Sunday, May 15, 2005

End of an Era?

College Libraries Set Aside Books in a Digital Age - New York Times: "HOUSTON, May 13 - Students attending the University of Texas at Austin will find something missing from the undergraduate library this fall.

Books.

By mid-July, the university says, almost all of the library's 90,000 volumes will be dispersed to other university collections to clear space for a 24-hour electronic information commons, a fast-spreading phenomenon that is transforming research and study on campuses around the country."

I spent some happy hours in the Undergrad Library (most of them when I was a graduate student). And I'm so old that I can remember when there was another building on the plot of ground where the library now stands. Naturally this change seems kind of sad to me. I've become a dinosaur.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Erle Stanley Gardner's study will remain on the fourth floor?

http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/

"This replica of mystery writer Erle Stanley Gardner's study at his ranch home in Temecula, California, displays original memorabilia and artifacts from his career. Gardner was the creator of Perry Mason."

Unknown said...

I hope so. I've paid a couple of visits. It's kind of eerie, since Gardner recorded a tour before he died, and you can listen to it while you walk around the study and peer into it through the windows. Eerie but interesting. Certainly a recommended stop if you're ever in Austin.