tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post7150881457706032451..comments2024-03-27T18:24:19.683-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: M.C. Escher's "Library of Babel"Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-18889317981265052062013-12-17T05:24:05.112-08:002013-12-17T05:24:05.112-08:00When I was a kid, our city's public library wa...When I was a kid, our city's public library was housed in a sprawling, chaotic building and had a chaotic collection ranging from Newton's Principia to religious tirades of amazing nuttiness. Now it's in a bright user-friendly building, and the collection is equally sanitised - no nuts and no Newton. <br /><br />BTW, a week ago I entered a building and naturally took off my hat. An elderly woman comes over and says, "It's so nice to see a gentleman remove his ht indoors". I guess this practice must be getting less common. <br /><br />O tempora etc.Felix Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-59105412089484219912013-12-16T02:40:44.547-08:002013-12-16T02:40:44.547-08:00Cool Pics, I used to work at the Library of Congre...Cool Pics, I used to work at the Library of Congress in the seventies and had a desk at the top level of the main reading room, behind a sheet of light green plywood and the statue of Shakespeare. I described it as the "best indoor view in the world." The holy homeless really hadn't discovered the advantages of library research(heat and shelter from the storms) until the early eighties. In the seventies they were still living in the penumbra of the 'Bum' shame cloud . Once they came out into the light of righteousness, the powers that be had to institute a picture IDCard requirement on all readers because the gagging, stale smell of unwashed homelessness disturbed regular patrons. Generally the homeless avoid official registration.<br />Before that, In the early seventies there was an old white guy, happily sliding into his dotage, who frequented the main reading room. He would occasionally make La Tourette BJ gestures, like a woodpecker, but everyone put up with it because he was well dressed and didn't smell.<br /><br />Ahh...the good old days when order prevailed and disorder was merely eccentric and benign.Conatushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12543138570489872681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-9744676598863129502013-12-15T23:33:15.949-08:002013-12-15T23:33:15.949-08:00
My dear Mr. Harry Baldwin, for your kind complime...<br />My dear Mr. Harry Baldwin, for your kind compliment, thank you.Auntie Analoguenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-51001703492825026392013-12-15T20:13:31.827-08:002013-12-15T20:13:31.827-08:00I don't care what anybody says, there's no...I don't care what anybody says, there's nothing quite like getting a feel for what's going on in an entire subfield by flipping through a few yards of the related material on the shelves in an old-fashioned top-notch research library. There's a sort of physical and spatial overlay on what you learn and the relation between the things you are studying that is very powerful. <br /><br />Internet search and online resource are powerful and have their place as well, but they aren't the same. And somehow skimming online documentation is mentally different than skimming a book. Often for me there's a level at which a book is considerably faster, I guess I don't have to move the mouse and then look, it all happens instantly at once.<br /><br />Being able to do both in the same library is the best of both worlds. Sadly, the physical publishers seem to have priced themselves out of the business (or maybe profits are just higher doing it all online).<br /><br />I'm really going to miss musty old journals and books.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-1518535532833928462013-12-15T17:45:49.315-08:002013-12-15T17:45:49.315-08:00Weird - this is a frontpage item at Yahoo right no...Weird - this is a frontpage item at Yahoo right now:<br /><br /><a href="http://homes.yahoo.com/photos/lost-in-a-library-12-epic-reading-rooms-slideshow/" rel="nofollow"><b>Lost in a Library: 12 Epic Reading Rooms</b></a> <br /><br /><i>No matter the size and style of your home, incorporating a reading room will give your book lovers a space to curl up and while away a cold winter afternoon.</i><br /><br />Maybe as with theaters, public libraries are now being replaced by home libraries?<br /><br />I seem to recall that Albertosaurus was a big home theater guy. <br /><br />Maybe he needs a home library to go with his home theater.<br /><br />And a special glass case for the collected works of de Sade...<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-38446314543973907602013-12-15T14:31:47.819-08:002013-12-15T14:31:47.819-08:00What a magnificent library that was. Such a shame ...What a magnificent library that was. Such a shame it is gone now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-2714592173577209072013-12-15T13:22:15.582-08:002013-12-15T13:22:15.582-08:00The latest development scandal in NYC - destroying...The latest development scandal in NYC - destroying historic libraries and turning the land over to developers.. (funny weird coincidence, they are all scot irish?! ) on dubious claims such as the AC not working. <br /><br />Re Boston Library - Great murals by Sarent too - murals the Scot-Irish raised a stink about <i>even back then</i>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-74007861941507764592013-12-15T11:21:46.291-08:002013-12-15T11:21:46.291-08:00@Auntie Analogue--wonderful description!@Auntie Analogue--wonderful description!Harry Baldwinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-70106145900812712992013-12-15T09:42:03.073-08:002013-12-15T09:42:03.073-08:00We're lucky in Boston; we're surrounded by...We're lucky in Boston; we're surrounded by historical library buildings. The BPL, the Thomas Crane in Quincy and the Widener at Harvard are all great places to spend an afternoon.