#ask a Librarian

[harvardfineartslib]

Our asks are open!

For the first time since the birth of this blog (as far as I can tell,) our asks are open! I will be actively checking them throughout the day.

If you have any burning questions about our library, what we do here, or anything related to Harvard and libraries overall, I've got librarians on call and a plethora of fun facts in my back pocket for your informational amusement.

[wearelibrarian]

Since you requested asks.

What are some library resources that you love that don’t get the appreciation and use that they deserve?

I think y'all on Tumblr already know about this one, but the Internet Archive's Open Library is wonderful for accessing out-of-print resources that may not be available in other ways! It also serves as a catalog of books across the world, including ones which cannot be checked out or read through the Internet Archive. Most of my other favorites require that your local library (or your college/university) have a subscription, but this one is free.

The library resource that needs the most appreciation, though?

Librarians!

So many people are hesitant to come in person, which I understand - it can be scary to go up to the desk, and it can be difficult to find transportation to the nearest library. Many libraries provide assistance over the phone, and some even have online chat available to the public! You don't have to have a library card to ask a librarian for help, though we do appreciate when people sign up for cards. (September is Library Card Signup Month, fyi - go get your library card! I have four and intend to obtain more, since I'm lucky to be living in an area where I can obtain free library cards from multiple area libraries.)

[thebookewyrme]

So, yesterday, on Ask A Librarian chat I got someone asking for help finding a Seneca quote. They sent me the quote in English and then sent me the book they thought it was in (a Hathi Trust scan). And I was like “ok? Maybe they just don’t realize they can do a full text search?” And then I scroll down to the part they said they thought it was in and discover the whole damn book is in LATIN.

Like. Sir. Do you just think all librarians know Latin? Sure I took it in high school, but that’s 20+ years ago now, I literally don’t remember a word of it.

I did try just google searching it to see if I could find a translated version but all I got is the same quote in a Medium article and a bunch of links to Stoicism websites. I think they may have got the quote from the article actually. Ended up sending them to our Classics Librarian. But I was just like. 😆🥴

[mood2you]

I wonder who drives the books from one branch to the other in County Libraries... I wonder if it's a sinch to get if you have a CDL, if you need to volentueer a lot or if you need a degree

[tiffanyachings]

“Fiat lux! If you want to talk improbable, let’s talk about this”—a scrape of stone on stone—“being three thousand and some years older than this.” A heavy clunk.

“Inexplicable, Warden.”

“Certainly not. Like everything else in this ridiculous conglomeration of cooling gas, it’s perfectly explicable, I just need to explic-it.”

“Indubitable, Warden.”

“Stop that. I need you listening, not racking your brain for rare negatives. Either this entire building was scavenged from a garbage hopper, or I am being systematically lied to on a molecular level.”

“Maybe the building’s shy.”

“That is just tough shit for the building.”

[el-ffej]

What is Thy Wi-Fi Password?

Me, on the welcome desk in the library: Good morning, how are you today?

Customer: I have welcomed Jesus into my heart and so I am well today and every day.

Me, a little unnerved: Okay then! Is there something I can help you with?

Customer, digging around in his bag and pulling out an iPhone in a box: Unfortunately, Jesus can't help me with this fucking phone, so I came to the library.

[certifiedlibraryposts]

i used to work as a page at a library

Oh nice, they need a lot of those to be in all the books [i am dragged offstage by a comically long cane]

[stealingpotatoes]

Did u know that a cut scene from movie 2 implies that Dooku and Jocasta Nu (the badass jedi librarian) were married/lovers? (I think Obi-Wan should get a badass grandma, as a treat)

I couldn't find anything in the deleted scenes they published but wookiepedia/ an interview agrees with you and like??? what was in those cut scenes??? how did she imply it?? was it just like

Jocasta Nu: No, Kamino isn't a real system, I can't tell you anything about that Jocasta Nu: Would you like to hear about the sordid love affair I had with Master Dooku thirty-two years ago instead? Obi-Wan: I cannot express how little I want to hear that. Jocasta Nu: It all started when--

[ghostlyarchaeologist]

The Librarians S02E03/Almost Paradise S01E07/Leverage Redemption S02E06.

