Enhancement of college libraries

The current century faces a tough battle of tug of war between traditionalism and modernity. Technology is taking over every sphere of life and has been trying to replace it by being a more efficient tool for any work.

  In terms of education, institutions have taken over to forms of E-learning where people have gone beyond the realms of books and are now taking help of the virtual space to make learning more interactive and efficient.  But the question remains that whether we as students, ready to make the transition from the physical world of books and libraries to technology. 

Since time immemorial, libraries have not only been considered as a temple of knowledge but have become a part of every culture’s heritage. Great scholars have immense respect for the institution of libraries which in today’s world is failing day by day.

 Richard F Thomas once said that  “One of the powerful functions of a library — any library — lies in its ability to take us away from worlds that are familiar and comfortable and into ones which we can neither predict nor control, to lead us down new roads whose contours and vistas provide us with new perspectives. Sometimes, if we are fortunate, those other worlds turn out to have more points of familiarity with our own than we had thought. Sometimes we make connections back to familiar territory and when we have returned, we do so supplied with new perspectives, which enrich our lives as scholars and enhance our role as teachers.

 Sometimes the experience takes us beyond our immediate lives as scholars and teachers, and the library produces this result particularly when it functions as the storehouse of memory, a treasury whose texts connect us through time to all humanity.”

One of the biggest segregating factors between the Internet and physical libraries is that not everything is available on the internet. It certainly is a faster mode of searching a piece of information but not necessarily a reliable one. In our higher education, when we are required to delve into research, our studies require authorities which may not necessarily proper if references are taken from the internet.

 Librarians are trained to do high-level research, which supports scientists, doctors, lawyers, professors, writers, government officials, and other important professionals every single day. Without the aid of librarians, all of these people would be making decisions without having all of the relevant knowledge they need on their topics.

 Books and journals found in libraries will have been published under rigorous guidelines of citation and accuracy and are thereby allowed into libraries' collections. These standards are simply not imposed on websites. They can show up in search results whether or not they provide citation. With enough research, the accuracy of web resources often can be determined. But it's very time consuming. Libraries make research much more efficient.

It’s a misconception that the internet gives free access to information instead of a library which charges a subscription fee. The truth is that the various journals and papers that are referred from the internet also charge an amount which has to be paid online. In comparison to that, a library is a much better option whose fee is relatively low. 

The habit of browsing libraries should be inculcated from childhood which is why its prime importance is given in elementary stage. Libraries give the perfect atmosphere for concentration and put less strain on the eyes compared to computer monitors which can be distracting at times. The internet is a highly efficiently tool to garner public opinion, but it cannot be considered a valid replacement.  A 2005 study of the Illinois School Libraries shows that students who frequently visit well-stocked and well-staffed school libraries end up with higher ACT scores and perform better on reading and writing exams. 

Albeit, it should be kept in mind that technology is not necessarily bulldozing itself into our lives. It is integrating itself. Eventually we might be able to see digital libraries coming up which might be an environmental friendly approach till a good extent but the purpose of this article was to remind ourselves that while we usher into the new era, we should not readily let go of the old. Those who find comfort in books will never substitute it with i-pads and vice versa but the important thing is to have the wisdom of distinguishing the significance of both the sources.