People who love books can find entering an Australian library in the so-called "cyber-age" to be an unsettling experience. The first thing you notice is the reduced emphasis on book shelves in favour of empty but architecturally pleasing "public spaces", comfortable cushions, computer terminals, sometimes even new cafes and…

Books are traditionally set aside at the request of teachers from the main, normal loan collection to be put on reserve temporarily for checking out for a much shorter loan period to ensure that, at the expense of convenient, long-term loans for other users, all the students enrolled in a course have an opportunity to use them. Many studies have…