With so many people owning a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a cellphone+, etc., it may not be entirely clear what the value of the library is today, when actually, the library is still an invaluable resource.
This is the first in a projected series of blogs about library resources and references.
And to start with, here’s a list of some of the key library resources:
• Reference Librarian(s):
They know (and/or can find) sources you’ve never heard of, the collective wisdom of other people’s successes and failures with various types of research, and shortcuts to success
• Online Subscription Services:
Invaluable resources for free that would otherwise be exorbitant or unattainable for most researchers/writers.
• Interlibrary Loan:
If there’s only five copies left in existence of an out of print (OOP) book and none are in your state and it’s not available on Google Books, you can a) find it and b) still get your hands on it.
• Rare Books:
Same as Interlibrary Loan—things you can’t find elsewhere.
• Huge Tables:
I’m not kidding—if you’re in the midst of collecting references from the OED, even online access, a 30-inch monitor or two and the best-ever browser does not compare . . .
• Quiet:
If you’re not the type whose work thrives in the hubbub of landlines and cellphones and iPods and laptops and conversation, it is still possible to find a quiet workspace that isn’t in a secluded study at home: a place of focused intensity.
• Free Movie Rental:
Often a week (or more) and sometimes quite interesting. Check out the children’s section for childhood favorites.
• Story Hour/Movie Showing:
Children are engaged; you work.
• Book Sales:
Donate your unwanted volumes to a good cause; pick up some great bargains. Last library book sale I attended, I found
• The New Cassell’s German Dictionary
• Bartlett’s Book of Anecdotes
• The New International Illustrated Encyclopedia of Art
• A Short History of Music
• The Oxford Book of American Literary Anecdotes
• The Best Loved Poems of the American People
the last for sentimental reasons because it was a poetry anthology I found on my parent’s bookshelf when I was a child.
