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Another thing that has been lost with digitization and free information is an appreciation for the objects in a collection. A person's music library was once, not so long ago, a collection to admire, possibly envy, and a way to learn something about its owner. Because record albums had to be purchased one by one, because they were relatively expensive and took up space, music lovers compiled such libraries deliberately, with thought and planning. We educated ourselves about musical artists so that we could become more careful consumers. The costs of making a mistake encouraged us to think carefully before adding a clunker to the collection. High school and college students would look at a new friend's record collection and wander through it, allowing themselves a glimpse of their new friend's musical tastes and the musical paths that he or she presumably crossed to acquire this particular collection of music.