Dict of National Biography
The other day I went to the local library to consult their copy of the Dictionary of National Biography, 22 Vol 1921. It was no longer on the shelf. Upon enquiry, I was informed that it was library policy to surplus all material which might be replaced by an electronic resource: in this case the Gale Biographical Database. This database gives old entries from Who's who. Not at all the same. It was given to their surplus book sale. I note it costs $3000 on Abe. And of course when the books are gone there are no more to replace them. (well there may have been a reprint or two). Also the "books were old and out of date" were "not in use" . The reference books in use were "All the plots of Shakespeare's Plays", "Condensed 100 novels with plot lines" etc. I suggested they were encouraging theft as a mode of preservation. They were not amused. Disposal was up to the local librarian, in this case ssomeone whom I believe probably thought there was no need for English History anyway. N Wolcott nwolcott2@post.harvard.edu
Have you read Connie Willis's _Bellwether_? On 4/26/05, N Wolcott <nwolcott@dsdial.net> wrote:
Also the "books were old and out of date" were "not in use" . The reference books in use were "All the plots of Shakespeare's Plays", "Condensed 100 novels with plot lines" etc. I suggested they were encouraging theft as a mode of preservation. They were not amused. Disposal was up to the local librarian, in this case ssomeone whom I believe probably thought there was no need for English History anyway.
On Tue, 26 Apr 2005 20:16:39 -0400, "N Wolcott" <nwolcott@dsdial.net> wrote: | The other day I went to the local library to consult their copy of the Dictionary of National Biography, 22 Vol 1921. It was no longer on the shelf. In the UK the Libraries have a system to ensure that *some* paper copies of books are preserved and available at least for reference. The vast majority are also available to borrow via the British Library, you just have to fill in a form, and wait. Local poets and writers can *always* be found in the Local Studies section of libraries, often borrowing copies. -- Dave Fawthrop <dave hyphenologist co uk> Killfile and Anti Troll FAQs at http://www.hyphenologist.co.uk/killfile.
On 26 Apr 2005, at 20:16, N Wolcott wrote:
The other day I went to the local library to consult their copy of the Dictionary of National Biography, 22 Vol 1921. It was no longer on the shelf. Upon enquiry, I was informed that it was library policy to surplus all material which might be replaced by an electronic resource: in this case the Gale Biographical Database. This database gives old entries from Who's who. Not at all the same. It was given to their surplus book sale. I note it costs $3000 on Abe. And of course when the books are gone there are no more to replace them. (well there may have been a reprint or two). Also the "books were old and out of date" were "not in use" . The reference books in use were "All the plots of Shakespeare's Plays", "Condensed 100 novels with plot lines" etc. I suggested they were encouraging theft as a mode of preservation. They were not amused. Disposal was up to the local librarian, in this case ssomeone whom I believe probably thought there was no need for English History anyway.
Is this a question, a rant, an excercise in writing long paragraphs? -- branko collin collin@xs4all.nl
participants (4)
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Branko Collin -
Dave Fawthrop -
Geoff Horton -
N Wolcott