Electronic campuses

Provides an overview of the technology being employed at some US colleges which is leading to the paperless campus. For example, the use of wireless networks to connect PCs and Internet displays in classrooms and laboratories that lack conventional network wiring, providing access to online libraries and other resources from laptop PCs and handheld devices. Looks at Web‐based technology and its use by faculty and students, not only for information gathering, but also for tutoring services. Shows how live chat sessions with teachers are heavily over‐subscribed. Looks at the use of e‐books (4 million e‐book units sold in 2000: predicted figure by 2005 – 140 million). Provides results of a study comparing print text books and e‐text books, and from another study which show undergraduates spend only a third of their study time in the library and faculty members only 10 per cent. To counteract these trends, online library resources are being expanded for 200,000 students and faculty at seven academic institutions in a unified students’ portal, with links to local online course materials and consultations with reference librarians.