The appeal of books and libraries versus The Internet

[Aoie_Emesai]

Since we are all vivid internet users ^^

I though of this while reading an article on John Grisham on CNN. While the internet plague has already been terrible enough as it is. Yeah... that's what I call it, for ruining the active lives of the 21st century kids.

That topic aside, how does the future of the libraries look when the internet seem to be capable of of everything books seem to offer. Can the internet really replace our old fashion library?

--For fun reading---
http://warriorlibrarian.com/RESEARCH/libresearch.html
http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/sele...reasonswhy.cfm

Spoiler for spoiler:

Of course if you read enough articles about it, it's the intergration of the two that will make libraries and books successful along side with the internet.

Since the internet isn't just all educational and I don't really care to discuss about the other reasons of the internet, i'll stick to educational purposes. Typing relating key words on google lead me to a forum about the a relating topic as i'm discussing now and it's about "how books couldn't teach me HTML and the internet did." I don't disagree that the internet can't teach you things, but I did find that the statement "book's cant teach", partially reworded by me, but that statement is terribly ignorant and one sided. If this stated about programs can't teach you basic things, then I might agree.

I know i haven't bought a single "photoshop tutorial" book ever other than a "Advanced Photoshop" magazine which I find much more convenient and better than regular photoshopping books due to the amount of information in them from different perspective and people. But I do also get many of my lessons from mini tutorials online which I also find quite intellectually written for any level of photoshoppers.

If you have tried lessons/tutorials from both the internet and books, how have each of them differ from each other? Did you find one more helpful than another or did you found one just not helpful at all?

How does the future of the two looks like?
----

For me personally, I think the internet is great and all, but I just cannot sit on it all day long reading articles. My eyes just strains. I rather be reading my science magazines and advanced photoshop than read anything like that online. But then some times, some things just cannot be gotten with what I have so I have to turn to the internet for what it gives.

[Archontic]

Of course the internet can replace libraries. Not everyone can afford it, though. With public libraries, you can just walk in and walk out, or sit and read. That, and there are a great many people who either aren't technologically savvy or believe that books have a certain charm that overpowers the internet. It must have something to do with age and tangibility.

Either way, I think that books will always be around. Just not as much as the years go by. Who knows where shit will be in 100 years with how fast the world is moving?

[Edgewalker]

I do prefer reading things in PDF format then in a book.

CTRL-F is so much more convenient then -Flip to back of book-Flip to index- Flip through the alphabet-find your word ( hopefully )- then turn to the pages it appears-Scan the pages for your word.

[Archontic]

Originally Posted by Edgewalker

I do prefer reading things in PDF format then in a book.

CTRL-F is so much more convenient then -Flip to back of book-Flip to index- Flip through the alphabet-find your word ( hopefully )- then turn to the pages it appears-Scan the pages for your word.

I would berate you for laziness if I weren't just as bad. What have we become?

[Aoie_Emesai]

Originally Posted by Archontic

I would berate you for laziness if I weren't just as bad. What have we become?

Oh jeezes, lol ^_^ I guess control F do help a lot.

[cicido]

I prefer a real book, yes I said it, I prefer a book that you can hold in your hands.

[Spectacular_Insanity]

I don't read on a computer. It would hurt my eyes staring at a computer screen for so long, because when I sit down to read, I read for an entire day, if I can.

No, I still prefer real books when it comes to reading. I know people that read manga online, but i can't stand that. Give me a good old paperback anytime.

[teachopvutru]

I'm not an avid reader (if I'm actually anywhere near there) but beside the Ctrl + F thing, I still prefer a book over reading on the computer screen. It just feels better (kinda like playing chess on real board vs. on the Internet, I suppose).

Of course, it also depends on what I read. For most stuffs, what I say above is true, but for reading materials like tutorials to use a computer program, I would rather do it on the computer.

So I would say that they make a nice complement to each other. It would suck if any replaces the other anytime soon.

[Ledgem]

The library is a place designated for quiet. I think that plenty of people go to the library for that atmosphere, if not for the books. I know many public libraries outside of the city that hold special events (recitals, discussions, movie screenings) as well. Many libraries now also act as free net-cafes for people. Libraries will likely continue to integrate computers more efficiently. I don't think they'll disappear any time soon.

On the topic of books vs. the internet or reading by computer, it depends for me. I found it easier to slog through my science and class texts when they were on the computer. I guess I'm more used to scanning for information on the computer, and can maintain attention better. With books, you really start to notice things like page count and how much time passed since you last turned that page. However, I prefer to do pleasure reading off of the computer. This likely has to do with a psychological link that I've developed between the computer and certain activities.

[TinyRedLeaf]

I would suggest that in the long run, all books ought to digitised, to help preserve information for posterity. It saves space and paper. It also makes it a lot easier to retrieve information, because it is much easier to organise digital information into databases.

As for reading, I still prefer to read hardcopy rather than softcopy. I don't know to what extent this is a mere aesthetic preference. For one thing, it is a lot easier to annotate hardcopy. And no matter how large my screen resolution gets, it can never beat having a real desktop to layout hundreds of drafts and notes for ease of referencing information while doing my research and writing.

[Zaku Hyuga]

I prefer real libraries to the internet. With the internet you have to sit and wait for the page to download, and the light from the computer hurts your eyes when you look for so long, especially when it's dark in the room. You have to sit right at the computer where as you can take a book nearly anywhere. Just hand me a book and I'm good to go.

[Quzor]

Originally Posted by Archontic

I would berate you for laziness if I weren't just as bad. What have we become?

