The Official Nonsense Thread

[Caspin]

You, my dear Minty, are a genius. I work in a big old university, for heaven's sake, and have done so for my entire working career! I am probably automatically a member of all the libraries, I just don't use them. They're full of students, you know. I am still not confident that there a lot of books available because "everything's online these days" but it certainly gives me options to explore. Well done Minty!

It is a real shame that local libraries are essentially standing in as Blockbuster video stores. I don't begrudge them the revenue, lord knows they probably need it, but I don't like it either. It's fine that they have some computers there, for people who don't have good internet at home - I've seen people in there writing CVs and doing job hunting. One that I pass on my way home has a play areas for kids and I don't really mind that either, although it must get noisy sometimes. They do book clubs and things for the little ones there. The racks and racks of DVDs and video games for hire that have taken the place of books upsets me a little. Even more of a problem, though, is that they don't seem to have librarians any more - the people at the desk are like sales assistants, just checking things in and out. I miss the good old days of being given a project and strolling down to the library, where the knowledgeable librarian would help look for resources and I would sit there doing my research in peace and quiet - actually learning not only about the subject but also learning from the librarian how to do research. That little library of my youth (below) is closed now, as far as I know, and the building, which is old and beautiful, is sitting vacant, probably waiting to be turned into luxury flats. Oh well, those were good old days and they're not coming back.




Have you ever used the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh? It is a wondrous place. I used to go there quite a lot when I lived there because it has a huge range of materials and they run a terrific system (or at least they did twenty years ago, I hope they still have it) where you could order materials in advance (for a fee, but a small one) and then when you turned up on your appointed day they would have everything laid out in a booth, ready for you to start work. Sometimes they would even post out photocopies of papers that were not easily accessible in the university libraries. Best of all was the fact that it was such a lovely, quiet place to work.

Enough reminiscing. Better get on with another exciting day of work followed by a thrilling trip to John Lewis to buy a lamp!