APU Cyber & AI

More Libraries Going Digital

A decade and a half ago, while I was studying at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, I noticed that the school was slowing adding more and more computers to its libraries – and slowly encroaching on the stacks. Fast-forward 15 years and the erosion of book shelves in favor of more computers is commonplace across colleges and libraries alike.

The bottom line is that the digitization of research has permeated into most professional, trade and reference journals, making it more easier than ever to access a vast knowledge base from a keyboard and PC.

At online schools, digital libraries are already commonplace – forming the backbone of the research networks that students leverage to conduct their research for classes each day.  But just how are digital libraries evolving?  A lot has changed since the first libraries introduced methods for searching for books through databases and websites that simply replaced card catalogs.

Stanford has made some interested renovations to their own libraries which are quite short on space to begin with — they’ve scrapped shelves for e-readers and terminals… what’s next at your school?  Let us know the changes you’ve seen over the years.  Here’s what Stanford is up to: http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15114502?IADID&nclick_check=1

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