Isn't it true that libraries used to use no technology whatsoever? There was a card catalog and one would go look up the book one needed manually there. Now libraries, or at least the libraries I go to, are cataloged and run with computer systems. It is not so strange to think that they would still have a back up process, just in case the computers were to, say, fail. Unfortunately, I have not found that to be the case. I have found that when a library computer systems are down us students are stuck with no way to access the things we may need very badly.
I needed to get a sort of study guide that was on course reserve for a midterm I had today. I decided I would study first then get the study guide the day before as a sort of helpful, extra tool. So yesterday I go to the library between classes and try to go to the course reserves desk. However, there was a problem. The computers in the library were down. I asked if there was no other way to find the item that I needed. The man helping me said that they had absolutely no other way of locating this document without the computer system working. All I could think was "this is absolutely ridiculous!"
Am I over reacting, or does it seem absurd that a library would have no back-up system in case of computer failure? So many people count on libraries, especially ones as central and the Martin Luther King Jr. Library. Technology is not always the best option. We can not fully rely on it. There must always be a way to back-up such unstable"advancements."
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1 comment:
Good for people to know.
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