The internet makes me impatient November 17, 2014
Posted by mareserinitatis in computers, research.Tags: library, publications, research
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I really, really needed to get ahold of a book. I looked at all three libraries I have access to. One has a hard copy, but it’s a couple hours away so getting it would be tough (to say the least). The second library said it was available online, but apparently the institutional subscription doesn’t cover that book. The price of buying it is $15/chapter. The other library had no idea what I was talking about.
I went onto Amazon to check if a digital copy was there. It’s not. It’s an older book and so there isn’t a kindle version.
I finally gave up and bought a copy of the book, but it won’t be here until Wednesday.
Part of me is very annoyed I have to wait that long for a book. Another part of me remembers only 10 or 15 years ago when I would have to order journal articles through interlibrary loan and they sometimes took a couple weeks to show up. I would be waiting for a day or two, but then I’d end up working on something else that I found distracting. It kept me going for a while, but then I would realize I was stuck without the paper, at which point I’d start getting irritated again.
I think I’m getting more impatient as I get older, though. As you can see from the graph below, it’s a straight shot upward.
This scares me because my kids are already used to the situation where books are instantly available or they only have two wait a day or two to receive something. What are they going to be like as adults?!
Or worse yet…what will I be like in another 15 years?
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