tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post111618257191898671..comments2024-02-17T07:59:18.705-08:00Comments on Grad Student Madness: Bookless Libraries?!Rufushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17762279210783841414noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10166090.post-1116205197642505432005-05-15T17:59:00.000-07:002005-05-15T17:59:00.000-07:00I read this (the article and your post) with great...I read this (the article and your post) with great interest. <BR/><BR/>It seems to me that what they've done at University of Texas is to move the books away from the undergrad library and into the stacks at the main library. I can't say I think that's a great idea, but I sort of get it. What they've done is turned the undergrad library into something between a library and a computer lab, but not quite either. It's a place where students can get computer help but also one-on-one help with online databases, catalog searching, etc. That's a wonderful idea, actually, although I don't think I'd call it a library any more. I'd have built it in a third building and left both libraries alone.<BR/><BR/><B>In this information-seeking America, I can't think of anyone who would elect to build a books-only library." Am I wrong in thinking that you can get information from books? Or that it is higher-quality information than you might get from Wikipedia? Or that a librarian might agree with that?</B><BR/><BR/>I also can't really think of a reason to build a books-only library. Even a collection of historical books, or an archival collection, should include online finding aids. Of course information is found in books. But there are many reasons to provide access to the Internet and databases as well. To name two: reliable online sources give breaking news on a topic; and if someone's checked a book out, it's inaccessible until (and if) returned, whereas online/database information can be shared among several users.<BR/><BR/>Yeah, that "blurred experience" quote is retarded. But someone designing a building to fit a certain need isn't the same as a librarian. <BR/><BR/>You ask why librarians would be supportive of this trend. If you mean the trend to build bookless libraries, I'd say most librarians -- and certainly all the ones I know -- would be dead set against it, as am I.daisyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07573315582646992397noreply@blogger.com