Internet Replacing the Library

I feel internet is the source of good and bad. All depends on how we use and utilize according to our requirements. If we talk about this, I say the internet is the source where we can get the information at fast rate compared to other sources. Either the way of searing the required information or the way we need to meet our requirements. Children who engaged in such kind of project can approach internet but they should learn the source and how to find the information flavors from different way like libraries.

Hi Kelly, I understand your concern but this is the time of shortcuts and people love to do things fast and internet has given the speed for these things. People don't try to search books and read them, they just search them on internet and copy-paste them and get things done..

I'm not an example of all younglings today, but I read a ton and visit the library often. I've actually hit the borrow limit, on books, at the library a few times before. I do most of my research online, but as a writer, I appreciate having books for hard copy research. The internet can't give me everything, I want, after all....and there's something fun about pouring through book after book, ancient, new, of all styles and writing skill, for something you're looking for. If all the kids can do their schoolwork perfectly by the net, then the schools aren't doing their jobs properly, imo. Not picking hard enough or interesting enough subjects that aren't fully covered by the net (and believe me, get around on the net enough and you begin to see how woefully incomplete the knowledge on the net is!).

internet for me is a good thing for kids when making research because its fast and easy... my daughter have assignments all the time, and here in our place there is no library, even their school's library are not that good. so i prefer internet for her to help her in her research. i just get sad though, because my kids are not into books, they dont like reading. when i was younger and in my elementary schooling, i always stay in our library during break, i love it there, i love reading books, sometimes i borrow books and i read it at home. when i had my kids, i bought them children books, but they don't care, they just dont like books, didnt even read them, i didnt even get to have those mommy read me bedtime stories moments... lol

I see nothing bad in Internet and most probably it will replace libraries. They say that you can't trust Internet sources as much as books. Books are harder to write and publish, so it's bigger job to do than setting up a website full of lies but why wouldn't book lie too? But if teacher said that it should be done in library, it means that the research should be done using only the books in the library. He should learn to use the library and know how to find the book he need. Nowadays the skill is useful but I think that in few years everything will be in the Internet and we don't need any libraries anymore.

i'm not sure,too,it's more convenient to search ifo. on internet,but the book is more suitable to store knowledge, i really don't which one is better,but i prefer to get my need one internet,

I think it is …at least for me I know it is. Though I love reading books and nothing really replaces the joy of relaxing with a good title, yet nothing replaces too the convenience and speed of internet surfing. It’s the entire world at my fingertips and I would be a fool not to take advantage of it. OK I might not get all the info for a particular subject, I mean there are excerpts on the net and I can get the entire information only if I read the book but for list of references and to know beforehand what can be the best, the net’s the ultimate guide for me. However, if its reading books that needs to be inculcated then the net does fail miserably. I mean there are very few fiction/non-fiction titles available on the net for free and to read them, we have to go to the library. I think that is what needs to be emphasized to children for them to make libraries interesting.

Internet is good for the fast paced research but for really indepth understanding of certain Topics especially hard ideas and theories books are the best. There are good things and bad things about internet, it narrows down the search and it gives the fastest answers but more often than not it is too specific to contain real knowledge...I mean isn't it fun to find other stuff that you weren't looking for by just stumbling on a chapter, a page or a line while looking for the one you were after. I think schools should allow internet access for Highschool students and college students but for grade school research should be done in books to instill an appreciation for the Librum...if they start out young even if they go for internet when they grow older their memories of reading books and the love for them is already instilled rather than starting on the internet young and seeing books as an inferior means of getting information and knowledge.

it is way more convenient to look something up on the internet than to go to the library. at least it is for me anyway. if i never have to go the library again that is fine with me. i like things that make my life easier. if i do not have to leave the house fine with me. i have way too many chores to run as it is so if i can cut it down by one that is a great help to me.

It's really hard to answer this question, internet is more and more important in our life, it replace so many things in our life, we can research things easily from the internet, and if we research it from the library, we may take a really long time, and the internet is fast and more easy to do that, and the result is almost same, so I think if my teacher give me the same question, I will also research it from the internet, it's really hard to choose.

A nice discussion!!! And he went to the library for the internet. Typical!! I do agree with you that young people don't know what researching from a book is. And not just thirteen year olds, even older students, 17 year olds fall under that category too. They might know what a book is, but they stay away from it. Obviously, not all the students/youngsters are like that but the few are definitely not giving a good battle. Many of them don't know how o look for a word in a dictionary... terrible!

