Similarities and Differences Between the Alexandria Library and Current Academic Libraries

After doing my research on the ancient Alexandria Library in Egypt, I was able to see several similarities and differences between the library and current academic libraries.

One similarity that I noticed was that the Alexandria Library was used as a major center of scholarship and research institution. Current academic libraries are used by students and faculty for their researching needs, as well as find information to enhance their learning.

Another similarity was that the Alexandria Library had acquisitions and cataloging departments, in which they acquired numerous scrolls and cataloged them into a specific order. Academic libraries also have these kind of departments where they acquire hundreds of books (like the Alexandria Library) and catalog them to the Library of Congress System. One difference related to this was that all visitors had to surrender their books and scrolls and the employees made copies of them. With today's technology, visitors don't have to hand over their personal materials, but can borrow books. People who visit today's academic libraries can make copies of information on copy machines, request information through Inter Library Loan (ILL) or have it sent by email.

The setup of current academic libraries is similar to the setup of the Alexandria Library. The Alexandria Library had rooms for dining, lecture halls and meeting rooms. Many of today's academic libraries have the same layout, but most of the dining areas are coffee shops. The lecture halls are used for classes and meeting rooms are designed for students and/or faculty to meet.

The Alexandria Library also had a "daughter" library, which was a library at another location. Some of our current academic libraries have "daughter" libraries if they have more than one campus and/or speciality. For example, at USC's campus, there is the law library, business library, music library and the South Caroliniana Library for archives, as well as the Thomas Cooper Library.

Another difference between the Alexandria Library and current academic libraries is that much of the information that the Alexandria Library had was on scrolls and something similar to books. Now, information can be found in books, journals, on the Internet, electronic journals, e-books and other technologies.

The Purpose of Universities and Academic Libraries

The purpose of higher education in the United States is for people to learn and prepare for their jobs and/or career. There are different purposes for the different kinds of colleges. Those who go to a liberal arts college may want to have a career in humanities with the benefits of getting a good education. Those who go to college that has a science/technology background (such as MIT) may want to further their careers by inventing a new technology or vaccine. They may possibly also want to pursue advanced libraries. For-profit colleges and those who are mostly based online (like University of Phoenix) are for people who are working full-time and juggling other responsibilities. The technical libraries have several different purposes. There are students who are just out of high school who are either just want an associate's degree or taking classes to eventually transfer to a four-year school. There are people who have had jobs, but want a second career. And those who want to learn a trade to improve their job skills.

The roll the library plays for all of the different libraries is to provide the information that the students, the faculty that teaches them and the support staff need to make learning possible. The role of the librarians that work at these libraries is to help provide information to those people that will benefit their learning. They are also there to teach them how to research and figure out which information will be the best for them.

Organizational models/structures for academic libraries does make a difference in the quality of life work for those who work in a library. What may work at a smaller college library may not work at Thomas Cooper and the other way around. Too much work can fall on one person and it may be too much for them to handle. The people who come in the library will notice that and it can affect the overall feel of the library. I am a planner and I consider things carefully. That has worked for me in the past and I hope it will continue to work.