Running head: TECHNOLOGY FOR GOOD, OR FOR WORST

Effect technology has had on libraries and books.

Carlos Eduardo Lopez
University of Texas at El Paso

EFFECT OF TECHNOLGY ON LIBRARIES AND BOOKS.

Abstract
The literature review will provide information on how technology has evolved,
and changed society of traditional ways. The review will focus on resources dealing with both
the use of hard copy resources, and technological resources. The sources range from physical
copies to electronic copies, thus applying the purpose of this literature review.
The literature review will answer four research questions, and will include the ideas of
the sources for answering the questions. The questions will be answered with backing
information, and test both sides of the claims.

Are technological advancements replacing traditional life of students at campus? If so

how?

How was technology introduced at the academic level? Its effects?

How much technology does an average UTEP student in their everyday life use?

What is the future of books? And its effects.

EFFECT OF TECHNOLGY ON LIBRARIES AND BOOKS.

Introduction
The use of technology has increased and changed society since its introduction. Thus the
use of hardcopy documents principal the use of books. The different works will provide the
points of view of the authors towards whether the effect of the introduction of technology was
either positive or negative. The research questions are design to narrow the research from a wide
area to a local search about the university. The research will provide information of the general
public, with a focus on the University of Texas at El Paso, including an interview with a campus
librarian. The literary review will provide a conversation with the sources by answering the
research questions.

Are technological advancements replacing traditional life of students at campus? If so

how?

How was technology introduced at the academic level? Its effects?

How much technology does an average UTEP student in their everyday life use?

What is the future of books? And its effects.

Are technological advancements replacing traditional life of students at campus? If
so how?
The use of technology has changed the traditional life of society, and affected the

academic level of reading of society. Peregrino (2000) talks about the introduction of technology
to the university. The firs type of technology to touch the University of Texas at El Paso was an
IBM computer in 1965. Since the introduction of this computer at the university technology has
had substantially increased, the creation of a computer lab, technology on more buildings on
campus, even at the library technology was introduced, and constant innovations continue to
expand.

EFFECT OF TECHNOLGY ON LIBRARIES AND BOOKS.

An interview done to, Mrs. Claudia Rivers, a librarian of special collections at the
University of Texas at El Paso provided a first person point of view on the use technology, and
printed physical resources at the university. Mrs. Claudia Rivers has been a librarian at the
special collection section of the university library for twenty-two years. Mrs. Rivers comes from
the University of Austin, who has a degree in archives, and when UTEP asked for her for a
position as a librarian at the special collections department, took the job. The special collections,
is a section at the university library, where historical book, rare collections, newspaper copies,
history photos, oral copies, yearbooks, south west and the border books, within other thematic
collections can be found. Most of the copies found at special collection cant be taken out of the
floor, and hardly any of the content is found online. Mrs. Claudia Rivers states that very few
information has been made available online, and when asked, how was her experience in
transferring the information online, responded that it has been really hard, and that it consumes
a lot of time, and money. Most of the information that has made its way online have been
pictures and newspapers, even some yearbooks. She explained that to scan a picture, and post it
online, is very complicated because of the size of the picture, the special care needed for the
picture, and that it has to be sent to a company that takes care of the scanning. When the copy is
scan it is ready to be placed online, but to do that an access to an online database has to be
bought. One of the main concerns was that to be transferring all the information to an online
source will be really hard and very expensive. When asked, In your opinion do you expect to
find online everything that is found at special collections in the future? Mrs. Rivers answered
that not in the near future, not only for the amount of time it would take, but also because of the
money, and the trouble it takes for every peace to be placed online. Mrs. Rivers stated that the
books has its advantages where technology might not still be able to make it happen, books

EFFECT OF TECHNOLGY ON LIBRARIES AND BOOKS.

have a certain smell, texture, and color, meaning this makes a book special, and technology still
isnt advance enough to compete with this uniqueness.
How much technology does in average UTEP student in their everyday life use?
The library, and change in the research process. Osburn (1979), is about how research can
be improved of a connection of the library sources can improve research. The book implies that
with a better networking connections, the sources for research will not be scarce, due to finding
the information at one library. The author stated that, libraries should extent their content
towards academic research programs to help maintain the collections, more available to
researchers looking into for that information. The power point, the voice of the user: where
students and faculty go for information, by Leigh Watson, give the data of 3,200 phone
interviews. The interviews where done to academic scholars, and educated college discourse
community. The information presented by the date helps understand the different points of view
of the usage of both technology and printed resources. The author use some of the interview
questions, and use the data to create a table. The author states students and faculty prefer
technology and with the results of the data of all the information states, that users like libraries
but still prefer technology. The table below shows the results of the findings

EFFECT OF TECHNOLGY ON LIBRARIES AND BOOKS.