<br /><br />And SFG, you must remember that the bums at the BPL tended to be pretty conversant in a wide variety of subjects, like the Harvard bum Joe Pesci played in the movie With Honors.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-49908813860887919262013-12-15T08:32:11.734-08:002013-12-15T08:32:11.734-08:00Are those guys wearing hats or lamp shades?Are those guys wearing hats or lamp shades?canspeccyhttp://canspeccy.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-25362125656689597022013-12-15T08:04:59.846-08:002013-12-15T08:04:59.846-08:00"The reading room in the Jefferson building w..."The reading room in the Jefferson building was much better than the one in the main building, however - since many people didn't know about it. Less ornate and a good deal smaller, but lovely nonetheless. "<br /><br />I think you mean the Adams bldg. Housed the "business" collection. The main reading room is the enormous Jefferson reading room, a round affair with several story high domed ceiling with frescos as I recall. <br />The Library of Congress lobbies and meeting rooms are quite spectacular.<br /><br />Also, someoe was talking about the DC public library. I don't know which one he meant, but around F st., Gallery Place metro, there's the MLK Public Library. It is noted for not being used by the vibrants much, although I used it a couple times for interlirary loans. The area around it does have bums about, but it is mostly business and tourists. DC has changed a lot in the past decade.dcitenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-4455227972290586442013-12-15T06:55:56.129-08:002013-12-15T06:55:56.129-08:00Bum Phillips never wore his trademark Stetson in d...Bum Phillips never wore his trademark Stetson in domed stadiums because a gentleman never wore his hat indoors.<br /><br />Ron Howard wears his trademark hat indoors because .... . Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-76081092428352721772013-12-15T06:23:27.905-08:002013-12-15T06:23:27.905-08:00http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs2j8f7H2WYhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs2j8f7H2WYAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-64639215584012705132013-12-15T00:51:46.147-08:002013-12-15T00:51:46.147-08:00Library heaven, the La Trobe Reading Room at the S...Library heaven, the La Trobe Reading Room at the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia (built in 1913):<br /><br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/avlxyz/sets/72157625562020170/with/5245848629/<br /><br />You can find other pictures where daylight pours in and makes it all brighter -- but why would you want to? Romantic contrasts between dark and light are so hard to come by.<br /><br />Tailor made for night owls, too. I can't stand bright light flooding down on a work area when it's already dark outside.<br /><br />Plus being crammed in with a crowd of other people feels weirder when the place is brightly lit -- that's why night clubs keep the lights off. Soft light overhead, and bankers lamps at the personal level, makes us feel more safe and cozy. agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-16673222249604133692013-12-15T00:32:00.194-08:002013-12-15T00:32:00.194-08:00Nappers and sleepers are another problem, at colle...Nappers and sleepers are another problem, at college libraries anyway. It takes you out of the place when you have to wade through slumbering bodies.<br /><br />I don't mean people resting their head at a desk, but curled up or stretched out on the ubiquitous "big comfy seats."agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-63243045620301782582013-12-15T00:27:36.493-08:002013-12-15T00:27:36.493-08:00The biggest parasitic threat to public spaces thes...The biggest parasitic threat to public spaces these days are laptops and smartphones. And "Free Wi-Fi" is like Open Borders.<br /><br />The Morrison Library at Berkeley has a "no laptops" policy, and the New York Public Library has three rows of tables set aside as a "no laptop" zone (usually empty). It'd be hard to imagine a more unpopular policy today, but good for them.<br /><br />If no one else joins them, though, our entire public sphere will become a hive of distracted, web-surfing goof-offs.agnostichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12967177967469961883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-69620783193413433662013-12-14T23:40:42.653-08:002013-12-14T23:40:42.653-08:00In my hometown main Public Library stacks - vast d...<br />In my hometown main Public Library stacks - vast dense grid galleries of rivet-studded, silver-painted steel, battleship-linoleum catwalks pierced by the stack-shelves that rose continuously through the catwalk levels from ground level to the vast Eiffel Tower ironmongery squashed horizontal, frosted glass skylight above the uppermost shelf - I felt as if I were deep in the bowels of Civilization's Engine Room of Knowledge. How many hours - how many whole days - I indulged, my nose in the splendid aroma and mind in the sizzling steaks of splayed books, in that Industrial Revolution maze I cannot calculate; but every one of those days was more completely absorbing than doing an internet marathon. When I come away now from my computer, I feel rather half-jaded; but when, after a day engulfed in the deep hush of those old huge stacks, I emerged I felt - and there is only one word for it - I felt...worthy.<br /><br />Perhaps the only advantage the internet has over the grand old stacks is that now I don't have to feel embarrassed for browsing cyberspace in my pyjamas. But data-mining of my internet usage is not even in the same warm-fuzzy-feeling league as was the anonymity that the vast stacks of the great old public library afforded.Auntie Analoguenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-85152473787556361172013-12-14T22:25:41.866-08:002013-12-14T22:25:41.866-08:00"I'm sure they've long since destroye...