Behind the Stacks: News from the Reference Library
by Zoe
Greetings
from Panhistoria's Reference Library!
History has been the inspiration for countless writers and the writers at Panhistoria are no exception. Heroes and heroines, bloody battles, romantic legends, frightening creatures, or faraway places - if you're looking for inspiration, our Library is the very place to visit!
Read about Scotland's Sir William Wallace, or the WWI era Frenchwoman Marcelle Semmer. Relive the Battle of Hastings or analyze the tactics used in The Battle of Granicus. Weep over The Fate of the Children of Lir or envy the love which Uther held for Igraine. If you're looking for something that may or may not be quite real, what about the Blue Lady of Kansas? Or perhaps a nice Basilisk might be more to your taste. Feel like traveling? Why not visit Australia, Latin America or The Far East. And when you return from your travels, tell us about the interesting places you've visited!
Oh Where Did I Put That Book?
How did libraries keep track of their books before Melville Dewey came along with his decimals?
In the ancient city of Ninevah, groups of related clay tablets were tied together and labeled to identify the contents. Other Mesopotamian libraries sorted their tablets into labeled baskets. In the famous library at Alexandria, scrolls had tags marked with the authors and titles. Callimachus, one of the librarians there, wrote a 120-volume catalog of their Greek literature holdings, though it has not survived.
In the middle ages people preferred rational systems based on the relationships of their books, to one another. Arabic numerals, devised and used in a Baghdad library as early as the eighth century, weren't used in Europe until the thirteenth century when Oxford adapted the system for their library. The Sorbonne began alphabetizing books in the fourteenth century. The Vatican library of the fifteenth century divided their holdings into three main languages - Greek, Latin, and Hebrew - then alphabetized within those categories.
In Colonial America, instead of the alphabetical scheme which had then become the most commonly used, Thomas Jefferson preferred to arrange his books by a combination of subject and chronology, though in practice Jefferson's 6487 books were shelved by size.
By the late 1800s, most American libraries used a system where each book belonged in a specific spot on the shelf, thus necessitating rearrangement each time a new volume was acquired. Unfortunately, every library had a different system.
Now you know.
Featured Sections
With the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, it would be wise for all of us to learn more about the history of the region and to appreciate the Islamic contributions to our own culture.
The
Ancient Euphrates and Middle East section of our Library
deals with the earliest civilizations - the Sumerians,
Assyrians, Babylonians, and the
Hittites.
In
The Islamic World section, there are topics for the
discussion of the Muslim dynasties and the spread
of Islam as well
as the contributions
of Islam
to science, art, architecture and literature.
Knowledge fosters understanding.
Every Member of Pan is a Member of the Library!
Take some time today to explore Pan's Reference Library. Our library has many articles which can inspire your writing, or perhaps you would like to add something of your own which might inspire another. Any member of Panhistoria may post in our Library!
Be sure to check by the main Reference Library page, accessed from your jump menu, each week for the featured post and news of current discussions. You can keep up with all the latest posts by using the Reference Library Daily Index, found on the main Daily Index page.
As always, your Librarians are here to help and encourage you. Please feel free to direct your questions or ideas to any of them. Just look for the purple icon on your IM Panel.
The Last Word
A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library.
Shelby Foote, novelist and historian (1916-)
