Re: Observations of a Librarian on Ebook Readers

From: Laval Hunsucker <amoinsde_at_nyob>
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2010 04:58:14 -0700
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Newly open in Berlin is the new
> "Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm
> Zentrum" library of Humboldt
> University, . . . . This huge new
> building has lots to offer beyond
> books, . . .

Thanks for the tip, Bernhard. A superb location, 
indeed -- close to the Spree and the theater 
district, between the Museumsinsel to the east 
and the federal government area to the west, and 
a couple of blocks from Unter den Linden to the 
south. It's also a five-minute walk from the 
apartment ( on the Marienstraße ) where I stay 
when I'm in the city -- so I'll be sure to check it 
out when I'm there for a few weeks in August.
Fascinating and dynamic town.

> . . . close to the old building of the State
> Library

And close, therefore, to the old opera house but, 
likewise, to the site of the infamous book-burning 
of May 1933 ( and the striking memorial of that 
event ;  lest we forget ).


- Laval Hunsucker
   Breukelen, Nederland




----- Original Message ----
From: Bernhard Eversberg <ev_at_BIBLIO.TU-BS.DE>
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Sent: Fri, March 26, 2010 9:07:00 AM
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] Observations of a Librarian on Ebook Readers

Weinheimer Jim wrote:
> 

> So, if we are indeed, doomed to oblivion, it doesn't mean that we have to go meekly, but we can decide to go down only after putting up the
> very best fight we possibly can.
A fight? You certainly mean we have to become more convincing than we
are now. We have to make it more obvious what the benefit of having
libraries and their services is. We have to demonstrate that we are
dealing with all sorts of tasks related to and important for education
and a knowledge-based society, that we are not solely committed to
guarding books gathering dust on miles of shelving.

Next year, there'll be an opportunity: German librarians will have their
100th annual conference in Berlin (7-10 June):
http://www.bibliothekartag2011.de/
And the motto is: "Libraries for the future / A future for libraries"

Newly open in Berlin is the new "Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm Zentrum"
library of Humboldt University, close to the old building of the
State Library:
http://www.ub.hu-berlin.de/ueber-uns/standorte/jacob-und-wilhelm-grimm-zentrum/rauminformation-grimm-zentrum

This huge new building has lots to offer beyond books, and it was
an instant hit with students.
Type "jacob und wilhelm grimm zentrum" in Google image search to see scores of pictures, that building is really a sight. The immense
"reading room" is full even on Sundays with its hundreds of computerized
desks. (Visited there last Sunday and yes, it's true.)

So, oblivion doesn't appear to be round the next corner for libraries,
but of course they are no longer the only show in town for people
seeking information, and neither, or less and less so, do they contain
all the most relevant information on most questions people have.

B.Eversberg



      
Received on Fri Mar 26 2010 - 08:00:48 EDT