College libraries are usually packed around this time of year as students begin to embark on researching their final papers, but thanks to the growing amount of library materials available online, students are finding it much more convenient to seek out information from their dormitory computers. On the Boston University library’s website, as part of the ‘Strategic Plan,’ the library promises to ‘accelerate the integration of electronic resources into library collections.’ Though this may be easier for BU students to access these electronic resources from home rather than trek down to the Mugar Memorial library, students should not be mislead into thinking that their computer is a one-stop shop for their research papers.
It’s easy to assume that just because we are living in the information age, absolutely everything can be found online. But while the amount of journals and articles online is steadily increasing, there are copyright laws that prevent many books from being posted online.
Spending a Sunday afternoon browsing the dungeon-like fourth floor of Mugar for Civil War history books as opposed to curling up the bed with a laptop doesn’t sound all that appealing, but it gives students the chance to come across useful new books that they wouldn’t be able to find on your computer.
Between the economic recession and BU’s $10 million budget gap, it would be unrealistic for Mugar to undergo any kind of renovations at this time to create a friendlier research environment. However, BU should be doing more to inform students that they should be taking advantage of a great resource in Mugar. It’s not the most attractive place, but Mugar provides hundreds of thousands of books and journals for student use, and if it doesn’t have the book you are looking for, it’s easy to request a copy from another library.
Part of the nearly $40,000 students pay in tuition goes toward library expenses, and to get their moneys worth, students should be using Mugar for more than just online resources. The sheer amount of print resources is overwhelming, but there are plenty of librarians working there whose job is to help students find what they need. The digitization of information is rampant, but for now, students need to be making sure that online library resources are just one component of their research.
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