DO WE NEED LIBRARIES IN DIGITAL ERA
- ?
When we hear, here and there:-
“Libraries are for the people who
can’t afford modems.”
The ‘information revolution’,
particularly the Internet, pin pointedly “googleisation”, has had a profound
effect on the way children, scholars, researchers do their work today.
So, one of the most interesting
questions in the field of education and information today is:-
Do we need libraries when virtually
all of the information we need on a daily basis is only a mouse-click away?
The answer is a resounding, YES,
ABSOLUTELY!
Because:-
Television did not replace either
radio or motion pictures. Video
photography has not replaced still photography.
In the age of cellphone, land line phone is still breathing.
Computers or other electronic
devices will not replace books. As Walt
Crawford states succinctly, “A book is the best way for me to communicate a
fairly lengthy and complex narrative discussion.”
Monitors or screens that are as
easy to read as a printed page have not yet been invented.
And:-
“Library is a Bridge between the
Reader and Digital Technology”
In modern society, the big differentiator today is that information
seekers increasingly relies on cellular phones and web for retrieving digital
information, but the essential role of the library remains the same. Whatever the medium, the job of the librarian
is proactively identifying the most valuable information that people must
use. A librarian must preserve the
information, organize it and make it accessible to as many people as
possible. Whether it is print or
electronic, it does not really change.
Libraries are the most powerful and
effective institution in our society which is devoted in the field of
information and always willing to lend a helping hand to the information
seekers – wherever, whenever, in whatever form – now and in the future. Libraries
play a major role in reducing the boundaries of continents and countries and
bring the globe on one platform by creation of archives, knowledge repositories
and warehouses of collective contents and artistic legacy.
Modern libraries are proactive and
dynamic, with quality and timely content, available physically and virtually
24/7. Today’s libraries are essential,
egalitarian, and above all else, people-focused.
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