geekone.org » library http://www.geekone.org Life as a geek... Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:16:41 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Technology sometimes takes away from the experience http://www.geekone.org/2009/09/technology-sometimes-takes-away-from-the-experience/ http://www.geekone.org/2009/09/technology-sometimes-takes-away-from-the-experience/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:07:34 +0000 admin http://www.geekone.org/2009/09/technology-sometimes-takes-away-from-the-experience/ Today I stopped by my local library and checked out a book.  The 1980 edition of the ARRL’s Amateur Radio Handbook to be exact.  While some of the rules and regs are out of date, the electronics theory and information is just as accurate as it ever was.  Since I’m considering winding some coils for an antenna, I figured I’d do a little R&D rather than just taking somebody else’s example and copying it.  I’d prefer to understand why I am winding that many turns on the torroid and what value I’m ending up with.

When I opened up the front cover of the book, I saw something I realized I hadn’t seen in quite a long time, the due-date log.

The little flap of paper glued into the front of all library books, upon which the librarian would stamp or sometimes write in the due date when the book was loaned.  It brought back memories of being the first or second person to check out a book when I was a kid and being excited that I was able to get and read it so quickly.  Or just as memorable as being the last due-date on a page of the due dates, with sometimes 2 or 3 completely filled sheets underneath, and realizing how much joy this book has brought to dozens of people since the library started loaning it.  It could also tell you something about the previous borrowers, such as how well they cared for the book.  If I was the 3rd or 4th person to check it out and it was already damaged, I could tell at least one of those people had little respect for books, and likewise if the book was still in decent shape after a dozen or more uses, the previous readers were very respectful of the library and its books.

Technology in libraries has improved a lot.  It is wonderful being able to log into the library’s catalog with the click of the mouse at home or work if I want to find a particular book.  I can reserve it without driving in, even if it is at another library in the area rather than my own.  This is both convenient for me, and friendlier to the environment as I don’t waste gas to find out it isn’t there.  I get an e-mail from the library when any requested books are available too, and it doesn’t take more of the librarian’s valuable time to manually send a letter or call to inform me.  Inside the library it is faster to find something since the card catalogs have been replaced with computers, and you can search on far more terms than just title or author.

While overall I think the library experience has been vastly improved by the introduction of electronic recordkeeping, I’ll still hold a special place in my memory for the beloved due date reminder stamp.  This is one aspect of the library I am truly sorry my children will never know.

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