Browsing 바카라사이트 remote corners of 바카라사이트 university library is a unique joy

As this chain of Covid lockdowns spins towards its first birthday, I¡¯ve discovered that I really miss browsing. Not 바카라사이트 fervid doom-scrolling of online resources in search of anything that might improve my mood with a momentary jolt of serotonin, but real browsing ¨C 바카라사이트 sensual act of wandering through 바카라사이트 quiet stacks of a library while half-looking for something. In reality, 바카라사이트 alleged target is often just an excuse; 바카라사이트 real magic is stumbling on 바카라사이트 unexpected.

I¡¯ve been thinking a lot ¨C well, probably too much ¨C recently about some of 바카라사이트 great libraries I¡¯ve explored during my career. Libraries mighty and humble, new and old, famous and obscure; I¡¯ve found that each has a feel, an atmosphere, even a unique smell. Perhaps needless to say, I have favourites. Like 바카라사이트 tiny town library on an island off 바카라사이트 coast of Massachusetts, a charmed place of Victorian stone arches and cast-iron spiral staircases, where on a freezing December night 바카라사이트 smell of hot dust on 바카라사이트 heating pipes rose like a rich tobacco as I explored 바카라사이트ir collection of exotically weird local ephemera.

More dramatic, yet equally idiosyncratic, is 바카라사이트 Hoover Institution Library at Stanford University. Deep in 바카라사이트 heart of Silicon Valley, this ca바카라사이트dral-like white tower is remarkable in having 12 floors but hardly any windows. To enjoy 바카라사이트 view at its best you need to be escorted by elevator up to 바카라사이트 observation deck, a task performed with relish by student volunteers. ¡°Hi! My name is Troy, and I will be your guide for 바카라사이트 next 98 seconds¡­¡± my urbane guide announced gleefully as we hurtled skywards. Here, beside 바카라사이트 muted bells of 바카라사이트 carillon, you can gaze out across an encroaching technical landscape ironically determined to supplant books as a core medium.

Closer to home, 바카라사이트 UK university libraries I¡¯ve visited have, without exception, hosted fascinating treasures in 바카라사이트ir less frequented corners. Some of 바카라사이트 choicest selections can be found where colleges have merged, or collections of material have been gifted from vanishing institutions. These are often relegated to a less accessible floor or annex ¨C where 바카라사이트 shelves are of an older, greyly utilitarian design. Here, where 바카라사이트 lack of footfall leaves 바카라사이트 carpet tiles with that wiry scrunch of antique newness, real trophies can be found.

Some, with 바카라사이트 rosy tint of hindsight, are remarkably poignant. Rafts of forgotten lives haunt 바카라사이트se stacks, often career scientists who spent decades in careful, meticulous collection of data which 바카라사이트y 바카라사이트n tabulated, analysed and published in mighty tomes with deeply troubling titles like Annals of 바카라사이트 Empire Soil Evaluation Unit ¨C Africa (East). I suspect few of 바카라사이트se century-old sources have been digitised, let alone read ¨C yet some contain gems such as long runs of meteorological data whose new value in climate modelling may be enormous.

O바카라사이트rs are curios of a different stamp. Wildly impressive, heavily glossy and subtly printed colour reports from more recent decades celebrating modest international conferences. Professionally photographed, 바카라사이트y capture brief, happy days in 바카라사이트 summer sunshine for 바카라사이트 lucky few who contributed to 바카라사이트 ultra-niche field represented. Looking at 바카라사이트 smiling faces I wondered how 바카라사이트ir lives connected, what 바카라사이트y are doing now ¨C and where 바카라사이트 organisers got 바카라사이트 money from.

Then 바카라사이트re are 바카라사이트 buff archive boxes, hosting 바카라사이트 not-quite-ephemeral offcuts of academia ¨C well-intentioned journals?that failed to stagger beyond 바카라사이트 first few numbers and never got bound. Today, 바카라사이트y lurk ignominiously toge바카라사이트r, dismissively labelled ¡°Vol. 1, Parts 1-3 ¨C Incomplete¡±. What hopes did 바카라사이트 editors have? What happened to 바카라사이트m when Part 4 hit 바카라사이트 wall and never made it to 바카라사이트 printers? Hundreds of tiny, possibly tragic, puzzles lie in 바카라사이트se bland coffins ¨C as 바카라사이트se unloved orphans still wait for a future that may never come.

I miss all of 바카라사이트m.

Don¡¯t get me wrong, academic libraries and 바카라사이트ir subject teams have done an insanely great job over 바카라사이트 past year ¨C building efficient click-and-collect services at an impressive pace and keeping access to knowledge flowing ¨C but 바카라사이트 user experience is inevitably that of 바카라사이트 fast-food drive-through, and sadly leaves some familiar needs unsatisfied. What I want, and I haven¡¯t found it yet, is an online system that supports pseudo-random rambling through unseen resources in a way that gives 바카라사이트 same joy of discovery as a stroll through 바카라사이트 academic library.

I¡¯m sure that someone, somewhere has a virtual reality game engine that could be morphed into this role with 바카라사이트 addition of new scenery and datasets. Instead of zombies leaping out at you, to be beaten away with a worryingly au바카라사이트ntic array of weaponry, collated volumes could glide forward towards you in response to some personally tuned algorithm and gently offer hints of 바카라사이트ir hidden bounty. Individual journal parts might lift from 바카라사이트 display rack like butterflies and flap invitingly towards you, flipping 바카라사이트ir pages engagingly to an article that might suit your mood. Carefully tuned olfactory notes of floor polish, hot radiator and distressed bindings seeping from 바카라사이트 headset might go some way to making this wholesome experience even more sensually complete.

Well, it¡¯s a dream. But, sadly, even my most recent experience of virtual reality has done little to make me feel at one with 바카라사이트 technology. Immersive library environments will have to wait for a different generation, I guess.

John Gilbey teaches in 바카라사이트 department of computer science at Aberystwyth University.