The graph above is a visual representation of the data that was done to college faculty, and students. The data presented is
showed in a graph for clarity and the purpose of the author was that of creating a greater impact.

How was technology introduced at the academic level?

The idea to include technology at the academic level to help the discourse community
conduct research has been in debate for a long time. According to the author, Saenger (1975)
university libraries had a more complete library collection, and printed text during the fourteen
hundredths (p. 407). On the other hand, Wright (2000), mentions that the idea of technology for
the academic level was introduced in 1945. The vision of one scientist, Vannevar Bush, had the
idea of created what he called the memex (p. 591). The article explains that the idea was to make
the research process easier by looking on a database that contained scholarly articles. The speed
at which the information will be process with memex will be faster, though the memex was never
produced. This however led to significant findings that revolved on the idea that all the
information should be available at one single place for future reference for research. As the
author mentions in the article the first attempts to create this database, and with the help of
librarians lead to the creation of catalogs, in which the information found at the libraries could be
found in a database, around the 1980(p. 592), The catalogs didnt received much support from
libraries, and thus the project was successful. The author continues on to explain how this
catalogs evolve into e-journals, found on academic search databases. This as the author mentions
might be misleading, since they have been retrieved from hard copies leaving some information
left behind on the actual hard copy (p. 592). The author of this articles informs about how
technology has advance towards a more complex scholarly database, where scholar articles can
be found. This article also leans towards the negative side argumentation that technology might
have had a greater negative impact on an academic discourse communities. The author throws
negative comments towards the use of technology, that technology hasnt has a complete

EFFECT OF TECHNOLGY ON LIBRARIES AND BOOKS.

interface for electronic resources meaning that the search interfaces, or databases, used to find
scholarly information might not be as easy to navigate as it sounds (page 593). Peregrino, in the
article stated that one of the first computers to touch the university has been an IBM computer,
and that, in accordance to the author, Stephen Wright, the general idea was meant to help do
research faster, and then with time technology advancements increased, as well as the technology
found at the university.

What is the future of books? And its effects.

Libraries have been affected by the use of electronic databases. Nicholson (2013), mentions that
public libraries support the use of computer games (p. 2). The support from the libraries has
change how people use the technology offered at libraries, and that it is a way people spend their
leisure time. Kniffel (1995) provides the details, mostly the comments, of speakers at a
conference held at Indianapolis, where the theme of discussion was to decide whether
technology, or books where better. The author includes comments, on both sides of the argument,
but there is a deeper meaning to what the author really tries to imply. The comments of one
speaker, Alan November, had great impact towards the topic, and the argument. Alan November
commented that being a librarian in todays technological society was different as it was
before, meaning that librarians are links to find information (p. 27). Another speaker present at
the conference whose comment also had an impact was Bill Erbes. Erbes commented, That
technology is dangerous in that adult websites could be easily accessed; the comment was made
to show how technology isnt always used for academic, or enrichment purposes (p. 29). Ghikas
(1998) states how the constant technological advances have affected libraries. The author
comments, that people can use libraries for their technology content, libraries have used

EFFECT OF TECHNOLGY ON LIBRARIES AND BOOKS.

