[WEB4LIB] RE: Slashdot reaction to Iowa College going paperless

[Yuliya Lef]

I was a bit surprised at first as well, as I thought that what Iowa 
College is doing is absolutely incredible. After all, we are talking 
about a community college, not a research institution. The available 
periodical resources have been exceeding the needs of a 2nd year level 
research for years now. Yes, I would agree that unfortunately available 
online book collections are not up to the challenge yet. But it is this 
kind of initiatives that will hopefully change the direction of the 
industry.

However, what the negative responses tell me is that even "hardcore 
computer geeks" have very little understanding of what virtual libraries 
have to offer. Even a student interviewed in the article is talking 
about finding information on the "Internet". I don't think he is talking 
about "online journal archives" that, of course, often go as far back as 
100 years. In a way, it tells me that our roles as information literacy 
instructors are far more important than collectors of information 
nowadays, especially on the undergraduate level.

---Yuliya

-- 
Yuliya Lef
Virtual Learning Resources Center Coordinator
Colorado Mountain College
333 Fiedler Ave.
P.O. Box 1414
Dillon, CO 80435
970-468-5989 (phone)
970-468-5018 (fax)
ylef at coloradomtn.edu
http://www.coloradomtn.edu/library/

"I believe that the moment is near when, by a procedure of active 
paranoic thought, it will be possible to systematize confusion and 
contribute to the total discrediting of the world of reality."

				--- Salvador Dali



Keith Higgs wrote:

> Even the most hardcore geek should understand that sometimes when you
> need to "RTFM" you are better off with the "M" (manual) dead tree
> edition in front of you. 
> 
> Additionally, as any good librarian can tell you, a lot of the best
> resources are still, and always will be, dead tree editions. (dead goat
> editions for those really old ones hand inscribed on vellum.) This is
> becoming less true for some specific fields but, I wouldn't expect
> medieval literary studies to be on that list.
> 
> D. Keith Higgs <mailto:dkh2 at po.cwru.edu>
>  Case Western Reserve University, Webmaster - University Library
>  Additional Information at http://www.cwru.edu/UL/
> "Follow the white rabbit."
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib at webjunction.org [mailto:web4lib at webjunction.org]
> On Behalf Of Blake Carver
> Sent: Wednesday, August 07, 2002 12:10 PM
> To: Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: [WEB4LIB] Slashdot reaction to Iowa College going paperless
> 
> 
> Has anyone read the Slashdot comments on the Wired article, "Who Needs 
> Paper? Not Iowa College"
> 
> http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/06/2058253&mode=flat&tid=146
> 
> I found the comments to be overwhelming against the idea. Quite an 
> interesting reaction to this one, considering the audience, I would've 
> thought they'd be all for it.
> 
> 
> 
> ------------------------------------------
> Blake Carver
> Web Librarian
> The Ohio State University Libraries
> carver.50 at osu.edu
> 247-7424
>