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| New York Public Library’s Rose Reading Room (source) |
This past summer, I was fortunate enough to be able to spend several weeks studying in the British Library toward one of my recent examinations, and I was very impressed with its digital integration.
The best part, for my purposes this summer, was the web catalogue that enables users to reserve research texts in advance, and has them ready for you behind the desk when you arrive. In comparison to other research libraries that require you to wait (sometimes for an hour or more), this was a great boon to my productivity since I could begin working with the texts I needed as soon as I got to the library.
The British Library also offers Digitized Manuscripts, as well as digital collections of news media, sounds, Renaissance Festival Books, among others. Even signing-up to use the collection was a quick Internet-based process, and staff members allowed me to use their computers to prove my academic status in order to offer me a library card that would be valid for longer.
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| The entrance gate to the British Library (source) |
Many public libraries and research institutions offer cardholders access to online databases and other electronic resources that are available to use, often from outside of the library itself. Additionally, many offer ebooks that you can check out from home, which automatically disappear when the are due back.
Pew Research’s recent survery finds that millennials are avid readers and make use of the library, even agreeing that there is a lot of information found in a library that is not available online (maybe they are not only checking out Wikipedia after all). However, these younger readers are less likely to miss a library if it leaves their community, suggesting that they may not be making as frequent use of the library as a quiet place to study and as a community center.
If you or your students are not familiar with it already, WorldCat is a great online library resource that searches for material through university and research libraries, and allows you to make book lists, write or read reviews, and assists you with citations. I wish it would integrate with libraries on a more local level, but maybe this tool will become more robust over time.
My medieval Latin professor took us to the library to do a scavenger hunt during one of our classes, and that is a fun and valuable moment for teaching your students about what is truly available for them in their home institution’s library. Many university libraries have many research tools available for students, including many online, that they are simply unaware of. This would not only benefit them in your class, but throughout their college career, and maybe make them reconsider the worth of their local libraries in the future.
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