Science Forums 2

[KatherineLee]

As a college student I do go to libraries a lot more frequently than I used to, but only because they are a perfect place to study. I have found that the library does not provide me with anything besides just a quiet place to sit down these days.

Although not exactly a "public library" in the sense you are asking for input about, the libraries on my campus at the University of Minnesota do allow access to the public, although I am not sure about what policies they have if someone wanted to check out a book and did not have a "U-Card" (official identification card at the University of Minnesota).

From my experience with the sort-of-public libraries at the University of Minnesota, specificially with the Biomedical Library catered towards the medical and dentist students since it's situated in the center of the medical school, I have discovered that the books are dated for the type of information someone is probably seeking on the subject.

College campus libraries seem to have taken a more electronic approach to providing information now.

Perhaps it just seems that way because the only time I needed the library database to locate information has been on science topics for a microbiology or plant biology class.

If I search for something and it just leads me to a scientific journal that I can check out of the library, or a "find it online" link. Do you think I'm going to dig for the journal copy on some rack in the library, or just click the "find it online" link and save a copy to my laptop?

I literally have access to scientific journals from the 50's. I can even access them anywhere I have an internet connection. I have such a selection that even when, on rare occurances, I cannot access one specific article, I can find another article that cross-references it and provides the information I was looking for. This feature has basically eliminated any need for a resourceful student looking up information in a scientific topic to step foot in a library and consequently, I have found libraries to be unhelpful in a sense.
I've completely given up on checking out books for research... it always turns out to be a frustrating mess: the book I want a book that is already checked out by someone, or is loaned to another library that I completely gave up on using that information.
If I can't find it online, I don't use it all.

The only use I have for city public libraries now is for a finding a fun, fictional book. Which, I usually have to wait a few weeks for because the library needs to do some sort of interlibrary loan transfer. It's just a frustrating mess in the end that I usually just end up ordering the book off amazon just alleviate my pain.

In my opinion, we need to place a lot more money into our public libraries to keep them updated with the latest fiction and non-fiction books for everyone to enjoy. Although it's not really a BIG issue with me if I can't find a book to enjoy or have to wait weeks to get a specific book (and end up just buying it online), it is a useful resource for those that cannot afford the internet or actually use the library books as a main source of entertainment.

Although I suppose if we don't want to spend the money to keep our libraries updated so they are used for more than just internet and a quiet place to go we could just as well tile the floor, put in a coffee stand, a neon "free wi-fi" sign in the window, and call it another coffee shop.