The intarwebs.

[kahljorn]

I don't think there was a large amount of people going to the libraries and reading 300 page academia before the internet was around. Most people 50 years ago were too illiterate to do so, and the scale of literacy only decreases the further back you go. In fact, many people, even today, don't read books after school.
The people who would read 300 page academia still are, because the chances of the internet covering the topic they need the way they want is unlikely, these are people like doctors and scholars(and those are the type of people who would visit a library before the internet). Basically, people who are smart will always be smart and make smart decisions because they aren't going to pass their class or function well in their job by studying jackass sites on the internet, and anybody with a brain realizes that. Only stupid people consider the internet a reliable source of information when they are gleaning from sites such as, "JOE BLOW'S SITE ON THE HISTORY OF POMPOUS DOUCHEBAGS".

In that regard the internet has no effect.