<em>"I'm sure they've long since destroyed the ambiance."</em><br /><br />Our library has almost completely discarded the "quiet in the library" concept that was so important to that ambiance. As part of a recent remodel, they put a bunch of PCs as an Internet kiosk right in the middle of the stacks, and those people chat on their cell phones and call questions out to the help desk on the other side of the room. Families and groups of friends stroll through chatting aloud, and only way back in the stacks will you find people whispering.<br /><br />Used to be that having your cell phone go off in the library would be like having it ring in the middle of church. Not anymore. I'm not sure when librarians stopped hushing people, but I wonder if kids nowadays are even familiar with that idea.Cail Corishevhttp://cailcorishev.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-73102515883038844802013-12-14T21:55:55.026-08:002013-12-14T21:55:55.026-08:00When that library was built, Cincinnati was extrem...When that library was built, Cincinnati was extremely culturally German, and it continued to be so even in the late 1970s and early 1980s when I was there. To a degree, anyway: I wonder how much of what was in those stacks was in Blackletter and super-serious, from back when you needed to read German in order to work in almost any academic discipline.<br /><br />Anyway, it's a shame we like to renew stuff so much in this country. I wish I could spend some time in that building.slumber_jnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-58666104285757990882013-12-14T21:20:31.975-08:002013-12-14T21:20:31.975-08:00The old university libraries often had a place, of...The old university libraries often had a place, often near the entrance, where they would have painted portraits of all the Chancellors or Presidents. I've noticed in the last decade or two these seem gone. Have others noticed? <br /><br />The colors must have been too boring. Wouldn't want artifacts to confuse the Narrative.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-78484122019038150402013-12-14T20:53:33.380-08:002013-12-14T20:53:33.380-08:00Rice's stacks were nightmarish? I visited the...Rice's stacks were nightmarish? I visited there once and was thrilled to death by the sight of all those books. I didn't notice anything nightmarish about them, but then I'm a salvering bookhound.<br /><br />My worst memory of a library was visiting the basement of Colorado State University just after they'd installed the movable stack system. A week or so later, they had a massive flood and lost everything in the basement, tens of thousands of books wiped out in a few hours. It's one of the few times I could have stolen books to my heart's content and it wouldn't have mattered.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-64976124104712981712013-12-14T19:59:56.921-08:002013-12-14T19:59:56.921-08:00http://detroiturbex.com/content/parksandrec/twain/...http://detroiturbex.com/content/parksandrec/twain/twain.html<br /><br />The Mark Twain library in Detroit also came to my mind immediately. But there are others in the metro Detroit area that are less dramatically disastrous but also sadly in decline or vanished.<br /><br />I believe that the urge for physical association in pleasant surroundings is a permanent human trait, and the argument about how the internet has destroyed public spaces carries less weight with me than it used to. And I love Mr Sailer's posts about what it is like to be outside the home in California. <br />Jerrynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-54490976375715993852013-12-14T19:24:18.343-08:002013-12-14T19:24:18.343-08:00Thigh high guard rails, 2.5 foot wide catwalk, 4 s...Thigh high guard rails, 2.5 foot wide catwalk, 4 stories tall. It's like walking around in the Death Star. <br /><br />Seriously, the rails are shorter than the hands held at the side and lower than a persons center of gravity. If you misstep, you would need to bend down to reach the rail because it's so short. Such a motion can't help if you're losing your balance.Anononymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-39024976145080463432013-12-14T18:46:34.480-08:002013-12-14T18:46:34.480-08:00Actually Pat, the F Street area where the "ne...Actually Pat, the F Street area where the "new" Mies DCPL is, as well as the Mount Vernon area where the old Carnegie DCPL is, have long since gentrified, and you will find SWPLs walking those areas at all hours of the night.<br /><br />The libraries, however, are more or less black holes. The Mies one is now called the Martin Luther King branch, and, predictably, has the kind of civic funding and attention you would expect from the kind of municipal government that deifies Martin Luther King.<br /><br />The old Carnegie Library is now the home of the DC Historical Society, and as such, the only history featured in its museum is black history. It's almost always "closed for renovations."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-33716606494603030532013-12-14T18:30:56.411-08:002013-12-14T18:30:56.411-08:00I used to love browsing through the card catalogue...I used to love browsing through the card catalogue and then wandering through the stacks at my college library. There were main floors and then atriums (atria?) with lots of cast iron and odd nooks and corners. Wonderful place. I'm sure they've long since destroyed the ambiance. <br /><br />In contrast, the stacks at the Library of Congress (at least the annex) were merely modern, utilitarian mid-20th century shelves (my father used to take me in there) with all sorts of things cheek-by-jowl due to their different cataloging system. The reading room in the Jefferson building was much better than the one in the main building, however - since many people didn't know about it. Less ornate and a good deal smaller, but lovely nonetheless. Sheilanoreply@blogger.com