Before the introduction of technology, people more so teachers and students relied on libraries; a library is a place whereby sources of information are collected and made accessible for certain people for reference or borrowing. A library collection includes books, periodicals, manuscripts, newspapers, films, maps, prints, documents, CDs, videotapes, e-books, databases, audio books, DVDs or cassettes. A library is organized for use and can be maintained by the public, an institution, a corporation, or a private individual. An internet is a network of networks that consists of public, private, academic, business, and government networks of local to global scope. The internet carries a broad range of unlimited information resources and services and it is easily accessible. The introduction of technology and the internet has brought has become an obstacle to libraries as many people today prefer to search for information online rather than in libraries.
Library
Importance of a Library
A library is quite important this is because a library is a place which encourages scholarship and offers a quiet, peaceful place to study; sometimes it is difficult to find a quiet place to study especially in urban areas where there are lots of noises, therefore a library is a quiet place where one can study. Additionally, a library offers a wealth of books to discover and borrow; one can borrow a book and go and read on his/her leisure time for free. A library is also important as it contains varieties of books which are physically available for reference and thus it is easy to access the books. A library is also essential as it contains information from even ancient times and makes it available for people to read and be aware of what things used to be before. Those who cannot afford a computer or have access to the internet are able to access the information through libraries.
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Limitations of a Library
Despite the library being importance its has quite some disadvantages; for example, libraries are all over especially in rural areas it is quite difficult to find a library thus relying on libraries becoming a difficulty. Most libraries have limited hours especially on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays of which it is the best time for people to go to the library. Many people are free to weekends and many libraries are closed or opened for a limited time on weekends thus limiting people to access the libraries. Some books in the library are so worn out thus it becomes a problem to read them; libraries are not accessible day and night thus people cannot have access to information during the night. Sometimes it is difficult to access the popular books as they are always in demand.
The Internet
The Internet is a powerful channel whereby information can be accessed and shared; due to this many researchers use the internet as a tool for conducting their researches. The Internet allows people to have access to information without limits; with internet, one can have immediate access to a considerable amount of information with reference to a particular topic. The Internet also is time and energy saving as no time is used to move from one place to another in search of a library. With internet information is accessible 24/7; this makes it easy for researchers and learners as they can conduct their researchers or access information day and night as the internet does not have a time limit.
Internet Impact on libraries
The introduction of technology and internet has a great impact on libraries; despite the library being an essential tool in learning and used for a long time the internet is fast replacing the library.
Negative impact of Internet to Libraries
The internet has deprived the library their customers; for instance, many people prefer getting information online than having to go to the library. People refer to the internet as easy to access and get the information required. For example to get a definition of something or get information about something people used to create time and go to the library but today the information can be gotten at the comfort of your house through a Smartphone. You do not have to own a computer to access the information as a smartphone is enough. The internet has digital books which are cheap compared to the same printed books which are available in the libraries; the public like cheap and accessible things. Thus people prefer to buy the books online at a cheaper price and also escape the stress of queuing in the library thus libraries being left alone. Before the introduction of the internet, the authors used the library to market their books and thus attracting people as author’s works and other information were found in the library. Today with the emersion of the internet authors have other ways to market their works such as through Facebook, social media, and Amazon where they advertise and sell their books. The same authors term libraries as cumbersome and see them as their final option thus avoiding the libraries. This has also denied the library access to important books which are critical in the academic world today.
Library played a very critical role to learners, researchers, authors, teachers, and students as they all relied on the library to get information. The emersion of the internet has brought lots of challenges to the library as the internet is fast taking over the place of the library. Today information can be accessed online and many people prefer internet over the library as the internet is easily accessible and available 24/7 with no time limit. Therefore the internet has brought lots of trouble to the library and it is slowly diminishing the libraries.
