Why is research in the library being ignored in favor of internet answers?

Hi Lotus, Internet is faster plus theres more info. on any topic than most libarys have.

Virago Jim

People call the library all the time and ask librarian to "find the impossible answer." They know it's impossible because they've been checking the internet "for hours!" And what do librarians use to find the answer? The internet. Usually the same sites available to everyone else. Websites, books, private letters in an archive, they all contain written information, just in different formats. One format is not necessarily more authoritative than the others.

I don't sweat that people do their research at home on Wikipedia, the same way a minister doesn't sweat that Christians read their own bible before coming to her, or the way a doctor is confident his job is secure when sick people eat chicken soup and self-medicate with over-the-counter medicines.

Yes, the library's collection of reference books is getting smaller and the magazines are getting less use. We're all transitioning into a different social mode. Libraries are changing, too.

The people who should really worry are the elderly maiden aunts who for years held onto family recipes, the addresses of long-lost cousins, and could come up with ideas for what to buy Grandma for Christmas. They might also have been the village matchmaker and a confident grass-roots political fundraiser. For them, the internet is really taking away their prestige.

Well, not my maiden aunts - they're all online - but probably yours.

Why don't you call her?

Would you rather drive (or walk) a couple blocks to the library, look in the catalog, and spend time looking at hundreds of books to find a paragraph on a topic?

Or would you rather walk two steps to your computer in the comfort of your home and type a few keywords to get hundreds of answers? Plus, you're allowed to eat and drink...

Computer research is just more convenient

The internet is faster and generally has more information.