Bookless Library

Florida Polytechnic University's New Library

Interesting article: Bookless library opened by new US university

Initial responses on Facebook were met with horror:

Can't curl up with it :(

"Progress"

Just wrong.

I don't know. I think I'm rather in favour. I remember, when writing my MA thesis, how many weeks it took for inter-library loans to arrive, and how expensive purchasing academic works is. You could stumble across an important piece of information towards the end of your research, and have no hope of obtaining the original source material before the deadline. 

Also, the sheer breadth of research material I could access with a computer that I couldn't in a library, or in e-format rather than paper format. Even tracking down obscure titles was easier with internet access. If I could click a button and get those titles immediately, instead of in a week or two, and delivered to a personal e-reader or laptop - it would make research much more efficient. 

I like the idea, but I'm puzzled as to why they'd invest in a whopping great building to house that information, rather than an online virtual space or network that students could access from anywhere. Seems like a modern idea using outdated logic.