Luddites and libraries

I read a good story in the LA Times -- and I do love this paper for its non-political stories. It's written by Diana Wagman, a novelist and professor. It's about a a Luddite -- who's not really a Luddite -- who went to the library to research Luddites.

I spent three hours at the library and did not learn much about Luddites, but what I did find actually gave me chills. This is what I discovered: If you have a specific destination, the Web is the place to go. If you just need to search, there is no place like the library.

I enjoyed the article because I've been going to libraries regularly over the last two years, and I'm enjoying it. I cancelled my home internet two years ago, so I'm a quasi-Luddite just like the author. Now that I'm hooked on libraries, but still enjoy the web a few times a week, I can look back and see that I was wrong about some things:

1. All information is on the web

2. All good information is on the web

3. Enough information is on the web to make libraries unnecessary

4. I don't have time to visit libraries

5. I can't read books that might have been rubbed on somebody's unwashed genitalia just hours before.

Now I view the web as a good starting place for information (or TV shows or newspaper articles), then I'll go to the library to find a good, peer-reviewed book to learn more. It's a better way than all web, all the time. For me, anyway.