Entitlement

[gfish]

I have a ridiculous feeling of entitlement to information. I just had to go to the physical library to pick up physical copies of 1980 and 1993 articles. (Online access only goes back to 1995 for this journal.) The whole thing was a field trip to the 20th century. You can't check out periodicals, and they didn't have a scanner, so now I have a stack of minimally-useful potential paper cuts on my desk. You can only pay for the copy cards with cash, and they don't have an ATM. The whole thing made me quite angry. Which is ridiculous, of course, to expect that the full sum of human knowledge be instantly available from the comfort of my own laptop.

But still... the new way is better in every way. I can't really feel guilty for enjoying and internalizing the realities of new technology. Was someone complaining about book store selection in the century after Gutenberg ridiculous? This isn't just about personal comfort, this is about removing an barrier of access to information. That's a noble goal, one with plenty of work left to be done on it. So, grrr, I say, grrr! My rage might be a bit ridiculous, but so is having to make physical copies of data in 2009.

Comments

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

As somebody who went to grad school much earlier than you did, this wouldn't have fazed me. Even a couple of years ago I saw josefinek reading Xeroxes at the Merc.

[maribou]

Advances in publicly and cheaply available scanner tech would help. At my (much smaller) college library, when I make scans of stuff myself, I end up having to make copies and scan the copies, because the scanner/copier can't be trusted to make good scans from a physical object every time and I don't want to have to spend twice as long on it.

It pains me every time.

[bigbumble.livejournal.com]

The frustration with the physical library is not new. I once attended a scientific talk (Pre-internet) where the speaker commented, "Two weeks in the lab will save you a week in the library."

[woggie.livejournal.com]

Back in in early 90s there was a guy I knew who, when he wanted copies of something at the library, would lug his flatbed scanner down there and set it up to scan everything on his dime and his equipment.

No telling how SPL would react to the same behavior in this day and age.

[maribou]

Do they make line-by-line pen scanners? I thought they did. Pick up one of those and you can scan whatever you want:).

[basal-surge.livejournal.com]

Although those physical copies in the library are still probably more durable than any digital stuff, even with the risk of acid papers. We are in an undocumented age, as the bulk of our printed material is still on self destructing acid pulped papers, and none of our digital media are durable enough to last even decades without corruption.