Hi everybody! I finished my final exam on Tuesday. It's so nice to be done. The stress is gone. I even read a book yesterday. 160 pages in one day.

I can't remember if I posted my complaints and idea for a new book organizing system for the U of C library (I know, I know, it's spelled libary) but since I withdrew 2 books yesterday, it bears repeating. (I can always take it out later) It all started about a year ago. I had some free time, so I went to the library to read a few magazines. I couldn't find a nice magazine section with soft chairs like they have a MHC so I decided to ask the Librarian. Being a new-Canadian, she had a hard time speaking either of the 2 official languages. Not speaking French wasn't as big a problem as not speaking English, let me tell you. Anyway through a series of grunts, clicks and hand motions, I made it clear that I wanted to find a copy of Wired Magazine. This was to be my first run in with the completely crappy Library of Congress organizational system, and the U of C's interpretation of it. The lady gave me a paper with the call number on it and directions of how to find it.

First I had to go up a really large escalator. Then I had to go through the public computer lab. Then I had to go down 2 flights of stairs. Then I had to make my way to the far end of the room to find my magazines. Here is a side complaint. The walkways are too narrow; it's like the first ghost scene in Ghostbusters 1. The shelves are so high a close together it is very hard to find what you are looking for. Anyway suffice it to say that it was a wild goose chase. All I could find were tons and tons of engineering books about making mine shafts safe that were 100 years out of date before I was even born. By the time I realized that there would be no copy of wired magazine for me, I just had to go to class anyway.

Fast forward a year. I decide that I will get a book about Adobe Photoshop. I type it into the computer and write down the call numbers for each of the 2 books they have in the entire 13 floors of outdated books. I made my way back up the escalator, through the computer lab and down the 2 flights of stairs. By sheer serendipity, I find the computer graphics section. How ever there were no books for me. The newest book in the entire shelf hadn't been signed out since 1981. This seemed like the perfect time to ask a librarian for help to find the books. This was the reply, "Sorry those books are on the shelf." Obviously, because if they were they would have been in my hand. She continued, "I just put those books into the computer yesterday. They were donated by a man who....Blah Blah Blah... So they're probably still on the sorting cart. Come back in a week or so." A week or so! How long does it take you to push that stupid cart around the library anyway.

So a week passes. I look for the books again. Obviously to the reader at this point, is the fact that they were still not on the shelf, although the damn computer said that they were. Once again I ask the librarian where these books are. She says, "Oh we just barely got those books. They are probably on the shelves for new books." Well why the hell isn't there a way on the computer search function to tell users that there exists a shelf for all the new books and the book you are looking for is on it.

I go back down the escalators and over to the new book section of the library. I search through both giant racks. There are no Photoshop books on the shelves. I'm beging to doubt the existence of Photoshop based directly on the fact that there seems to be no books written about it.

Anyway to end this rant, I have two points to make about the shelving system.

First, Why does a library need a shelf to brag about the fact that they have new books? In case people miss the news conference or miss the daily newspapers headline "Library gets new books". Libraries get new books all the time. It seems like after the millionth new book that it somehow wouldn't be as special to get a new book.

Second, although it's nice to be able to find all the books of a specific topic in one spot, if no body knows how to find that spot with out consulting the card catalogue anyway wouldn't it make sense to devise a system based on number order or alphabetical order, and then use the computer to find out the position of the book in question. It sure would make reshelfing faster. Book 2125412, that goes right between book 2125411 and book 2125413. You could fire all the librarians, except one boss librarian and then hire flunkies to reshelf the books.

So anyway yesterday I was going to find some reading material for the holidays (Christmas not any other holiday) and I ask some guy where the non-fiction was, or if it even existed. He asked, "What are you looking for?" I said I just wanted to browse the fiction. He said "10th floor, but you better ask a librarian because it's a pretty big place up there." I said I would take my chances.

I went up and picked out two books and contrary to popular belief, you can judge books by their cover. That's how I picked out my two books and the first one was very entertaining.

ps. Here is a link about LOTR for Jeff and a Link for Anna