Being one of these researchers who lives and dies by his laptop computer, I am often frustrated that there is no Internet access for an individual researcher's machine in most reading rooms. Most places do have at least one computer for public use that has Internet access, but there is no real way to easily transfer any information one finds to one's own machine. I am thinking especially of ESTC records and other databases that hold information about books and of bibliographies, many of which are now on-line. It is somewhat frustrating not to be able to compare on the fly what those sources have to offer to the book in hand on my own machine.
For example, since I work primarily with pre-1850 materials, I always check Sabin. In most libraries, that work has to be called from the stacks or, even worse, is considered so antiquated and bulky that it has been sent to remote storage. And because many libraries don't have the relatively rare printed index to the work, I am often not even sure that I have discovered if the book that interests me is even in there. But because two commercial services have Sabin on-line, it would be great to be able to check them while I was there in the reading room, thereby sparing me perhaps a nasty bibliographical surprise when I finally can check Sabin and the library is now 1500 miles away.
Since practically every motel or hotel I stay in has wireless Internet access these days, I was wondering how many rare book reading rooms out there have wireless access or plan to offer it at some point in the future. The question is asked merely in the spirit of trying to judge where such things are heading in the research library world out there.
Everett Wilkie 2006 Carey Road Kinston, NC 28501 ewilkie@ix.netcom.com 252-522-0261 Cell: 860-712-4421 "Big Bird Seed Sale" --Store sign