Too true, too true. However, it is features of that nature that make the internet a valuable tool, I think.

On the other hand, I think the internet can actually be a detriment in some cases. Let's have a look at the educational discussion, since that's what the OP was talking about in the first place.

When it comes to research, the internet can be a wonderful tool. Thousands upon thousands of resources at your fingertips. You don't have to flip through card catalogs, or fumble around with malformed database queries; you just type in a brief description of what you're looking for, and there it is, right in front of you. However, many sources on the internet are unreliable, and many that are reliable, cost money. I can't remember how many times I'd be looking for an article on the internet, and have to pay some fee to download/access it. But sometimes there are no other alternatives, because the article is too old to be housed in library archives, or the specific publication of which you're in need has been lost or damaged. In the long run though, money problems created by the internet are easily resolved by the library,which is a FREE service.

Many people, especially high school students I've noticed, do not take the time to research and properly verify their information before stating it as fact in a report of some type. Wikipedia, perhaps the greatest source of all information on the internet, is so widely cited as a source of information, that it has almost become commonplace to assume that things found on that website are fact. The sad reality is, probably half of what is on that website is not irrefutable fact (my university actually had to mandate that Wiki could not be used as a scholarly resource for research papers/master's theses/dissertations). And such is the case with many websites that function under the same principles. Peer edited websites have created a sort of "hole" in the fact checking process. Because people do not recognize that certain websites are peer edited, they see outrageous databases of information, and assume it has all been gathered from various books, journals and other noteworthy publications. The problem here, is that these people who depend on sites like Wiki to provide them with quality information, both lose the ability to discern between what information is quality and what is not, as well as the ability to verify information from quality sources.

Another problem is that lots of general information isn't necessarily available on the internet. Libraries are still necessary for general texts like encyclopedias, because no two encyclopedias contain the same description of the same subject. Concurrently, many libraries contain resources which the internet simply cannot provide (microfiche, microfilm, rare books, etc.). It is in this respect that libraries will always be necessary to provide access to research materials that would be otherwise unavailable.

And finally, lets not forget that you simply cannot download a good novel from the internet. When all is said and done, having FREE access to such a wide array of hands-on literature, is a luxury that should not be taken for granted.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by Quzor

And finally, lets not forget that you simply cannot download a good novel from the internet.

Actually, you can. Admittedly, it's not exhaustive, but some volunteers have already started to digitise both fiction and non-fiction literature. It's called Project Gutenberg. I'm sure other similar websites/databases exist.

[Aoie_Emesai]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

I would suggest that in the long run, all books ought to digitised, to help preserve information for posterity. It saves space and paper. It also makes it a lot easier to retrieve information, because it is much easier to organise digital information into databases.

As for reading, I still prefer to read hardcopy rather than softcopy. I don't know to what extent this is a mere aesthetic preference. For one thing, it is a lot easier to annotate hardcopy. And no matter how large my screen resolution gets, it can never beat having a real desktop to layout hundreds of drafts and notes for ease of referencing information while doing my research and writing.

I agree digitizing the books for reference sake, but never to out right claim the title though.

[UzumakiW]

I find it hard to read a book on the computer. I still do, but not very often. I prefer the real books. It's much more relaxing to read the real book.

[LionsMane]

I'd prefer reading a book than on the internet. If I did all my reading on the computer my eyes would probably die in a way.

The internet has tons of information and is very useful but sometimes it's hard to know how credible it is(but the same could be said for books too). I hope that libraries aren't replaced as if I could I'd take everything in a hard copy.

I had a teacher who believes that one day books will become obsolete. He hopes that it will happen to(math teacher, btw). Only time will tell.

[Spectacular_Insanity]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

I would suggest that in the long run, all books ought to digitised, to help preserve information for posterity. It saves space and paper. It also makes it a lot easier to retrieve information, because it is much easier to organise digital information into databases.

That's quite true, assuming that something like Y2K never happens for real. And by that I mean something that causes computer systems worldwide to crash.

[KholdStare]

The internet can replace libraries for sure, but the problem is still preference. Let's take textbooks:

Pros: Search functions, Ctrl + F, animated models, always in brand new condition.
Cons: Reading on the computer for long periods of time?!?

Right now for me, cons > pros. If I need to study something that involves reading long passages, I go with the textbook. If I need to read a short article or do research, then to the Internet I go.

[Riker]

While the internet has a vast amount of information conviently located within a few clicks, I'll still choose the library when I wish to study. It's more conducive.

Originally Posted by Ledgem

The library is a place designated for quiet. I think that plenty of people go to the library for that atmosphere, if not for the books.

Yes, I go for the atmosphere. I love the library. Except when a bunch of moronic schoolkids start blabbering at the next table. Makes me wish for a Mute button in real life.

Originally Posted by Spectacular_Insanity

Depends where you go. The library near my mom's workplace has quite a few people, but is very quiet and a nice atmosphere overall---very clean, and comfortable chairs. Looks like you just don't have it quite as good.

Depends on my luck I guess. There's this time I went to this section in the library labeled "Quiet Reading Room" to escape the noise. And there I found a mother who brought her baby inside. Yay.

[Spectacular_Insanity]

Originally Posted by Riker

Yes, I go for the atmosphere. I love the library. Except when a bunch of moronic schoolkids start blabbering at the next table. Makes me wish for a Mute button in real life.

Depends where you go. The library near my mom's workplace has quite a few people, but is very quiet and a nice atmosphere overall---very clean, and comfortable chairs. Looks like you just don't have it quite as good.