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January 8, 2008
The Blunders of Modern Technology
Every couple of months I accumulate sufficient unchecked references to justify a trip across town to the UCLA library. I generally prepare so that when I get there I already know the call numbers of whatever it is I'm looking for. So today, I set out on my pilgrimage to Westwood, about 45 miles away. After an hour's drive, traffic was great, I quickly found the most important things on my list. But I also wanted to look at the recent issues of a few journals that I cannot get locally. What I had forgotten was that the UCLA research library, in fact the whole UC system, organizes their journals by call number and not by the name of the journal. My two local research libraries use the names of the journals.
When I arrive there seemed to be a crowd around the reference disk. It turned out that the library computer system was down and a couple of dozen people were harassing the reference librarians about it. There really wasn't a thing the librarians could do. So I when about my business, got the material I most wanted, put in a little time in the copy room, and then went to the area where they shelve recently acquired periodicals. This is not a small area. The UCLA library subscribes to many hundreds, possibly thousands, of different periodicals. The journals for which I was looking are rather obscure. Otherwise, I would have already seen them. I couldn't remember where they were shelved and I certainly couldn't remember their call numbers. But with luck, perseverance, and a trip to the stacks where the bound journal volumes are integrated with books on the same subject, I did find a couple I wanted to browse. But I just couldn't find several others. Without the call numbers and with the computer system down I decided to get myself home rather than aimlessly walk the periodical shelves in the hope of finding in the period of two or three hours what I would normally be able to find in five minutes if the computers were working.
In the good bad old days, one could go to the card catalog. It never when down.
Posted by Duane Smith at January 8, 2008 7:39 PM | Read more on Odds and Ends |
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Comments
Humorously enough, Brandeis is using their old card catalog as scratch paper in the library. Having worked at the library for many a year, I procured (under proper consent) a small horde of the old catalog, upon which I currently write shopping lists and the like.
Posted by: Jim Getz at January 8, 2008 8:55 PM
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