[Web4lib] Paperless society

[jimm wetherbee]

Mark Sandford wrote:
> Not just critical information is at stake.  How many people are trusting burned CD to store their family photos?  Digital is great, but that CD probably won't last half a decade.  
Even if it does, who will have anything that will read it?  I really 
don't expect that backwards-compatible storage will go back 
indefinitely.  Speaking of readers, however, another aspect of 
"paperless" is that our various online resources generate paper usage.  
Instead of taking notes, bibliographic citations or full-text articles 
are printed (or e-mail to be printed later).  Compare this behavior to 
copying relevant quotes to note cards.  Someday there will be a reader 
that is useful as the printed page, but we aren't there yet.  Until 
then, everything ultimately goes to print.

--jimm

-- 
Jimm Wetherbee                 | jimm at wingate.edu
Information Systems Librarian  | Voice: 704-233-8092
E.K. Smith Library             | Fax:   704-233-8254
Wingate University             | http://library.wingate.edu/staff/jmw/
Wingate, NC 28174              | lux et fides