...had I not seen it with my own eyes. Brace yourself...
The line at the library was out the door, and the line at check-out was all the way to the back of the library.
The Modesto Free Library is not a small building. It's not huge, but it's pretty respectable for this size town. I had gotten a new card (my old one was lost) and checked out some books earlier and when I got home I noticed that the receipt had incorrectly listed one of my books. I didn't want to be hit with a late fee for not returning a book I had never checked out, so I went back to straighten things out. Turns out it was a glitch in their system and all was straightened out, but in the meantime, I was shocked and delighted! I figured it would be an in and out thing so I left my coat behind. There I am, standing at an open doorway freezing half to death (I know, sob sob for the poor little California girl in 65 degree temperatures), and the line is for people getting brand new library cards! All ages were represented and I made a remark to a guy in line I was talking to that the library was good place to get a movie without having to rent it. You can't get the newest films, but what the heck, they're pretty much free. So many people turned around with wide-eyed expressions and asked things like "You can get movies here?!?"
So there I was, torn between being miserable and being ecstatic. Some old timer told me that the place had been like that since the economy took a dump. I must have been hitting it at the right times, because I had never seen such a crowd. I told him, "I hope they remember this place when the money gets good again."
These "libraries" seem like the first step in the govenment takeover of free enterprise. What's next? The Federal Bureau of Barnes and Nobles? A Netflix Czar? Sounds like socialism to me.
Indeed, I was part of a gaming group that played in the library. That was ages ago. 1st edition AD&D. Now I feel old. Thanks, Shiftkitty.
The thing that burns my busicuts though is the card catalog and the Dewy Decimal System. I used to know it. It was drilled in to all of us at school on how to find books. Every year in school we'd have a session on how to look books up in the card catalog. And now, with computer no such thing exists. Indeed, my local library's lirarians will go get the book for you. (I'm guessing so you don't mess up the stacks.)
One task on my list of things to do when I go back in time is to point out what a waste all those classes on Dewy and his system are.
At any rate, I plowed through one of the books in less than an evening, and if you guys want to read a head-trip, get "The Helmet of Horror", by Victor Pelevin. It's the re-telling of Theseus and the Minotaur in the form of people who are trapped in a very strange chat room. One of my favorite lines from the book is "If there's a world-wide web, then somewhere there must be a soul-sucking spider." Just get ready to get lost in a text-based labyrinth!
I have to check the library at my wife's university to see what they have in their music section soon, actually. Or try to work out a deal with the arts university in Shuri to get access to their library.
Yeah, I went to my college library pretty regularly for various research projects. Well organized, easy to find what I wanted. Not only but also, similar topics were grouped together, which is so stupidly obvious to do that it's a wonder more libraries don't. So I could go to an approximate location and browse titles, finding stuff I might not have in the catalogue.
I have never heard of an American library that does not catagorize its non-fiction by the Dewey Decimal System. Can I assume that you deal primarily with non-American libraries?
Yeah, I went to my college library pretty regularly for various research projects. Well organized, easy to find what I wanted. Not only but also, similar topics were grouped together, which is so stupidly obvious to do that it's a wonder more libraries don't. So I could go to an approximate location and browse titles, finding stuff I might not have in the catalogue.
I have never heard of an American library that does not catagorize its non-fiction by the Dewey Decimal System. Can I assume that you deal primarily with non-American libraries?
Canadian. Japanese, now. I mis-typed, actually. I've never come across a library that didn't organize things pretty well; I meant to type "it's a wonder any libraries don't." This was in reference to somebody above saying their library was shoddily organized.
Canadian. Japanese, now. I mis-typed, actually. I've never come across a library that didn't organize things pretty well; I meant to type "it's a wonder any libraries don't." This was in reference to somebody above saying their library was shoddily organized.
Ah.
I have never heard of an American library that does not catagorize its non-fiction by the Dewey Decimal System.
New Mexico Tech Skeen Library.
There ya go, now you've heard of one.
I haven't looked up books there so I don't know if they are organized or not but they look like they might be.
The last time I was at the public library near my home I do remember many kids in there using the computers. It seems that some of them used the library as a sorta hang out area and a place to get the Internet. But that was at least a few years ago.
You can't get the newest films, but what the heck, they're pretty much free.
Don't you mean 'completely free'?