technology to provide the information that could be found at the library more accessible to the
public (p. 75). The article includes some of the projects to help libraries be prepared for the
future. One of the foundations, Gates library foundation, provides funding to libraries to
increase the technology available at the library (p. 77). All the programs are designed to increase
technology in libraries, and making it easily accessible to the public. The article informs that
technology has had, and will continue to have, a positive effect in helping libraries. Faltzer
(1998), states, library future relies on the library itself, and there are two theories, the displacive
and the additive theories, the two theories are contradictory of each other. Under the displacive
theory libraries will become tech centers, in which all the printed copies will be found online.
The author gives the example of the automobile replacing the horse, to prove that technology
will take over books and extinguish the printing of books. The additive theory, which can be seen
as the opposite of the displacive theory, is where the usage of both electronic, and printed sources
will be both used, and benefit one other. The example the author uses to describe this is the
relation of television and radio, meaning that books and technology can work together to help
increase research that students can find. The article states that libraries gave adopted the additive
theory, due to the use of printed copies and the use of computers to do research.
Book reading level has change over the years. Buck (1949), creates the argument that
societies reading level has decrease, not only by technology, but by other types of lower level of
academic writing; such as magazines, and television. The vocabulary that magazines, and other
popular means of communication is very low. The author mentions, Books are luxuries and
table decorations, this means that according to the author, the writing capacity of an average
person to use a book has decrease. The article arguments that the restriction place on books are
one of the reasons that readers have decline. The author explained, Readers who like violence

EFFECT OF TECHNOLGY ON LIBRARIES AND BOOKS.

and murder. Will find this satisfaction a somewhere else, in which the restrictions placed on
books limit what a reader can find (p. 170). Readers look for books for joy, and when no book is
found the reader will seek that joy by other means. The author implies that to increase the book
reader population less restrictions must be placed on books. The video, technology and the future
of the book, cast symposium, created by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in which
speakers, from an academic and business backgrounds, spoke on the changes made on books.
One speaker, John Hollar, the President and chief executive officer of computer history museum,
stated that, one of the main ideas of Pearson is to take the book and put it in a computer, in
which technology can replace the printed book and make it accessible to the public American
Academy of Arts and Sciences., 2009, min 36). The speakers talk of how technology, such as ereaders, can help scholars to find more resources faster and at one place. In the symposium the
public showed that some people brought their e-electron e- reader, and even one speaker
mention, I brought my book in the phone in case I get bored to listen to the other people,
because the speaker before had brought an actual printed book.
Libraries and books have also been affected by technology improvements. The argument
debates over physical printed copy, and the most resent popular on demand tablets. Books have
been a major source to find information accepted by scholar communities, this according to the
argument stays the same, what changes is how the book, and other sources, have evolved and
place on portable electronic devises called tablets, even smart phones. The process for printing a
book has been affected by technology. Saenger, (1975) views how technology affected the
traditional style of printing books. The introduction of the printer, as stated in the article,
printing was one step on the book production, where the printer was a starting point on the
reproduction of books (p. 405). As stated in the article, the universities where in really need for

EFFECT OF TECHNOLGY ON LIBRARIES AND BOOKS.

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printing books, which help for development for different mechanisms to mass print textbooks.
The universities libraries at the time, according to the author, contained many scholastic works.
The articles provide information of how technology has books, and libraries been affected by
technology. McCabe Person (1995) states that library for a long time have transfer the printed
copies to online databases where the consumer could access it without having to be present at the
library. The author stated that it has make the public available to copies that even if the printed
copy is out there, it can be borough thorough an online databased. (p. 16-17).
The book concept, how it has change over time. The idea that books have change either
by technology, or other lower level of writings. Books, are being transfer to electronic copies,
and more electronic reader are being produced, each version of e-reader have software
improvements, even some new programs that the tablet can run.Neson (2010), shows the idea
that an e-reader, or tablet, will replace the printed book, which contains a more complete
interaction mechanism. The tablet will contain a book, but within the book it can access all the
information of the book, and search parts that need to be clarify, even see where the sources
came from. This helps in analyzing a book in more detail, fast and convenient way.
Conclusion
The effect that technology has brought has different points of view, and literary analysis
presented the arguments. The points of view include that the use of technology has been
beneficial to libraries, and that it can represent a more complete source of information when
technology, and the book work in an additive manner. The opposing view is of how technology
has been replacing the use of books, and that at some point will replace libraries. The debate was
looked at in the literary analysis and most of the arguments made by both sides are to attack and
defend, but also some authors are going for the use of both, and that it should be used

EFFECT OF TECHNOLGY ON LIBRARIES AND BOOKS.

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moderately. Technology innovation is inevitable, and the effects will still be in debate by the two
groups of people. Yet the libraries are using both types of sources, it has a leaned towards which
resource should be more focused. As the author of the article, library literacy, the future of the
library depends on the library itself.

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