You're quite right about that. I had been sitting continously whole week long to gather infor about a specific point. And needn't go to library just once.

There is a place for both types of research. I love that little tale, but it's sad in a way, as it shows that our youngsters are losing the ablity to think and reason for themselves. The only thing I have against Internet research is that, because you can print off what you want, you don't need to use the skill of note-taking. This is so valuable as a study skill, because it trains the mind to select what is important from a huge volume of text. Highlighting points on a printed page of downloaded script just isn't the same. Still, as long as the research is being done, some knowledge is embedding itself. The other problem I have with reduced library use is that this could lead to closures, which would be a very bad thing. Despite appearances to the contrary, not everyone has internet access, and libraries are a valuable free resource for these people.

As a librarian: I do most of my research on the internet. I find it an excellent starting point and I'm pretty excited about the things the Internet has made possible. We're finding new ways to connect with our patrons and provide for their needs. There are actually initiatives in the library community to make more information openly available on the internet, because we recognize its potential. I worry about losing the actual, physical library because I love libraries and always have; but the larger concern is that students won't question the validity of the things they find on the internet. There's a massive amount of information out there, and unfortunately not all of it can be trusted. Doing research on the internet doesn't mean leaving the library and librarians behind. We can guide you through the internet just as we guide you through books.

I do find that kids rely on the internet a lot more than they should,but the schools are teaching them to do so. I home school my children and I recently made them do a history project at the library where they had to make a bibliography of what books were used and the only thing that they could use the internet for was a photo. I think that it was good experience for both of them and they were amazed by all of the reference books that they could access at the library. We are proud users of the library as we go at least weekly. It seems to be one of our favorite places and I am glad that my children appreciate it as much as I do. We struggle with reading in our home and so it has been an even bigger joy to me that they enjoy it. I hope that we don't see libraries closing due to the way that children are being taught to use the computer for everything.

I say it is good and it can also be bad. It is not teaching the children to search and use their skills at finding out things the manual way. By that I mean suppose you had to do a research and the deadline is approaching and you can't get internet access, because of power failure etc. I think you should use your mind more wisely than just searching the internet. I think all children should grow up with a challenge to learn to do things both ways the hard way and the easy way. That is just my opinion.

The internet is replacing a lot of things. Newspapers, libraries, I am sure some news stations are receiving less viewers-in fact although I’m sure tv will never be too affected by it, it affects tv too. Studies have found (I wish I had the link) that people believe blogs and the internet is just as credible as the tv and the news stations for receiving news and information. Why wait for the news to come on at six or twelve when you can get it right away off the web. Why do hours of searching when you can use the internet to read credible ebooks and go to elibraries with a lot of convenience wit h search engines and things? Why cut out coupns when you can get anything on coupon websites and wholesale places online that were unknown before? Why go to a mall when you can shop online and know you can get it if it’s in stock and there’s more in stock than at the mall. My parents are both principals and say schools will obsolete eventually because of the internet and the way online learning has evolved. Think of the way jobs will change too. There's a lot to think about.

Yes, I suppose internet has really made things easy for researchers, writers and students. Years ago it wasnt very easy getting a piece of information as easily as it is today by using a simple search engine. So, while this is a blessing, I do agree that children in this generation and next are likely to never learn how to read through a book for citations. And another mylotter correctly pointed out, resorting to wikipedia isnt always a good idea when it comes to doing school research, because information added in wikis are from people like us, who are not necessarily experts and their input is often not referenced either. If children must use the internet, then they should be taught to look for legitimate websites recommended by the school or by a supervising adult/librarian.

I think that the teacher must have thought about the fact that a lot, if not most, of her students would look on the Internet for information. If that is so, she should have given them a list of official, reliable Web sites from which the students to get their information, and then told them to choose just two of the Web sites to use, while the rest of their information had to come from books.

Yes friend the internet is in fact replacing the library. Today's generation is much more adaptive to seeing the pages on the internet rather than opening and leafing through the pages of books. And I think it is a good thing that is happening. Not everywhere in the world you will find good libraries. For urban people it is easy to find a good library as generally every major city in the world has a standard library. But what about people in the country side their access to information is limited compared to city. Now with the advent of the internet and ebooks all of us are getting an equal platform when it comes to access to information. And this is good as it will promote research and development and take it to much higher levels.