A hands on experience is the only true experience. Not until you see things in person or experience them first hand do you actually see the full picture. Take our time in the library on Tueday and imagine that being online. Imagine that we were told that we had to look at these rare books online for an hour and fifteen minutes; it would probably be the most boring assignment ever; and we would most likely just stare blankly at our computer screens, waiting for the time to pass. In all, we would most likely learn nothing and have a terrible time doing so.
In person, however, we are actually engaged in the histories of the books. We can see the craftsmanship put into every page and every line of text, like the Shakespeare folio. Had we viewed this as it is online, the fact that it was hand crafted would most likely be overlooked. And we would not have realized that the picture was pasted in. In addition to this, we can also feel the different materials of the paper and covers of each book. There is so much to explore. But this is all lost when we switch over to viewing these works online. The experience is stripped down to the bare minimum of sight; quite simply this is not enough. The internet is a powerful tool that provides us with immense amounts of information, but it can not compare with experiencing things first hand.
