Total Digital College Library?

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Jamesaritchie

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Sounds like what e-books were made for, to me. I lost track of how many times the college library either didn't have a book I wanted, or it was checked out, or some other student was using it at the time.

"Success desk" is dumber than a canary in house full of cats, but learning is about having access to the information you need, when you need it. I love real, hold in your hand, paper and ink books, and I love libraries, but in college, I would have loved this far more, if it meant getting the book I needed, when I needed it.
 

gothicangel

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As a distance learner, this would be great if my university did this. At this time I use ebooks available at their library as well as using membership at two local university libraries. This would also solve that old problem of six different people vying for the same book, that the library only holds one copy of.

When I was studying for my English degree, we had to contend with a lot of necessary books going into storage and unaccessible. This would have negated the need to request books from other libraries.
 

Buffysquirrel

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You don't need to go to a physical building to borrow ebooks. Probably have been a lot cheaper to rent students a tablet.
 

oceansoul

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Recently, the college where I did my undergrad made the decision to move half of their collection to a giant warehouse off campus. Students could then call the books to the desk after a few day wait.

When I think about how I did research in college, I think this is not good for the students at all - and elibraries even worse. A lot of times when you're not yet a specialist in a subject area, but required to write higher level papers - the best thing to do is go to the relevant section in a physical library, stack up the books and start reading. I have no idea how students with no real knowledge of their subject material - yet - can possibly choose the best books to help them write papers.
 
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buirechain

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Yeah, I'm not convinced, for two reasons.

One, as gets discussed a little bit there, being able to see what books are shelved together can be helpful (you still needed to know how to search a library catalogue because not everything is shelved together--but that's a similar issue as having to search a digital catalog).

Second, there are plenty of books that don't have e copies out there, for one reason or another. As a (former) historian, I'm slightly aghast at the limitations this is going to put on what students can and can't look into.

Yeah, physical books can be all checked out--but so can digital books. At my public library there are some ebooks that have longer hold lists than their physical counterparts.

I think the ideal really has to be a mixture of the two. If you veer too much to one side, you're going to screw the students up.
 

Jamesaritchie

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Yeah, I'm not convinced, for two reasons.

One, as gets discussed a little bit there, being able to see what books are shelved together can be helpful (you still needed to know how to search a library catalogue because not everything is shelved together--but that's a similar issue as having to search a digital catalog).

Second, there are plenty of books that don't have e copies out there, for one reason or another. As a (former) historian, I'm slightly aghast at the limitations this is going to put on what students can and can't look into.

Yeah, physical books can be all checked out--but so can digital books. At my public library there are some ebooks that have longer hold lists than their physical counterparts.

I think the ideal really has to be a mixture of the two. If you veer too much to one side, you're going to screw the students up.

I believe these things would come into play at a liberal arts college, but not at a technical college. I doubt there are any books these students will need that aren't available as an e-book. Nor are most books of this type limited to one copy only. This has nothing at all to do with how public libraries work.

I don't know of any colleges that have 100% digital libraries, but I know a lot of college students that wish they did. My eldest just got his Masters, and he hasn't used a paper and ink book at college in two years.

I love paper and ink books as much as anyone, but for technical and scientific information, I'll take an e-book every time. It's easier, faster, far more convenient, and never out on loan because the college knows what it's doing.
 

blacbird

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The obvious weakness (one of many) in such a scheme is the tacit assumption that any reference worth looking at is digitized, and that anything not digitized is worthless. E-references are fine and useful. But to assume they are the only things useful is a peculiar form of neo-Luddism. I am a semi-academic, in a specialized geological field, and I know that the majority of reference materials I use regularly are nowhere available in digital form. I'm certain that situation is true for many, probably most, disciplines.

This move is beancounterthink, and nothing more. It's a bloody awful concept.

caw
 
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kuwisdelu

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I can't remember the last book I needed that was actually available as an e-book.

The only e-versions of many of the books I've needed have been scanned pirated versions.
 

Buffysquirrel

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After years of trying to make books available to everyone, now we're in the process of restricting them to those who have the appropriate technology. Room for a sociological study there.
 

William Haskins

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blacbird

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After years of trying to make books available to everyone, now we're in the process of restricting them to those who have the appropriate technology.

It's worse than that. It's making available only those materials which are digitized. It doesn't matter what technology you have available if the source material is restricted in this manner.

caw
 

Buffysquirrel

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It's worse than that. It's making available only those materials which are digitized. It doesn't matter what technology you have available if the source material is restricted in this manner.

caw

And to enter true conspiracy-theory territory, digital books are so much easier to bowdlerise.
 
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