The Library, The Internet, and The Academic Life.

Compare and contrast libraries and the Internet as the two major sources of information for use in academic written work.

The appreciation of knowledge by our ancestors can be obviously seen with the creation of the first library 3200 years ago. The act of visiting the library with the aim of gaining knowledge or gathering information is passed down millenniums later. In the past centuries, the library had become a frequently-visited place for the general public, especially the academic scholars. Nevertheless, with the invention of the internet in the 1950s, digital information expands and academic library use is in a chronic state of decay. Though facing the challenges presented by the internet, extinction of the academic library use is not occurring. In other words, a great number of people still see library as the most ideal place to seek for information for use in their academic written work whereas others claim that the internet is certainly the most excellent means to look for academic materials. Both views are subjectively correct. Strictly speaking, internet and the library are undeniably comparable to each other when it comes to their handiness as sources of information for academic scholars.

In most of the academic written works, citations and references on where each particular material is derived from are required. That shows the reliability of sources is highly valued in the academic world. In this context, the reliability of sources from the internet, in which everyone is granted the freedom to post anything they wish, is lower than information gained from the library. The library offers numerous books published by well-known publishers after they are reviewed by prestigious researchers and authors in their respective fields. In addition, majority of the college students are not equipped with the ability to wearily filter for the reliable information on the internet. They would be unaware even if they have included undependable information from the internet into their written work. On the other hand, as mentioned earlier, collections of books in the library are trustworthy. Citing from those books enhances the reliability of one’s academic written work.

 In terms of convenience and speed, the internet is in the van as compared to the library. Physiologically, human brains are designed to favor simplicity rather than complexity. That explains why between the complex processes of extracting desired information from the book and clicking the mouse to select wanted material effortlessly, people often go for the latter. Sitting in front of the computer screen and expose ourselves to a vast amount of desired information is pleasant and less tiring, yet thumbing through books to look for materials takes hours and when the material we want is not in the book, we have to begin flipping another book again. From here we can see that, the internet serves as an appropriate source of information for academic scholars who frequently complete their academic written work few days before the deadline as it is more time – saving as compared to checking books by books in the library.

Is the nearest library situated more than 1 kilometer from you at this moment? Are you accessible to the internet now? If we answered yes to both of the questions, we might find the coverage of internet is undoubtedly more widespread than the library. Back to the topic, the ease of accessibility of information is another factor that differentiates the internet and the library. As technology becomes increasingly available, scholars nowadays no longer require going to the library to seek for materials for their academic work. As long as both the laptop and the Wi-Fi are present, academic scholars today are able to begin writing for their academic papers. Contrary to the internet, we need to be in the library in order to welcome the influx of vast information through physically contacting with the books.

 Summing up, the internet and the library are handy sources of information for scholars’ academic written works. In addition, two of the major sources come along with advantages as well as disadvantages. It depends on the scholars on the way they utilize both ways. If the internet and the library are used intelligently, they are able to complement each other, reducing the time needed for scholars to complete the academic papers, at the same time heightening the reliability of those academic works.