Budgeting for Mean, Lean Times Part 2

2. I can counter the argument that the free Internet will replace libraries, books and purchased online information sources.

I haven't seen it, but I hear there is a bumper sticker that reads, "Libraries for people who can't afford Internet access." A somewhat extreme sentiment to be sure, but one that echoes these more common statements that you, as an educational leader, may have overheard:

• "Now that we have an on-line encyclopedia, we don't need to buy any print versions."
• "Buying books is investing in an out-dated technology. All the information anyone needs is available on the Internet - for free."
• "These on-line fees will have to be taken out of your magazine budget."
• "Our new school won't need a library since all the classrooms will be networked."

What motivates otherwise knowledgeable principals, superintendents, school board members and legislators to advance such ideas? Some of it is wishful thinking about ways to reduce expenditures in times of tight budgets. We are all under the gun to provide, as our financial director says, "high quality education at low bid costs." But many question simply stem from a lack of knowledge about how teachers and learners use library resources and what the Internet actually contains.

Digital and electronic resources are complementary.
Good teachers and librarians understand how different resources in school libraries are used for different purposes and how these resources are complimentary. In schools with active, resource-based programs, the following scenarios are commonplace:

• a student comes in for a novel, and in passing an empty computer, runs an Internet search on the book's author to see what the author may have published recently.
• a student using the library catalog to research Egypt now finds not just the books in the geography and history section, but locates books on mythology, alphabets and costumes——since a key word search turned up Egypt in the those books' annotation fields.
• a teacher finds a reference to a historical figure in the online encyclopedia, and now checks out a print biography.
• a student doing research on a country in a print atlas uses GoogleEarth to create his report.
• a teacher, having stirred the curiosity of his class with the video on plate tectonics, now wants a Webquest created on the topic.
• a class doing research on diseases scatters——some students head to the print reference sources, some to the Internet terminals, and some to the multimedia lab since no single source can accommodate all the learners in the class and each resource contains unique information.

Adding technology to a library is like a shopping mall adding a new store——all the stores get more traffic and higher sales. Experienced teachers and librarians know that it takes technology and print together to create the richest learning experiences possible. This will be the case for some time. Humans are not given to simply replacing old technologies with new ones. Television did not replace either radio or motion pictures. Video photography has not replaced still photography. Computers will not replace books.

One reason this assertion can be confidently made is that print and electronic resources each have their own strengths. As Walt Crawford states succinctly, "A book is the best way for me to communicate a fairly lengthy and complex narrative discussion." It's also the best way for a reader to encounter such a discussion. Even most die-hard technology lovers will admit to printing hard copies of a documents much longer than a page, since today's monitors are just plain hard on the eyes and e-books are still costly and use proprietary file formats. The cost savings supposedly gained by having library users read information from the computer screen quickly evaporates when every reader starts printing out lengthy texts. It may not be high tech, but print resources on a cost-per-user basis are dirt cheap.

The all digital library is not about to happen.
Budget-makers who wistfully believe the end of having to lay out cash for information on paper is in sight really need to read Crawford and Gorman's Future Libraries: Dreams, Madness & Reality if they hope to make fiscally responsible decisions about obtaining information resources for schools. These two electronic information experts patiently debunk the claims of an all-digital information future - at least for the foreseeable future. Their conclusions include:

• the use of books, magazines and newspapers is not in decline, but actually growing
• monitors that are as easy to read as a printed page have not yet been invented
• there is no such thing as a "free" Internet or and computing isn't really getting less expensive

Large scale digital conversion projects like Google's Scan the Book project are running into copyright restrictions.

The all-digital library is still in the future and is likely to remain so for some time.

Both print and electronic resources have their strengths.
Remember as well that when using books and magazines, our student researchers are usually getting carefully edited and verified information. Unlike the Internet where anyone can (and does) present credible looking material, publishing houses go to great lengths to protect their reputations by ensuring their writers are expert and authoritative. The cost of print includes not just the paper, ink, and cover, but careful editing, including fact checking. Joey Rodgers, Executive Director of the Urban Library Council, proposes that a sign be hung over library books shelves that reads "Carefully Selected by Professionals," and that a sign be displayed by the Internet terminal that simply reads "Whatever."

Electronic resources, including the Internet, certainly have their place. Both my students and I love digital indexes and the multimedia features of online encyclopedias and other reference materials. Ephemeral, date critical information can only be found on the web. E-mail and social networks are the most efficient means to tap into the wonderful primary sources called human experts. And the Internet provides an interactive medium in which students can produce and communicate ideas, not just gather those of other writers.

Don't take away either my electronic resources or my books. Both are needed to provide students with information of both currency and depth. And keep in mind that a true library program is not simply a collection of any kind of materials——print or electronic. It is a vital combination of resources, curriculum, activities, and professional expertise that help students acquire not just information, but the skills and judgment to make good use of that information.

Crawford, W. and M. Gorman. Future Libraries: Dreams, Madness and Reality.  Chicago: ALA Editions, 1995.

Comments

[Todd Wandio]

...and, there is something about the feel of a book, the look of a book. The split in my program is about 50/50 with some students preferring web text and others choosing the print version. Personally, I am also split 50/50. I'll read anything in any form. But while I can comprehend from a budget standpoint the concern for print text being "used", I know that educationally it makes a difference putting something solid in a kid's hands.

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Todd,

I keep thinking about the kind of libraries and resources I want for my grandsons. I think they deserve both for now. In the future, I am not so sure. But I don't think the future ever gets here quite as rapidly as one expects.

Doug

[Bob]

Doug,

One thing I have just noticed. I beefed up the college/career/SAT/job books and made them visible in the front of the reference section. A number of students have checked things out, and others have browsed through them. With all the internet has to offer, it is still easier to grab a book and look something up (when it is in a section they can find) then it is to logon, open the browser, google it, then go off to who knows where. Providing links to sites is not as user-friendly as we think (go to the website...find the link...go here...go there etc. I think some students will always go to books if they are user-friendly and where they can find them. These are other issues (if Dewey really works anymore). It's all about retrievability.