Well it is official, being without Wi-Fi is totally a pain. Recently, Reference & Instruction Librarian Brooke Andrade and myself attended the Colorado Association of Libraries (CAL) conference in Denver.
The conference entitled Communities & Libraries was held at the Denver Tech Center Marriott. The conference was well attended and had informative workshops from librarians around the state. Not only did public librarians present on timely topics, but academic and special librarians as well.
Upon entering my room, a sign on the desk read "Wireless Internet Access- 9.95 a day." I have a hard time accepting anything but free Internet access. Don't most small local coffee shops have it? Nielsen Library has it. I could get free wireless in the lobby of the Marriott. Isn't that convenient? Traipsing downstairs in my Batman pj's to post my assignment for school, check email, weather conditions...
This inconvenience reminded me of a recently read article about the significance of connectivity, more specifically, connectivity on college campuses. In the article, "nine out of 10 college students in the United States say Wi-Fi access is as essential to education as classrooms and computers, and nearly three in five say they wouldn't go to a college that doesn't have free Wi-Fi." Interesting.
The article continues giving this startling statistic, "If forced to choose, nearly half of respondents (48 percent) would give up beer before giving up Wi-Fi.?
Wow, beer before Wi-Fi? That is amazing. Can you hear it now, 'give me Wi-Fi or give me death.' Anyway, come on over to the library where you don't have to make these difficult choices. Although you can't drink beer in the library, you can bring your latte. Enjoy.
Paul
