Parenthetical.net

Following up on last week’s post about books in libraries… the NYTimes Room for Debate blog posted some of the comments from students. Most didn’t say much new, but here are a couple of thoughts I liked:

One signed just “a thought”:

Also, books (or any other printed material) cannot be changed by any means without completely destroying them, while e-books can be corrupted anytime … like the time Amazon pulled books from the Kindle, or have we forgotten that already?

It’s so important to remember how malleable and insecure digital information is. Particularly when the information the library “owns” is hosted elsewhere (as with a database), the company can raise prices or discontinue access or shut down entirely — it’s not at all the same as owning the material outright. This isn’t a reason not to use electronic sources, of course, but it has to be a factor in the decision.

From “Jessica, Student,” on what students need:

Excellent physical books to get stuck into and electronic access that makes both broad and precise research feasible.

I couldn’t agree more.

Comment here