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First comment on the article is extremely relevant: > It's almost always non-working-librarians who evince such passionate nostalgia for antiquated technology
by PhasmaFelis 9y ago
First comment on the article is extremely relevant:
> It's almost always non-working-librarians who evince such passionate nostalgia for antiquated technology such as card catalogs, just as I'm sure it's usually non-working-engineers and non-working-mathematicians who passionately yearn for the days of slide rules and good old pencil and paper, rather than these dang new-fangled computers. (Oh, and yes, just for the record, I do appreciate card catalogs as beautiful and evocative historical artifacts, but nothing more than that. As a working librarian, I would absolutely not want to have to go back to working exclusively with them. Take my word for it, no one in my profession would.)
That matches my experience. I've worked with librarians, and they are invariably excited about the power of computers and the internet. That's because their driving passion is free and easy information access for all, not nostalgia for the texture of the page and the smell of old paper.
- cakedoggie 9y agoHaving studied and worked at a Maths department at a University, it isn't only non-working-mathematicians who hate computers. Most of the professors and staff there hated computers, and how it was changing maths.
- Noos 9y agoI don't know why they are, they are increasingly becoming the equivalent to a free net cafe. It's a ridiculously underpaid profession, partly because computers cost so much to maintain and service for them.
- PhasmaFelis 9y agoThere are still too many people who don't have ready internet access. Free internet, and a librarian to help use it, can be vital to a homeless person trying to find work, for example.