It's hard not to enjoy an essay that favorably compares browsing the library stacks to using the Force.

Obviously there are multiple ways of searching for information.
Computers are helpful, but the stacks cultivate intuitive bookish
instincts. Those instincts may not be quantifiable, but they produce
discoveries that the rational structure of electronic databases almost
inevitably preclude. It's like in Star Wars when the ghost of Obi-Wan
Kenobi tells Luke Skywalker to turn off his computerized targeting
system and "use the Force" instead.

From Stacks' Appeal, by Thomas H. Benton, in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Subscription required, unfortunately.

Posted by Hilary at September 7, 2005 02:29 PM