Well . . . I went to the UM library today to use the online databases, and to get some books. What a weird experience!!

First off, I should say that I feel incredibly lucky; by virtue of being a college professor in this state, I get free access to the whole collection. I was amazed and pleased to discover that I have the same access I had as a faculty or staff person at the university; I can place holds or recalls on books, which was a happy discovery since two of the books I want are checked out. And I get the same borrowing privileges that I used to have (although we'll see what they do about fines; I haven't tested that one yet).

It's frustrating, though, to have such limited access to the online databases. I was able to get to everything when I was physically located inside the library - but then, I didn't have access to my email. I mailed a few articles to myself and wanted to see if they were there . . . but no, I couldn't do that . . . and of course, I can't access anything from home.

It's just weird, is what it is. When it comes to the books -- actual physical objects, which might be considered scarce because there are only one or maybe two copies -- I have the keys to the kingdom. When it comes to electronic resources -- of which there are an infinite number of "copies" -- I have very little. I know the reasons for this, of course (the library owns the books and the database indexers own the electronic stuff), but it really flies in the face of everything I thought I understood about economics. I thought scarcity, not ubiquity, was supposed to increase value . . .

Anyhow, this really isn't anything to complain about; there are worse fates than having to spend time in a major research library! It's funny, is what it is; and once again I'm struck by the irony. When I actually had full access to all of that stuff, I was much less appreciative than I am now. (Joni Mitchell, call your office, I guess.) But still, I really did feel grateful for the fact that I was a faculty member pawing around in a library, looking to read current research in my field . . . even if it did feel like 1985 . . .