From Print to Digital

I heard a commentary about changes in libraries from an unexpected source: Nightly Business Report on PBS. Harry Lin, the president of a technology company, was talking about the forthcoming opening of a new engineering library at Stanford University. The distinguishing feature of this library is that the print collection constitutes only 15% percent of the previous libraries holdings. All of those missing materials are being replaced by digital resources. The physical books and periodicals were an integral part of Lin's library experience in college. He summons his memories of browsing shelves and making interesting discoveries to evoke the pleasures of a traditional library. I too have fond memories of strolling through corridors created by shelving, scanning the books, organized in rows, for a title or subject to jump out at me for an afternoon of reading.

As with everything, computers are bringing sweeping changes to the institution of libraries. Harry Lin succinctly sums up the situation: "Kids these days do everything digitally." Libraries have to adapt to changes in information use, even when those changes completely alter the way the institution functions. I am not completely at ease with the shift to digital resources, but what a thirty-something student grew up doing is not all that important anymore. I also begrudgingly admit that in certain cases digital resources are more convenient to access. My resistance to technology, in general, has undoubtedly softened as I have learned about the reality of librarianship today.


Here is the link to the commentary:
http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/onair/transcripts/amazon_libraries_100720/