Library Removes All Books

I don't like the idea of this. I for one- like reading books. I enjoy reading paper books more than online books. There are certain cases in which I'll look at an online book for information. I don't think that anything matches the quality of reading a paper back book (in terms of reading).

This is sad really, I suppose bibliophiles are few and far between these days. I love haunting forgotten sections of libraries and used book stores, searching for some old obscure tome. I love the smell of old books and the feel of the paper, I love the way they look and the history each book carries with it. Sometimes you find names, dates, even gift messages from long ago.

The thing is, that I'd say 90% or more of books have not been transferred to a digital format. Sure you can get the classics and anything new but there are old books no one remembers that are EXTREMELY valuable in terms of the knowledge they contain and the view point and style of writing.

I live in NYC and I've found amazing books just laying in the street. I found a book that contains a massive amount of lost and forgotten American folklore from all periods, it's amazing, if I hadn't have found it in the street these stories might have been lost forever!

I've found books that were journals of expeditions to the remotest parts of the world from the 1920s and before like "Cannibal Caravan".

I find first editions like "The History of Magic" from 1948.

I have books dating back 100 years or more, books me and my family have just found.

I dunno, a library isn't a library if you can't find some dusty ancient book that is just the most amazing thing you've found in a while. Some books don't remain in print, if you destroy the copy you have, it might be the last copy on Earth.

Nothing changes your life like a good book.

reply to post by Matrix Rising


The government needs to stop funding libraries that don't keep books like they have always kept books. Books are permanent records that can never be changed unlike stuff on the Internet. Books also go into a lot more detail than anything on the internet.

The good thing about the internet is the audio and videos that books can't contain. The internet can be governed and shut off by the government, that is not a good thing to put such power in the hands of the government.

Save the libraries that keep books like they always have, and don't give any funding to libraries with just computers. Computer stores that allow a person to sit down and use the computer is different from libraries and should be taxed as a business.

reply to post by Matrix Rising


I can understand the motivation, kind of, but it still makes me incredibly sad to see this.

By all means implement digital technology where it assists, for ease of carrying information for example, but not just for the sake of making the news (which is what I think they've done).

A library is more than just a collection of books.
It's a space guaranteed to be peaceful, a place where you can truly take in the words that you are reading. It's a place for reflection in a world where fewer and fewer spaces exist for it.
Above all else it's a place where you can simply stop, and the world doesn't scream at you to keep moving.

They've made a bad decision, based on cynical motivations.
This will affect the intelligence, because instead of being able to stop and actually take the words in, these students will be forced to skim through, or search out specific passages to quote without reading the context or having to know anything about the rest of the book in question.

To add a digital libraryto an existing library is a good thing.

Getting rid of a 20000book library to replace it with a digital reader is a way to remove all of those pesky pieces of history and meddlesome facts that you don't want to burden young minds with.

Much easier to just start fresh with administration approved propagand...er...literature.

reply to post by aorAki

Expect eyesight problems in a few years.

I don't think they will develop eyesight problems, but they will get eye fatigue, and their reading speed will be slower!

I learned through speed reading classes, that because of the refresh rate on a computer screen, the edges of the letters, or the contrast of the letter with the background is not clearly defined, it is in constant flux, so your eye cannot distinguish the patterns nearly as quickly as on a printed page! It can be up to 30% slower for an experienced speed reader!

So, they may not develop eye problems, but they will tire out more quickly, read slower, and therefore get less reading done!! Theoretically, this could put them at a disadvantage compared to similar students with actual books!!

Books............something else to stash in an airtight container with dessicants (to absorb moisture) and bury underground.

I suppose if those transferring the paper books to online form decide that you don't need to know about a particular subject, that book just won't be transferred. Or maybe the "offending" or politically incorrect portions will just be left out?

This is insidious. By all means, incorporate technology into existing systems but putting all your eggs in one basket by replacing an existing system with one that has shown to be flawed and open to attack is just asking for trouble.

reply to post by whitewave


Well think of all the ancient knowledge already lost!! If we slowly convert everything to digital, and then slowly lose all the hard copies, and then one day our society falls, all that digital will be worthless!

Now, think of the crystal skulls!! Something like that could contain all the ancient knowledge for millions of years, but the technology to decipher it fell millenia ago!! I sure wish they had kept some of their books!!

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by whitewave

 

Well think of all the ancient knowledge already lost!! If we slowly convert everything to digital, and then slowly lose all the hard copies, and then one day our society falls, all that digital will be worthless!

Now, think of the crystal skulls!! Something like that could contain all the ancient knowledge for millions of years, but the technology to decipher it fell millenia ago!! I sure wish they had kept some of their books!!

that's a good point- advanced civilisations which perished before may have undertaken similar "streamlining"

reply to post by getreadyalready


My point exactly. I still get queasy in my stomach when I hear or read about the library at Alexander burning. It makes me physically ill. I read a book about the Spaniards destroying entire temples full of scrolls in their relentless quest for gold and became so enraged that I had to put the book down and go calm myself.

We should all have "hard copies" of the information most important to us. I suspect that books; ie: knowledge, will be the most important barter item in the future because this generation doesn't know much of anything.

If the trend to streamline information continues the next generation won't know anything except what they're told. They'll only be one opinion, one "truth", one "correct" way of thinking.

