50% of tasmanians functionally illiterate

[Orang Utan]

The advantages of paper newspapers over electronic newspapers in public libraries.

1 It is easier to read a printed page than it is to read to read a screen.

2 There is empirical evidence that people retain more information after reading a paper document than they do after reading a document on screen.

3 You are not allowed to be on a library computer all day, whereas you can read a library newspaper all day.

4 You have to be registered with a library service to use the computers, so if you are visiting from another county/borough then you cannot pop into a library to use the computers.

5 Printed newspapers can be accessed as soon as you have one in your hand, whereas it takes some time to log on to the computer and access the online newspaper website.

6 Newspaper websites are often not simply electronic versions of the printed papers, and are harder to navigate than printed papers.

7 Accessing online newspapers may be subject to one of more of six types of failure that reading printed newspapers will not. a) The electricity supply can fail. b) The library service system can go down. c) The individual computer can have a software fault. d) The individual computer can have a hardware fault e) The newspaper website can go down. f) The internet can go down (this has happened).

But they are ephemeral and can’t be updated. There’s also very little demand for paper newspapers when the same information is available for free online, in the library itself. It’s no surprise many budget-squeezed public libraries have stopped providing them.

 

[Aladdin]

The advantages of paper newspapers over electronic newspapers in public libraries.

1 It is easier to read a printed page than it is to read to read a screen.

2 There is empirical evidence that people retain more information after reading a paper document than they do after reading a document on screen.

3 You are not allowed to be on a library computer all day, whereas you can read a library newspaper all day.

4 You have to be registered with a library service to use the computers, so if you are visiting from another county/borough then you cannot pop into a library to use the computers.

5 Printed newspapers can be accessed as soon as you have one in your hand, whereas it takes some time to log on to the computer and access the online newspaper website.

6 Newspaper websites are often not simply electronic versions of the printed papers, and are harder to navigate than printed papers.

7 Accessing online newspapers may be subject to one of more of six types of failure that reading printed newspapers will not. a) The electricity supply can fail. b) The library service system can go down. c) The individual computer can have a software fault. d) The individual computer can have a hardware fault e) The newspaper website can go down. f) The internet can go down (this has happened).

I would add also that chips taste better off newspaper than an iPad.

 

[PTK]

But they are ephemeral and can’t be updated. There’s also very little demand for paper newspapers when the same information is available for free online, in the library itself. It’s no surprise many budget-squeezed public libraries have stopped providing them.

That newspapers cannot be updated is a good thing. They are solid proof of what some people thought about events in the world at a particular time. Digital records can be altered. We would have no proof that we were once allied to Eurasia, and at war with Eastasia. We would have no need for a Winston Smith to physically burn the newspapers of yesterday.

Without paper documents, there can be no scrap books.

 

[frogwoman]

But they're not available for free? A lot of newspapers are behind paywall and, especially on local papers the sites are pretty unusable. Most newspapers will ask you to pay something these days to access their website apart from the Guardian and a few others, whereas in a library you can read it all day. Of course I understand why libraries are making those choices about finances etc, but I don't see it as a good thing that it is happening.

Related to the problems about updates etc there is a real issue with 'digital decay' as well

 

[PTK]

Some years ago the local library got rid of nearly all the magazines that once it stocked. The library service employed a private company to provide online access to magazines. If you were registered with the library, and could find a free computer, then you could type in your library card number and password and log on, then access this company's website, type in your number and password, log on, and read many magazines. For an hour. For that was the total amount of time that you were allowed on the computer every day.

The library had once stocked The Scientific American. I went online, hoping to read it. This was not one of the titles that the company provided. I complained, and was told that this particular magazine was not one of the ones they provided. I knew that already. There was no proper explanation of why it was not available.I was very hard up at the time, and said magazine is quite expensive.

The library still does not stock magazines, but I think it is the case that the online magazines are no longer available.

Historians of the future will find a paucity of records from the time in which we live. The wonderful digital information on the web will no longer be available when the servers cease working. The physical backups will no longer be readable. For those who doubt that last point, I have three words “twelve inch floppy”. How many of us could access information stored on a twelve inch floppy disk?


Welcome to the new Dark Ages.

 

[tim]

But they are ephemeral and can’t be updated. There’s also very little demand for paper newspapers when the same information is available for free online, in the library itself. It’s no surprise many budget-squeezed public libraries have stopped providing them.

They're updated daily, which is often enough.