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Why use books?

With the tremendous growth of the Internet, it makes sense to question the future of the book. But walk into any library and you’ll discover thousands and thousands of books. Did librarians somehow miss the memo that books are only good for collecting dust?

The first deals with the fact that not every bit of information is online. Though it may change in the future, a significant portion of recorded human history remains available only in books.

Books have a significant advantage over other informaiton sources …length. In hundreds of pages, books can present comprehensive treatments of subject. They are the best place for locating detailed overviews, research compilations and in-depth analyses.

The length of a book can be a bit daunting, but it is not always necessary to read it cover to cover. If a book contains a Table of Contents or Index, you can easily locate the chapters or pages that are directly relevant to you research.

Is there a book on my topic?

The weakness of a book lies in the time required for an author to research and write a book. As a result, new books contain material that was compiled months or even years prior to their publication. Their information is dated before it even hits the shelves of a bookstore or a library. Because of this fact, it’s probably not the best place for researching new or obscure topics. In these cases, researchers are still trying to comprehend developing topics and their importance. It is unlikely that there is enough information to support an extended analysis. If you do locate book on a topic, it is often a good indication of the amount of research available.

The availibility of a book may also depend on the discipline that is publishing it. It’s also important to consider that age is not viewed as a serious problem by all disciplines.

Consider the Humanities and some of the social Sciences. An event occurs, but it can take years for us to completely comprehend its importance. Information published on the topic reflects the slow development of our understanding. Only through the perspective granted by time, can historians begin to place the event within a larger world context. Rarely, does the dramatic discovery of historical documents or artifacts radically change our understanding. Other fields in the Arts and Humanities, such as Literature, Religion, Philosophy, and Art, are not strictly dependent on a speedy publication schedule.

The sciences, such as Biology, Physics, or Psychology, are a different story. Knowledge in these areas is built on the active and rapid exchange of ideas, known as scientific discourse. Experiments are constantly being conducted. Understanding and knowledge in these fields is volatile, changing directions very quickly. As a result, the sciences typically bypass books and publish their research in articles.

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