Decline and fool

Recently, I had cause to visit the library of the University of NSW and was horrified by how many more computers and how many fewer bookshelves were present than when I'd been there last. Yes, yes, global databases and digital storage. But given the number of terminals that were either free or seemingly being used for non-work purposes, the word "overkill" sprang to mind. Up the ratio of PCs to paper too far and you reduce a library - one of *the* greatest inventions - to a computer room. Then why even go there when you can sit behind a monitor equally well at home? The atmosphere of the building was tangibly lessened, like that of a half-logged old-growth forest, and I felt sorry for all of the students deprived of the chance to delve into a deepwood of books. While a series of database links may lead you to an unexpected text, that experience doesn't compare to the thrill of opening a random volume plucked from an unfamiliar aisle. And there's *nothing* like being surrounded by the embodiment of mankind's accumulated knowledge to imbue one with a sense of potential and a desire to contribute to the canon. Culling tomes in an attempt to stay relevant, the UNSW Library is ironically hastening its own obsolescence by abandoning what makes it special. I want no part of it. In future, I shall be injecting my heroin elsewhere.