Online Libraries & Digital Resources @ Your Local Library
For many students today, especially those under 30 years of age, the Internet is the end-all when it comes to locating information for papers as well as for general knowledge and news. Libraries have taken somewhat of a back seat over the past decade, even though most public libraries offer (free!) Internet services, as well as an absolute wealth of knowledge and resources, much of which cannot be duplicated online. It’s almost as though the fact that libraries contain books, those “old” sources of information, today’s students are hesitant to step foot in libraries except for when they have a research paper due that requires actual book sources (though these books can often be found online, now).
The amazing thing about libraries though, and something which many students don’t know much about, is that many of them have excellent online resources which can be very helpful when it comes to writing papers and completing research projects, as well as locating hard-to-find pieces of information that can’t be found anywhere else except in libraries. And often times, libraries will have information that specific to its own city or county, and its online resources will help direct users to this information. Old journals, magazines and newspapers are all cataloged at libraries, and they can be searched for using libraries’ internal online databases. And, libraries often times have entire pages devoted to collections of encyclopedias and almanacs which contain treasure troves of information. And university public libraries often times have online exhibitions, which are wonderful ways to access unique collections of historical information students would not be able to access anywhere else.
For online students, a trip to a physical, local public library might be just as much help with their schoolwork as a virtual trip online. Much of the information a student might need could already be organized for them in a library’s online database, and this makes researching much quicker and more convenient.
I whole heartedly agree with this post. As a college student I have found that going to the library can speed up the time that it takes for me to get a paper or project done. I can also see that students today are becoming entirely to dependent on the internet and are failing to broaden their horizons and see how many more resources are available to them. If these students would get off the behinds and get to the library they may soon find that the content of their papers and projects would be more substantial.