Today's library, tomorrow's 'googlary'?

Ever since computers were invented, the demand for the internet and computers has greatly increased over the past decade. As people enter the digital era, more conventional things have been often neglected due to the access of the internet. And one of the most common website one would turn to for information would be Google. Google is simply a search engine which would try to find the website with the content you want. It has become so common and easy to use such that the word “Google” has been used as a verb, and when people want to research on a topic on the internet, he will simply say “google it”.

While Google did bring a lot of convenience to people, the use of encyclopedia and research papers to the average person has dropped drastically. One would prefer to “Google” their research topic online rather than searching high and low for books which might be of use. Google leads us to a database of any kind of information we want, research, news, games, and practically everything else. However, the information Google is capable of leading us to is not totally credible and sufficient. Additionally, the experience one encounter would be totally different when compared if we read a book. Although the content might be the same, the method in which we acquire the information would have different impacts and consequences. Reading on the computer does not grant a lasting impact on the reader and would tire one’s eyes for staring in front of the computer screen for long hours. Even though it does brings convenience, the joy of searching for books one need can never be found while using Google. As mentioned in the article, researching in a library there is “always the shocked sense” and always too much information for one to read. Also, Google have changed the meaning of browsing. Browsing refers to looking through things, and in a library context, books which one might be interested in without any prior intention, while Google have no ability to meet that. Hence, we can see that Google can hardly replace a conventional library in every aspect.

While Google’s replacement for conventional libraries might be inevitable, there are always still positive sides about it. Millions of trees can be saved every year from being cut down, and might even help solve to a small extent the current problem of deforestation. And while more books are constantly being written and printed, libraries have to constantly expand as well to fill in more shelves for more recently published books, which might cause problems as well.