I think the saddes thing of all is the missing cover art. And not being able to walk up and down aisles just looking at titles.

This is horrible! I would not want to be in this school. I love books esp old ones. I like the smell and with that the books personal history. I love curling up next to a light during a thunderstorm reading a good book! I would not like going to a school where there were no books. What are they going to charge you to read these books? How is this going to work? There are just so many things wrong with this.

Originally posted by nixie_nox
I think the saddes thing of all is the missing cover art. And not being able to walk up and down aisles just looking at titles.

I went to the library everyday after school when I was little for years. I would go up and down every aisle and look at all the different titles. I really enjoyed it and I still do! I go to bookstores quite often and just look around although many times I buy or check something out

We were talking about this this morning at our co-op meeting. We decided being small town librarians we didnt have to worry about anything like this coming down the pipe for decades. We serve towns of only a couple of thousand people. As long as we have internet terminals and the latest DeMille they're happy.

Those big city librarians, however, should brush up on their barista skills if they wish to keep their employment status.

I can't stand reading books on computer. Just something about them, I can't pay attention after a few pages like the way I can become emersed in a book.

Hope my college doesn't do this while I'm still at it, but it makes sense.
In the long run, probably saves them money. Then again they're probably making enough money by forcing their students to buy text books they dont need half the time.

If they need a place to dump those old worthless outdated books, I can happily provide somewhere that won't take up space in a landfill or pollute the air via burning... my place.

I use the computer a lot to look up information quick. If I can't remember a physical constant right off, a quick Google gets it for me. But when it comes to actual learning and researching, give me a book any day. I already have a library of several thousand technical manuals, repair guides, textbooks, and historical compilations from some of the greatest scientists through history. Some of them are pretty old; others are fairly new. And you know, I use the older books much more. They tend to just give the information straight out, rather than tiptoe around certain subjects and unknowns.

The electrical grid is already overloaded. Books require no energy to use. Computers and Internet do.

Books do not break (unless you just wear them out, like I have done to several ). Computers and Internet do.

Books cannot be changed to fit the politial correctness du jour. Computer files can.

Books can be salvaged when old and breaking apart, using no more than a simple photocopy machine and some tape. Try that with a malfunctioning hard drive.

Books are harder to produce, and therefore only those with accurate information and a willingness to strive for accuracy can afford to publish one. Any fool can write a web page.

Y'all excuse me while I build a new bookcase. I might be needing one if I can get through to these educated idiots...

TheRedneck

I've Starred virtually every post in this thread

All contain good points, imo


Glad to see that you're not falling for this agenda

and hope your passion for truth and books will propel you to FIGHT this agenda as if your great-grandchildren's lives depend upon your fighting and WINNING

Something I can't believe hasn't been brought up is how disastrous this is to future generations!

We are creating a new Dark Ages by getting rid of printed or hand-written books!

Why? Because not only can digital works be deleted, not just intentionally but unintentionally...but all storage mediums are vulnerable to powerful EMPs. All it would take is one nuclear explosion or one large solar flare to throw us back into the Stone Age, thank you very much!

However, what is far more likely is obsolescence. Have you ever tried opening a Word 2.0 Document that you diligently backup every year? Give it a try! Once you figure out that you can't open it in newer versions of Word, try getting your old Word 2.0 Floppy Diskettes to install on your computer (assuming you still have them). No go? Well, see if you can find a Converter Utility for it. None exist? Too bad! I guess you can kiss that 20 year old document good-bye!

20 years obsolescence on the most popular Format of that time period!

What if the extent of Human Knowledge only went back 20 years?

So, are these libraries planning on putting aside the money to convert their entire holdings every 10-20 years? Of course not! They are too short-sighted to realize this is actually a costlier way of doing business! If you save a few dollars today, who cares what it will cost you tomorrow...that's someone else's problem to deal with!

Thankfully, I'm not the only one who is concerned about the flux of Information in this Information Age being lost to subsequent generations and creating an unintentional Dark Ages (just as the jealous guarding of Libraries and the ability to read and write by the Catholic Church in order to control the masses lead to a Dark Ages).

Here is an article Introduction to Digital Archeology that covers precisely why the Digital Medium is such a concern.

Here is another Some Digital Preservation Fallacies

And another Coming Soon: A Digital Dark Age?

For each and every book I type into E-Text and format into PDF format, I also copy a book by hand and put it into a chest to sealed upon my death. At least I know the wisdom of the Ancient World will be preserved for future generations, even if the wisdom of the Modern World is lost to all of perpetuity.

Cushing doesn't rank very high in the prep school hierarchy, despite the article's insinuation. Phillips Exeter Academy (with an endowment of over $1 billion...a truly insane amount for a high school with 1,000 students to have, IMHO), for example, has a beautiful Louis-Khan-designed library with over 100,000 volumes...the largest secondary-school library in the world. I don't expect them to toss out their collection, which includes medieval vellum scrolls and whatnot, any time soon.

Books are more and more becoming a novelty.

"Save the forest, read an ebook!" ---- you heard it first from John Matrix on ATS.

I prefer to do my reading on my laptop. People can find what they are looking for much faster on a computer and the data takes up less space.

We do need our trees to help clean up the carbon in the atmosphere and make more oxygen.