Going to the library, but only for coffee

I remember doing my undergraduate honors thesis. It was the 2001/2002 school year. I remember the hours I spent in the library - searching the stacks, finding the journal, finding the volume of the journal I needed, looking up the page number, and copying away. I spent so much time and money in the library getting all of those articles. And carrying all of them around with me? Insane. I remember those days that I dedicated a whole Sunday to copying articles. And refilling my OneCard...over and over and over. It was better than trying to find change, however.

Today, getting articles is much easier (and cheaper). I don't even have to go to school to do it. I can link my computer remotely to OhioLink, and download PDF versions of the articles. I also sprung for the full version of Adobe (yay for student discounts!) and can even annotate and highlight the articles right on my computer. I can print them out if i wish (of course) and can even use the printer in the computer lab in the department for free (if i feel like going there, of course). I can have all of the articles I need with me on the computer at all times. I've barely stepped foot in the library at school in all of the years that I've gone there. I've rarely needed to. As an undergrad, I practically lived there. I've spent more time buying coffee at the coffee shop there than getting articles.

As much as I complain about my dissertation, I realize technology has made the process MUCH easier. I can have the article I need in seconds. SECONDS. I often forget how much time, effort and money it took to procure those articles as an undergrad. I can't imagine doing a dissertation that way. I have HUNDREDS of articles for my dissertation (and yes, I've read most of them). I can't imagine doing this process for every article I needed: copy page --> flip journal --> copy page --> turn page --> copy --> flip journal...repeat to infinity.

Ah, it is important to remember that we have it easy.