Remember the times when you would mender back into that dark, dusty reference section of the library to troll the tall shelves of thick volumes searching for the one that you needed. The volume with the gems of hidden information within its hardbound leather covers waiting to be read by you. You would squint your eyes at the small scrolled gold print on the spines seeking the right volume.
From the time that I woke up this morning to the time that I began writing this article, I could count around thirty significant things that have happened to me in my little life and I am only one person in this huge, immense world. Granted, my life entries will probably not end up on the webpage of the Britannica Online edition—unless I am having a very megalomaniacal, self-important wishful thinking kind of day. However, there is a point to my inane ramblings: new things are happening every day—every minute.
Technology affords us the wonder of having up-to-date information at the tips of our fingers. Even pieces of information that we were sure would never change—like the fundamental make-up of the Solar System are changing or being revised and updated online almost immediately. As new information is acquired or discovered, it is downloaded and disseminated to students around the world via the Internet in real time. Printed reference books are limited in this aspect. My own purchased version of World Book 2006 Edition Encyclopedias is already outdated by current exemplary reference standards.
In keeping up with the Library 2.0 principles, we need to offer our patrons the most current information and exemplary services available. Additionally, school library budgets are constrained and librarians need to choose wisely when purchasing reference materials for their patrons. Librarians want to ensure that they are purchasing the best reference option for their students, including: best option for technology usage and 21st century skills, most current reference information, best price option, most user friendly option, and the option that will be most widely used by the patrons.
The benefits of many online encyclopedias include: the use of the online encyclopedias at home or at school with specific school usernames and passwords for more accessibility for students, inclusion of current, accurate, and up-to-date information, use from any computer in the school for research (not just in the library), teaching and use of 21st century technology skills, and printable material like photographs or graphs available to students for reports without the use of a copy machine (rarely found in an elementary school library).
As librarians and dedicated bibliophiles, we are hesitant to let go of our thickly bound beloved volumes of reference books. I understand the sentiment completely. I still haven’t gotten into the whole E-book genre either. Yet, with reference books—I feel it is time to let go of some of the old and usher in the new age of technology. We must ask ourselves this: Are those dusty volumes in the back of our libraries really providing all of the information that our patrons are seeking? Are they really meeting the needs of our patrons? If we don’t have the funds to purchase both the updated versions of the hard bound copies and the online versions of the encyclopedias, which option would be better for our patrons? Librarians, think about it—put away those feather dusters and get out those mouse pads! ( by JKA)
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cheerful
nostalgic
silly
sad
