What are the advantages of using the internet over visiting a library?

Question

Are there are any advantages of using a library in preference to searching the internet?

Answer 1

When I want a book to read, I get it from ---- the Library!

Using the internet at home, I have access 24 hrs/day.

When I use the internet to find information, the onus is on me to decide which information is reliable and which is not. When I use the information sources that are provided by the library, I am sure that they have been selected with users' needs in mind and that they are reliable sources.

Some of the best online information sources are not free. I cannot afford to buy these services. But the library pays the access fee so that all patrons can use these online fee-based resources.

Some information simply is not available on the internet free. To limit my searching to free sources, I am missing a great deal of valuable information. Therefore, I use both library sources and free internet sources for a comprehensive search.

The internet is not organized like a library is. Sometimes locating what you want on the Web is a trial-and-error process. I appreciate the ease with which I can find information in an organized library.

Answer 2

The advantage of a library would be more reliable sources. Someone could get information on a subject off the internet and get it from a non-legitimate source. In the library, you have your hands on the journal or media or encyclopedia or whatever so you know your information is legit.*

* Not taking into account that sometimes the most respected writings have misinformation...

Answer 3

The library used to be a great place, but now the internet is much easier. The internet has many advantages over the library or a set of encyclopedias. You can have a whole world of information right at your fingertips. Many sources are available on here and you stay right at your desk instead of looking for lots of books and flipping through them to do your research.

Answer 4

I may be prejudiced here, but I think that one major advantage of going to the library is the availability of getting assistance from a librarian. These people have been trained in how to do research. They know the best ways of locating information--stuff that most people don't know about. More than once, students have come to the reference desk and said they had been looking for certain information for hours with no luck. They are then amazed when I show them how to find what they want in only a few minutes.

Answer 5

The net is faster, of course, and you have a loooot of resources, as there are billions of websites out there versus whatever books a specific library you visit will only have on hand.
However, this may also be a downside, because some online resources you cant really trust. The Information and facts in some links may be incorrect, or just plain false. You may still need to hit the books to verify their validity.

Answer 6

If you use the internet you do have a greater chance of finding false information, however, if you go to a library your resources are limited to whatever books or magazine articles that library might contain. I suggest using a mix of the two to obtain and compare different information. also if you do decide to use the internet to gather information then try to look for sights that may have trustworthy information such as organizations dedicated to the topic.

Answer 7

The Internet will save you time and gas. The library will give you a real book (if they have one you want), which you can read, put down for a while, and pick up again. I've given up on libraries, and just buy books, mostly used.

Answer 8

I prefer using a library. There is so much more depth you can get into, there are librarians there to make suggestions, it smells like books, and there are computers there so that you can go on the internet too if you want to.

Answer 9

The Internet tends to have a lot of false information on it, or info that's slanted or biased (eg: if you're researching a company, you can often wind up finding promotional sites created by that company rather than factual sites) and you can't always get a reference. You're more likely to find well-researched knowledge in a library.

Answer 10

Libraries close, internet does not. The internet is handier because it's right there in your home. If it's bad weather you have trouble getting to a library.