The other night I was thinking of this quote that I read once in The Inferno, by Dante. I could remember the topic and the approximate location within the text, but could not remember any exact words or phrases. I should have a copy of The Divine Comedy, but I do not... much to my dismay. The local public library is literally about 50 yards away from my apartment, but it was 10:00pm and closed. What's a literary nerd to do? I needed that quote. I had to figure it out. I did the normal Google search to no avail. And, then... I tried something I had never tried before. I went to Google Books. I just typed in the title and up popped the entire book. Of course it still took me a while to find the quote. The point is that I FOUND THE QUOTE and could sleep that night. My eyes went "google-y" (bad pun) from looking at the computer screen for so long, but I had the stinkin' quote. Given the choice, I would have much rather preferred the actual printed book. But, in a bind... Google Books came through for me.
I don't really like the idea of books being on a computer screen. It just seems wrong. Again, this brings up some questions for me. With books being digitized, will libraries last? Will people eventually stop going to libraries because they can just get their books at the nearest computer? Or, could this be a new way of being able to serve home-bound library patrons?
I think like most things we have discussed, it's just another change that we will eventually have to get used to. Will libraries last? Yes, of course. I sure as heck am not going to read every book off the computer screen, and I am sure that there are others like me. I'm also not going to print out a 250 page book. I am going to continue to walk the 50 yards to my library. And... I will hope that the next quote pops into my head while the library is open.
-Amber
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4 comments:
I appreciate Google as a search engine. But it would be a strange world without libraries with books. Hopefully we can all coexist and have the best of both worlds. Definitely something to ponder.
Digital books are a great resource for some. Like you, I prefer the printed form as well. I even print class notes to read versus reading them from the computer. However, with wireless access increasing, I imagine digital books will cement their place as an option for consumers. There are many reasons why the digital won't replace the physical library (at least for now), including the cost and licensing issues.
To be digital or not to be digital--that is the question (with apologies to Shakespeare). Another way to think of it might be: digital if necessary but not necessarily digital. It's a big world and I agree that it will continue to accommodate both digital and print (and other media) for a long time to come. I try to avoid "either/or" arguments because many, if not most, are based (in my experience) on false premises. The reality is usually more complex and able to accommodate creative ideas and problem-solving. Library 2.0 is no different.
I don't think projects like Google books will ever completely replace paper books in libraries for two reasons: 1.) People don't like reading long text on a computer 2.) Publishers make more money printing books then they do putting them online.
The Google Books project posts full texts of those works with expired copyright or those within the public domain. Even if you downloaded the text, to actually print it off would cost more than to go down to the bookstore or library and just pick-up a copy.
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