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School Library Goes Digital 谁把图书馆变数字化了？

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Can e-books take the place of print books?  电子书真能取代纸本书吗？

Cushing Academy is the very model of a modern New England boarding school.

库欣私立寄宿中学是很典型的现代化新英格兰寄宿学校。

But in the past few years, the old library was in danger of becoming a relic. Its 20,000-book collection was barely used, administrators say. Spot checks last year found that, on some days, fewer than 30 books circulated.

不过，过去几年来，该校历史悠久的图书馆，却面临着可能沦为古迹的危险，因为据行政人员表示，馆内两万本藏书的使用率极低，而去年所进行的抽样调查则显示，有些日子里，图书馆的借阅流通量甚至不到三十本书。

So the venerable boarding school west of Boston began getting rid of most of the library’s books. In their place: a fully digital collection.

正因如此，位于波士顿以西的这所备受推崇的寄宿学校，于是开始陆续把图书馆内大部分纸本藏书处理掉，取而代之的是：全然数字化的藏书。

Library watchers say it could be the first school library, public or private, to forsake ink-and-paper in favor of e-books.

图书馆观察家表示，这可能是（全美）各公私立学校图书馆中，最先抛弃纸本书、改采电子书的一个（译注：in favor of指支持、赞成）。

Reading David Copperfield in English class? A librarian will gladly download it onto one of 65 Kindle handheld electronic book readers from Amazon.com, which circulate like library books.

需要在英文课里阅读《块肉余生记》（译注：或译《戴维．考勃菲尔》，作者为查尔斯．狄更斯）吗？图书馆员会很乐意帮忙把这本电子书从亚马逊网站下载到六十五个「燃烧」手持电子书阅读器之一里，而电子书的流通借阅方式就和图书馆的传统纸本藏书一样。

A backlash erupts  爆发强烈反弹

Naturally, the blogosphere flipped.

这消息自然让部落格界气翻了（译注：flip指情绪激动或勃然大怒，但这里用flip也有双关意，它也指翻阅书页，因为很多部落客挺身捍卫纸本书）。

After reading about the plan last month in the Boston Globe, bloggers and commenters worldwide have called headmaster Jim Tracy, a snob, a spendthrift and a book burner.

全球各地的部落客和评论家上个月透过《波士顿环球报》得知该校的计划之后，纷纷斥责该私立学校校长吉姆．崔西自命清高，花钱无度，说他此举无异于焚书。

“It was really to save libraries five, 10, 15 years down the road,” Tracy says. “What the students are telling us is, ’We’re not using the print books. You can keep giving them to us, but they’re just going to collect dust.’ So we’re saying, ‘Let’s be honest: Let’s give them the best electronic information available.’’’

「其实我们只是想让图书馆多延续五年、十年至十五年的寿命罢了，崔西指出，「学生就等于在告诉我们，『我们才不用纸本书，学校大可继续塞给我们纸本书，但我们只会把它们束之高阁，让它们积灰尘而已。』所以我们的因应方式是，『大家应该坦然面对事实：给学生市面上最棒的电子信息吧。』」

A model for other schools?  其他学校效法的典范？

Critics see the value – and inevitability – of increasing libraries’ digital collections but say that removing virtually all printed materials is a mistake.

批评者虽然也明白，增加图书馆的电子藏书确有其价值，也有其无可避免的必然性，但他们指出，如果几乎把所有纸本资料全都清除掉，可就大错特错了。

“This is not necessarily a model for other school libraries,” says American Library Association president Camila Alire.

「这不一定能作为其他学校图书馆效法的典范，「美国图书馆协会主席卡密拉．爱丽亚表示。

Most students love the new library, but a few remain skeptical.

大多数学生都很喜欢（数字化的）新图书馆，但仍有少数人抱持怀疑的态度。

Asher Chase, 16, remembers his English class last year being assigned Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol on their laptops.

十六岁的爱许．查斯还记得，去年上英文课时，老师要他们用笔记本电脑阅读查尔斯．狄更斯所著的《圣诞颂歌》。

Taking notes on the text? Forget it. “It was terrible: ‘Shade, file, edit, highlight.’ We were like, ‘Wow, reading books on computers is awful.’”

想（在计算机上）做笔记？想都别想！「那感觉真是太糟了：因为我们只能『用阴影凸显、存盘、编辑、和用荧光标示。』大家的反应都是：『哎，在计算机上读书真的太扯了。』」

−by Greg Toppo

单词发音

More Information

take the place of 代替

relic [ˋrɛlɪk] n. 遗物; 遗迹 an object, tradition or system from the past that continues to exist

administrator [ədˋmɪnə͵stretɚ] n. 管理人；行政官员

spot check 抽样检查，抽查 an inspection or investigation that is carried out at random or limited to a few instances

in one’s place 代替某人

watcher [ˋwɑtʃɚ] n. 观察者

forsake [fɚˋsek] v. 摒弃，革除

in favor of something 赞成……；支持…… because you prefer something

handheld [ˌhændˈheld] adj. 手提式的; 手持的

reader [ˋridɚ] n.【计算机】阅读机

backlash [ˋbæk͵læʃ] n. 强烈反应；强烈反对

blogosphere 部落格界 all the blogs on the Internet, and the people who write or read them

flip [flɪp] v.【美】【俚】（因激动，愤怒等）失去自我控制；变得狂热

commenter [ˋkɑmɛntɚ] n. 评论家 one who makes or writes comments; a commentator; an annotator

headmaster [ˋhɛdˋmæstɚ] n. 美国私立学校校长

snob [snɑb] n. 利己主义者，势利的人, 假内行

spendthrift [ˋspɛnd͵θrɪft] n. 挥霍无度的人 someone who spends a lot of money in a wasteful way

down the road（非正式，主北美）在将来，今后

skeptical [ˋskɛptɪk!] adj. 怀疑的，多疑的

assign [əˋsaɪn] v. 分配；指定

carol [ˋkærəl] n.（耶诞）颂歌；赞美诗

shade [ʃed] v. 画阴影于  the degree to which a color is mixed with black or is decreasingly illuminated; gradation of darkness

highlight [ˋhaɪ͵laɪt] v.（绘画等中）用强光突出（某部分）; 突出

单词发音

Vocabulary Focus

circulate [ˋsɝkjə͵let] v. 传阅; 流通 to lend books and other library materials for a specified period of time

venerable [ˋvɛnərəb!] adj. 令人敬佩的; 古老的 deserving respect because of age, high position or historical importance

inevitability [͵ɪnɛvətəˋbɪlətɪ] n. 必然性; 不可逃避 the quality of being unable to be avoided or prevented