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Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Idea of bookless libraries becoming more prominent

In discussing the future of academe, the idea of bookless libraries is a recurring theme, according to an article by Steve Kolowich for Inside Higher Ed. More and more academic libraries are removing bound books and storing them in off-campus locations. For example, the main library at the University of California at Merced and the engineering library at Stanford University have greatly reduced the amount of bound books kept in the library and are choosing to focus more on electronic resources. However, completely bookless libraries have been nonexistent until now.

The University of Texas at San Antonio says its Applied Engineering and Technology Library is now the first actual bookless library. Students who utilize the library's vast study spaces are able to log on to the resource network either with laptops or one of the ten public computers.  Students will have access to 425,000 e-books and 18,000 electronic journal articles. Librarians will still be stationed in the library to assist students. To read the full article, visit this website.  

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