Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

8valvegrowl t1_j7shdo4 wrote

I think this is highly dependent on the school, coursework, and major. I graduated not so long ago, I certainly took courses where I absolutely had to find written records or books as part of the class, especially things that were in the special collections of the library, I’m talking things for history or classics courses. I was a Physics and Math major, mind you, but still had lots of other higher level coursework outside my major in various other liberal arts. One of my roommates was a Classics major. He lived in the archival part of our campus library.

I get what you are saying, though.

28

vtdadbod007 OP t1_j7shwzt wrote

How did Covid change those experiences for you? Was finding physical documents still the expectation?

0

8valvegrowl t1_j7siiri wrote

Covid was way after I was in college. But I can’t imagine taking a course in civil war history and not being expected to read and cite direct sources available only at the institutions library.

13

vtdadbod007 OP t1_j7sk73n wrote

Im sorry I’m trying to word this without coming off as a jerk, but with all due respect I think your college experience is entirely different in this respect from anything present day college students face. I wrote a research paper last year on clashes between colonists and natives in the Appalachians. Using the websites of Northeastern’s library, the Boston Public Library, and the Library of Congress, I had 10 primary sources in 30 minutes and my paper done in a day’s work.

Covid definitely fundamentally changed the way information is accessed for a multitude of purposes, academics included.

−8

8valvegrowl t1_j7sn84n wrote

Not doubting that in any way, but I’m not sure how that makes any difference? I mean those documents came from somewhere? Someone has to archive and upload them, correct? Some institutions have rare or unique documents or texts, where do they go? Maintaining and staffing a library is not anywhere close to a major line item at most colleges and universities. Hell, the small town I went to school in, half the town used the college library for books, music, and DVDs as it was ten times better than anything in the county.

32

BobDope t1_j7stcd4 wrote

I wish I could upvote you a thousand times. Even if something is online that is the result of careful curation by somebody trained in this. It should not be devalued. If everybody shutters the library best believe online resources suffer terribly.

18

vtdadbod007 OP t1_j7socgq wrote

Our university was digitized by students on work study, and is maintained by students, computer code, and some AI as of recently. Larger databases like the BPL and library of Congress are maintained with professionals using taxpayer funds and are free to access for all.

As for the music and DVD’s, it’s streaming services or pirating, anything you’re interested in is available on your smartphone or laptop.

−1

Twombls t1_j7u9q4b wrote

Im sure the librarians still spearheaded this. Since like you know. They are professionally trained in doing it.

Would you want 18 year old work study students uploading and categorizating rare priceless documents without any sort of oversight?

Also asking college students to pirate for their research? Thats not a good idea. You can usually get the needed materials through the library

18

somedudevt t1_j7tt8yb wrote

This is dinosaur think. If you need it it’s online. There is no way the LSC library archives have anything that the world needs that isn’t digital. There may be some local history stuff in the old Fiche files, but I was a history major at Lyndon 15 years ago and NEVER used the library for anything other than library of Congress book exchange, and that was 15 years ago when eBooks were just starting out. I could at the time get primary sources online in almost every case I needed them. The last 20 years of you and I solving captchas to verify we are not computers has allowed digitization of countless primary sources.

Last point is that we are talking about LSC, JSC, and VTC. This isn’t Harvard or Yale where their may be donated collections of important things that may only exist in that place.

−7