Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/67451
Relevant Association document from 2010 delved into information technology and 21st century libraries. An American Library facility for processing digital as well as printed information." generation of learners with a libraries at institutions of higher learning, including Park Library, which are striving to fi nd the This is especially true for Livonia junior Dan Johns searches the shelves for a book by Kurt Vonnegut he read about online. proper balance between print and electronic resources. In addition to more than 1 mil lion volumes on 33 miles of electronically movable shelving, Park Library continually increases the number of e-journals and e-books available for research and leisure purposes. This shift toward more electronic resources raises questions about printed materials' relevancy in academic research, such as when a student locates a book that was printed in 1952 and was last checked out during the Reagan administration. The student may think that in a time of up-to- date electronic resources the most current information available online is more credible. Not necessarily so, says Richard Cochran, associate dean of CMU Libraries. To determine the book's relevance, he says the student must identify the purpose of the research and then assess what information is needed regardless of its print or digital format. "For example, history is well-known for its dependence on works from certain eras for their points of view, available electronically, a digitized book is still preserving the content of the original book. " Cochran says. "Even if it is " One CMU English faculty member is quick to point out that books, regardless of age, still are "absolutely" relevant. Nate Smith, an assistant professor, recently checked out several stacks of books to write a journal article and prepare for a class about Shakespeare. "There are ideas in here not addressed in current scholarship, through the 1962 book "Shakespeare and the Idea of the Play" by Anne Barton. "What's interesting is a lot of the books I check out I've found in the footnotes of articles I've read online. " says Smith as he fl ips " "… libraries of the future will need to tailor their programming to a new Among its conclusions, resources Keeping books current In a quiet corner study room, English faculty member Nate Smith pours through a stack of books to gather research for a journal article he's developing. 8