Nice People Thread No. 15, a Cyber Summer

Pyxis

Yes, I expect LWW was safe, as it's a Christian allegorical tale!

When my children were little, I would have loved a part-time job in my local library, and I did enquire, but there was nothing available.

Whenever I visit a University town, I always try to find time to visit the University bookshops, as they have a much wider range of higher-level subjects than ordinary bookshops.

When I was last in Oxford, it was a very expensive visit, because there was not only Blackwell's bookshop, but Blackwell's Music shop as well!
My case was jolly heavy travelling home on the train!

hjd

We went to Porto last year and visited the Livraria Lello.
You have to pay a fee to get in, refundable on purchase of a book. Not a library but thought it deserved a mention!
DD works at the London Library a couple of evenings a week. It's a fascinating place. For example, if you wanted a book on Ethiopia you would look under Abyssinia. They have an amazing range of books (mostly arts and humanities).

vivatifosi

Oooh, I love Blackwells. My favourite bookshop is Hatchards in Piccadilly, that's a lovely shop with a knowledgeable staff and their stock is lovingly and thoughfully displayed.

LydiaJ

PasturesNew wrote: »

It must be all that "insider stuff" that those on the inside can't see exists....they all know what they mean so can't envisage that those outside of an industry had no clue

Like the people who think teachers only work until 3:30pm, and vicars only work on Sundays!

Pyxis

hjd wrote: »

We went to Porto last year and visited the Livraria Lello.
You have to pay a fee to get in, refundable on purchase of a book. Not a library but thought it deserved a mention!
DD works at the London Library a couple of evenings a week. It's a fascinating place. For example, if you wanted a book on Ethiopia you would look under Abyssinia. They have an amazing range of books (mostly arts and humanities).

I'm hopeless about the names of African Countries.

Zimbabwe was easy, because it was all over the news for years when it was Rhodesia and UDI was declared by Ian Smith, so it stuck.

Other names stuck for random reasons, like Ethiopia from Abyssinia.

But loads more new names were unknown to me for donkeys' years.

The trouble was, I had a globe and Atlases with all the old names in, like Tanganyika and Belgian Congo and Bechuanaland.
I got to know that Tanganyika became Tanzania, because someone I knew went there to do some VSO.

But some of the other names could be anywhere in the world!

I only heard the name Burkina Faso two or three years ago, and thought, where the hell's that?

I think I will google the map of Africa and pore over it for a bit.


(You can give me a test tomorrow! :rotfl:)

zagubov

vivatifosi wrote: »

I'm on my tablet, so can't cut and paste as easily as on my laptop, but much of that is happening already... except the drones that is, I'm pretty sure Amazon will get there first.

Taking the virtual libraries. At our library we will get you any book that you want. There are a number of UK repositories, the British Library being the best known, which get a copy of every book published in the UK. Plus we have reciprocal agreements with other libraries, not just in the UK, but around the world. If that book is available for lending, we will be able to get it for you. Even if the only copy is in New Zealand, if the University of Aucland is willing to lend their copy of a book on the origins of Maori tattoo art, then we can get it.

Similarly you can borrow books electronically using tablets and ebook readers as well as newspapers and magazines, without visiting the library.

You can even scan a book's barcode using the library app while you are out and about, and have that delivered to your local library for collection, save the expense of buying your own.
..

A recent QI podcast described a newspaper library in Boston Spa, where the oxygen levels are kept low to prevent fire. Staff can't stay inside very long, and robots on the inside fetch newspapers (in darkness) and pass them to staff via airlocks.:cool:

Pyxis

zagubov wrote: »

A recent QI podcast described a newspaper library in Boston Spa, where the oxygen levels are kept low to prevent fire. Staff can't stay inside very long, and robots on the inside fetch newspapers (in darkness) and pass them to staff via airlocks.:cool:

Wow! :T


(Shame it's nowhere near Midsomer!:D)

.

vivatifosi

That's the British Library newspaper repository! Ooh I must have a listen, that's right up my street, thanks!

There are big efforts afoot to digitise the newspaper holdings. This is great in family history terms, as new search options keep appearing.

LydiaJ

Pyxis wrote: »

I'm hopeless about the names of African Countries.

Zimbabwe was easy, because it was all over the news for years when it was Rhodesia and UDI was declared by Ian Smith, so it stuck.

Other names stuck for random reasons, like Ethiopia from Abyssinia.

But loads more new names were unknown to me for donkeys' years.

Me too. I've only recently realised there hasn't been a Zaire for 20 years.

Pyxis

LydiaJ wrote: »

Me too. I've only recently realised there hasn't been a Zaire for 20 years.

:eek:

What is it now, then?





Edit.......Democratic Republic of the Congo. A right boring name!

And it used to the Belgian Congo before it was the DRC!

LydiaJ wrote: »

Me too. I've only recently realised there hasn't been a Zaire for 20 years.

:eek:

What is it now, then?





Edit.......Democratic Republic of the Congo. A right boring name!

And it used to the Belgian Congo before it was the DRC!





Edit...
Now I'm going to get that mixed up with the Central African Republic, (which used to be part of French Equatorial Africa, which comprised what is now Chad, Cameroon, and the Republic of the Congo).


Do you know, it's no wonder we can't keep up! I don't feel so bad, now!