Over in the fiction section, forget it. Everything is sorted by author name, so if you're looking for something in the fantasy genre, you have to sift through romance, mystery, western, general fiction, science fiction, etc., just hoping you spot a little blue tag with a unicorn on it that tells you the book is fantasy. (Even at that, I saw the unicorn on a book that I personally know is science fiction, as I was the one who donated that book! "I, Robot", anyone?)
Is that so bad? My guess is lots of people would be annoyed if they had to move through the fantasy section, romance, mystery, western, general fiction, science fiction, etc. just to find the writer they're looking for.
As for things being badly categorised, I can sympathise with that. Alice Cooper is not country
I have never heard of an American library that does not catagorize its non-fiction by the Dewey Decimal System. Can I assume that you deal primarily with non-American libraries?
What is the Dewey Decimal System?
What is the Dewey Decimal System?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=57BFNJPt5XE
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewey_Decimal_Clas...
What is the Dewey Decimal System?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=57BFNJPt5XE
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewey_Decimal_Clas...
OK, so different subjects have different numbers? That makes sense (we do the same in Denmark), but why would that make it difficult for Shiftkitty to find what she's looking for? And how's that different from ViolenceJack telling that similar topics were grouped together?
What is the Dewey Decimal System?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=57BFNJPt5XE
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewey_Decimal_Clas...
OK, so different subjects have different numbers? That makes sense (we do the same in Denmark), but why would that make it difficult for Shiftkitty to find what she's looking for? And how's that different from ViolenceJack telling that similar topics were grouped together?
It's not. My bad communication; that's exactly what I was talking about at my library. I was meaning to allude to other people experiencing poorly organized libraries.
You can't get the newest films, but what the heck, they're pretty much free.
Don't you mean 'completely free'?
Nope. Public libraries are paid for with tax dollars.
You can't get the newest films, but what the heck, they're pretty much free.
Don't you mean 'completely free'?
No, you still have to pay for the library card. Heck of a deal, though. 1$ and it's good for life. So if you get one movie every Saturday, that's like, some infinitesimally percentage of a cent a week?
Over in the fiction section, forget it. Everything is sorted by author name, so if you're looking for something in the fantasy genre, you have to sift through romance, mystery, western, general fiction, science fiction, etc., just hoping you spot a little blue tag with a unicorn on it that tells you the book is fantasy. (Even at that, I saw the unicorn on a book that I personally know is science fiction, as I was the one who donated that book! "I, Robot", anyone?)
Is that so bad? My guess is lots of people would be annoyed if they had to move through the fantasy section, romance, mystery, western, general fiction, science fiction, etc. just to find the writer they're looking for.
As for things being badly categorised, I can sympathise with that. Alice Cooper is not country
Thing is, many people have a favorite genre and/or a favorite author who writes for a particular genre. Looking for a particular author isn't so bad, but if you're in the mood for a mystery from no particular author, you have to sift through everything else, and you're more likely to miss some hidden gems for your particular genre. (I must have skipped over that Pelevin book a hundred times before finally noticing it as it was stuffed in between a bunch of romance novels.
And who the heck listed Alice Cooper as "Country"?!?
Everything is sorted by author name, so if you're looking for something in the fantasy genre, you have to sift through romance, mystery, western, general fiction, science fiction, etc., just hoping you spot a little blue tag with a unicorn on it that tells you the book is fantasy.
Totally different system in use in Houston, TX, I guess. We have massive multi-floor libraries with elevators, and EVERYTHING is sorted by multiple means. Makes finding things really easy - don't even really need to use the computer unless you just want to know if they actually have something in. Just go up two floors to the Fiction section, head to sci-fi/fantasy section, then browse by author.
My hometown of San Jose, CA has a few floors, about 4 IIRC. I haven't been in there since we moved about 10 years ago. Very well-organized the last I saw, and resources up the wazoo. It's one of the things I actually miss about the SF South Bay Area.
I haven't been to a library since 1998.
I'm in a library right now!
I haven't been to a library since 1998.
I'm in a library right now!
I'm not!
So if your library asks for donations drop five bucks for a library.
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1At some point someone got the bright idea to put a coffee shop in the library2. We tried this for a while, but eventually someone did the math and realized that we'd save money by giving the coffee away, rather then paying someone to sell it.
2The idea is that we lure people into the library with coffee, and then they stick around and make use of any of our other resources (reference books, normal collection, periodicals, computer access, copiers, inter-library loan, newspapers, study rooms, so-on...). It works, actually. The library has been much more utilized since we put in the coffee shop, though now we occasionally find discarded cups in odd places.