NewsOK.com | Libraries check out the future

Reg. req. for full article NewsOK.com | Libraries check out the future :
"Let's say it's 2020 and we walk through the doors of the Edmon Low Library on the Oklahoma State University campus in Stillwater. What do we see?

Would-be visionaries are predicting the view will be uncluttered by the stacks of books held in today's library collection.

The online technology news site, Cnet, said in a recent article: 'A number of universities are already working on bookless, digital libraries that reflect a growing understanding of how today's tech-savvy students access information.'

Not gonna happen, said Anne Prestamo, OSU's associate dean of collection and technology services. Libraries will continue to present their collections the old-fashioned way even as they build their collection of digital material, she said.

'We are acquiring just as many books if not more than we have historically,' Prestamo said. 'Those that may have predicted five or 10 years ago that digital publishing may mean the end of the book as we know it, there are more books published each and every year right up to this year.'
...
At the University of Oklahoma, its Bizzell Memorial Libraries and branches offer a list of digitally archived collections, said Debra Engel, director of public services for the university. The collection includes local projects such as the Western History Collections Photograph Archives and a complete record of the regents' minutes dating back to the first meeting in 1893.

OU also is working with Google to implement its Google Scholar service, which enables online searches specifically for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and technical reports from broad areas of research.

However, none of this means that OU will be sweeping physical books from its library shelves, Engel said.

"I don't envision a 'bookless' world," she said. "My vision is to combine the strengths of both formats, print and digital, and offer students the full range of resources available. The world of research and information exploration is not a 'one-size-fits-all' solution." "