A Paperless Global Information Environment?

Conclusion

Having a paperless global information environment would give people endless resources at their fingertips and would ultimately overwhelm the user and they may not know how to retrieve the most relevant or useful information. The Internet already has an overwhelming amount of information and, as Andy Dawson, (1995, pp. 2) points out, there is so much that it is impossibly to index properly – Having all agencies updating digital resources will create similar problems. Having libraries with specific collections aids the user in finding the information they want. In Robert Slater’s article, (2010) Why aren’t e-books gaining more ground in Academic libraries? he points out that the use of digital resources, in particular e-books, is different to the way we use printed books. People who read e-books are more likely to read less of the book and the users themselves are likely to be people who are confortable with and wanting to embrace new technologies, including people who work in the computer science, technology, business and medical fields. Hunter (2008), points out that e-journals are increasingly popular, but not e-books. This could mean the end of printed journals and some other academic texts, (especially those that will go out of date quickly), but not of all printed books!

In conclusion it seems unlikely that we will have ever a global paperless information environment, however we may have institutions, and individuals who will no longer be reliant on paper. This essay has hopefully pointed out that these changes can never be global and will leave many out, because of a variety of reasons, including because the way they choose to use digital technologies. Just like the myth of the radio transforming education, (Gorman, 2004, p107), E-resources will never have the worldwide transformation that some have predicted. We have some examples of individual institutions including the paperless Applied Engineering and Technological Library at Texas University, (Anon, New York Times, 2010). The Local Government Group and the Museums, Libraries and Archives Association produced the Future Libraries Report, (2010), which says that digital technologies should support the future of libraries, not become the future of libraries. Libraries need to evolve in other ways too, so they will be seen as indispensible, this could include more computer access and modernizing buildings. Over the next few years we will see libraries incorporate more digital technology, but not replace all print works with digital versions. Technology simply increases a libraries reach and expands what it can do. Digital resources should be welcomed, but purely as an addition to already existing information.