Introduction
In the early twentieth century, information could only be accessed by purchasing a piece of literature physically. There was a straight forward way of exchanging ideas because things were done manually. The internet has brought a lot of changes to the information industry. It has increased the number of people accessing writings. Initially, this was received with a lot of enthusiasm as readers thought that writers could transfer their ideas across to readers who were half way across the world. It has enabled individuals to gain knowledge in fields which were previously thought to be inaccessible. Despite all these benefits, the internet has been blamed for the death of literacy, reading and writing skills. It is quite important to look at both sides of the coin in order to come up with a fair conclusion (Malecki, 2002).
Has the internet brought the death of literacy?
Arguments against the internet
The most important aspect to look for in a piece of literature is its creativity. One should ask themselves whether ideas reflected in a piece of writing are original and imaginative. Sadly, this is a very rare picture in most writings found on the net. It is quite common to find pieces of writing that are almost identical on different websites (Graham, 2001).
Serious literature must also be well thought out. It must be accompanied by painstaking research and articulation. Online writing is impulsive and some of the writings displayed are quite shallow. The so-called online debates are often characterized by views that don’t even hold water.
Language is another aspect that has gone down the drain after introduction of the internet. Most writers no longer pay attention to their grammar because this can be done for them through the spell checker. This does not mean that the word processor solves everything. It may not be able to detect wrong sentence order, noun and verb agreement etc. these are crucial aspects of writing that will be eliminated thanks to the internet.
The internet also makes it quite hard for professional writers to earn a decent living.
Arguments for the internet
The internet has the ability to reach any corner of the world. This means that audiences have been expanded and books that would only have been read by a small category of people can now be accessed by a higher number. More reading equates to better literacy.
Secondly, the internet makes research easier. Thanks to search engines like Google, Amazon and others. Information regarding any topic can be accessed by the touch of a button (Batty, 1997).
How the existence of the internet threatens existence of libraries
Despite all the disadvantages that have been addressed above, it is highly unlikely that real libraries will be replaced by the internet. This is because there are a number of deficiencies found on the net that leave it wanting. First of all, searching for information requires use of certain ‘keywords’. If these words are not specified, a search engine will ignore all the literary works that do not have them (Shane, 2007).
In order to access a book fully, Google or other search engines require payment through online systems. This means that individuals have to part with a lot of money just to view information. Sometimes, this information may be necessary for a short time only. Real libraries allow members to read information for a fixed duration and then books can be returned i.e. one does not have to pay for temporary access to information if they are library members (Quah, 2007).
Conclusion
The internet has brought many wonderful things to readers. But too much quantity has compromised on quality. Literary works have deteriorated because online editing is not serious. However, this does not mean that libraries will become extinct; they offer services which the internet cannot (Zvi, 1994).
References
- Zvi, G. (1994): Productivity, R&D, and the Data Constraint; journal of American Economic Review
- Shane, G. (2007): The Diffusion of the Internet and the Geography of the Digital Divide; a journal by Man sell
- Quah (2007): ICTs; Oxford University Press
- Batty, M. (1997): Virtual Geography; Melbourne Printing Press
- Graham, S. (2001): Splintering urbanism, Rout ledge Publishers
- Malecki, E. (2002): The economic geography of the Internet’s Infrastructure; a journal by Economic Geography