. You can do headers and everything with just a few clicks. I don't know how many times I've heard about people going through gallons of white out and positioning their paper to make footnotes back in the olden days of education.

 

[lies]

Or on parchment!

(And I refuse to use a WYSIWYG text editor.)

 

[Ell]

Try talking to those who did their thesis/doctoral paper using a manual typewriter. It's sooooooooo much easier with microsoft word. You can do headers and everything with just a few clicks. I don't know how many times I've heard about people going through gallons of white out and positioning their paper to make footnotes back in the olden days of education.

Yep, that was me and I typed my boyfriend's too!

The digital college library is coming and I don't think there's any stopping it. This is particularly true in the science and technology fields. It's just too expensive to stock texts that quickly become out of date. Around here, it's common for students to be given assignments where they *must* include internet/online sources.

 

[Martin]

I'm all for it -I'm a cyberkid all the way. Having access to libraries full of knowledge right there behind your tiny little laptop? What's not to like?

 

[lies]

Around here, it's common for students to be given assignments where they *must* include internet/online sources.

I wasn't allowed to use internet sources for quite a few of my research papers. But I guess given the subject (history), that's not so surprising.

 

[Ell]

, hi Martin.

Funny about the laptop reference because it's something that's really taken off on campuses here. It's almost a prerequisite to have access to a laptop when you enter university. Not only are you expected to provide online reference sources, but more and more profs expect you to hand in assignments online. They don't want to be bothered with hardcopies and all that paper. Weird how fast things have changed.

 

[Martin]

Yeah, same here, we weren't allowed to use the internet in my early years, but lately (the last 2 years or so) they've given in, and allowed us to use them, if, of course, we cite them in our bibliography in perfect MLA (ack!).

Cheers

 

[lies]

Having access to libraries full of knowledge right there behind your tiny little laptop? What's not to like?

I really do like walking through the library though... You stumble upon books you wouldn't find in a catalogue that way, sometimes.

 

[Martin]

, hi Martin.

Funny about the laptop reference because it's something that's really taken off on campuses here. It's almost a prerequisite to have access to a laptop when you enter university. Not only are you expected to provide online reference sources, but more and more profs expect you to hand in assignments online. They don't want to be bothered with hardcopies and all that paper. Weird how fast things have changed.

Oh yes, very true - I've done so many online assignments, I can't even remember them all. And I was lucky enough to already have an internet connection before I started taking classes - others weren't that lucky, and they were simply told to 'go solve the problem, and I'll see you when you have a connection'.

Ouch.

The laptop-thing. Completely true. My girlfriend is going to start taking classes in a few weeks, and she was encouraged to get a laptop. So she/we did.

And Lies - you have a point there - but will the libraries cease to exist? (I didn't read the entire article).

 

[Ell]

Yeah, same here, we weren't allowed to use the internet in my early years, but lately (the last 2 years or so) they've given in, and allowed us to use them, if, of course, we cite them in our bibliography in perfect MLA (ack!).

Cheers

My sons are given a very specific format for citing their internet references. Don't know if it conforms to MLA.

 

[Martin]

MLA has a specific set of rules for citing internet references. MLA still freaks me out.

 

[lies]

others weren't that lucky, and they were simply told to 'go solve the problem, and I'll see you when you have a connection'.

Quite a few professors told me I had to e-mail them my work in Word format. I couldn't believe their nerve. I said I was willing to e-mail them my assignments in PDF, but no way am I going to go out of my way for their stupidity. It's against university policy anyway, to use platform dependent files and such.

And Lies - you have a point there - but will the libraries cease to exist? (I didn't read the entire article).

I thought the article was a bit vague and didn't really seem to be going anywhere.

Anyway, I should hope libraries don't cease to exist. Especially open shelf ones.

 

[Martin]

So why not both, digital and 'real' ones?

I mean, you have to admit that having all that text digital is mighty convenient.

 

[lies]

Yes, it makes searching for specific terms a hell of a lot easier, that's certain. I just happen to like the "Don't eat here" and "Shut the **** up" attitude at the library. At least you know you're working then.

 

[Martin]

I hate knowing I'm working. I'd rather sit at home and do some sporadic library-work inbetween weeklong bouts of procrastination.

 

[Mari]

The article is deceptive. The undergraduate library is one building in a system of libraries that is spread all over the campus. The university isn't getting rid of books; it is only converting one of its library buildings into a computerized study center. There will still be as many books, and they will still be physically available, just not in that one building. The only thing the library is doing is making room for computers in addition to its book collection.

 

[Ell]

Glad to hear that Mari. I couldn't stand a library without physical books to hold, sniff, browse. Browsing in the stacks of the main humanities library is one of my fondest memories from university days.

 

[Mari]

We have 2,000 books in our one-room apartment. The physical presence of books is important to me. We own quite a few books that are available full-text online, but we want to have them surrounding us anyway.