[anglerflsh]

everytime I mention the type of job I'd like to have (archivist) people tell me that literally no one on earth wants to do that which normally would be annoying but. you don't want to sort documents? to preserve things from the past? do you not like excel sheets and burocracies? my best friend burocracy?? sad

[rileyslibrary]

can you maybe do something where like, things simon does when he realizes he’s falling for you? :,)

Let me start by saying that I see Simon as someone more accustomed to others falling for him than the other way around. Like, he is the one who tends to be pursued rather than being the pursuer, if you know what I mean? I don’t know why but I feel he doesn’t have to put too much effort into wooing someone (and he probably knows that). A tall, beefy dude with a rugged appearance and that voice of his? The guy has it easy.

Now, what if he’s the one who falls for someone first? Aha! Well, He doesn’t even realise he has feelings for you, but they manifest in other ways, mainly through actions.

Ghost, as your lieutenant, for example, starts assigning you to low-risk missions or insists on accompanying you to ensure you’re safe.

In a more personal context, Simon offers to pick you up from your home so you don’t have to walk or take public transportation. He might even escort you to your car at night to protect you.

He tells you jokes he thinks you’d enjoy. He absolutely loves it when you laugh; he feels defeated when you roll your eyes and even a bit salty when you already know the joke (or fail to “get” it.)

He pays close attention to the details. He remembers your favourite food, how you like your coffee/tea, and your pet’s name. No, he won’t cook for you (yet), but he’s taking mental notes, studying you.

However, he’s not aware of what he’s doing exactly (or why he’s doing it, for that matter). It’s not until the rest of the team notices and insinuates that there’s something more between you two that he comes face to face with his emotions. Emotions he’s not ready to accept yet.

He rejects the idea that he has developed feelings for you and hopes that by suppressing ignoring them, they’ll fade away. But, as my boy Freud once said, “unexpressed emotions never die; they are buried alive and come forth later in uglier ways.”

He begins distancing himself from you. He rebuilds the walls you once torn down and returns to treating you just like everyone else. He had people he loved before, and it’s only brought him pain. His past experiences have left deep scars, and he’s determined not to go through that again. He’s not just doing it just for himself, though; he also wants to protect you from him and the pain.

Him. Pain. What’s the difference?

You, on the other hand, pick up on his behaviour but don’t confront him about it. “You know how the lieutenant is,” they once told you. “Sometimes he’s all jokes, other times he’s just business.” Maybe, you think, he needs his space. So you begin mirroring his actions, pulling away and giving what he seemingly wants.

But he secretly doesn’t want you to do that. Contrary to what he hoped to achieve by distancing himself from you and, therefore, from his feelings for you, he falls even harder.

Once cocky and arrogant, now he’s insecure. He starts projecting his fears onto you, feeling that you’re the one pulling away, even though you’re merely respecting his unspoken need for space.

So he confronts you. He wants an explanation for the change in your demeanour. And you? Well, you tell him the truth; you thought he needed some space. Right?

Who knows. Maybe you were just respectful. Perhaps you were giving him a taste of his own medicine.

It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that he gets it now. Running away from his feelings or those he cares about doesn’t work, just like ignoring his emotions won’t make them disappear. On the contrary, they directly affect both him and you.

Of course, he doesn’t admit it. No, he wouldn’t be caught dead doing that.

Yet, he decides to (re)open up to you, this time gradually, bit by bit, at his own pace. Just for a chance that this calculated, ruthless operator that many perceive him to be can finally transform into a genuinely emotionally invested human being for the first time.

[mudpuddless]

AU where Obi-wan is Can Drallig's illegitimate son except of course everyone knows and no one cares except for qui-gon of course.

based on this post by @twinterrors29

[ninjakittycomics]

And in making requests they can look into getting certain dvds (might take younand a few friends talking to librarians)

Genuinely: For people who are angry and frustrated at the limited number of movies and shows available for streaming, at the way streaming services pull or cancel movies and shows at will, at the way every media corporation under the sun is pulling their stuff onto their own streaming service and balkanizing access to things behind a dozen different monthly subscriptions? For people who miss Blockbuster and want to be able to just rent a DVD again?

See if your local library has a DVD collection.

If I want to watch The Mummy (1999) with Brendan Fraser? I can't stream it on Netflix, but I can borrow it from my local library.

If I want to watch The Mummy (1932) with Boris Karloff? I can't stream that pretty much anywhere, but I can borrow it from my local library.

I want to watch Star Wars or Iron Man or my favorite Disney movie but I refuse to sell my soul to pay for Disney+? I can borrow these from my local library.

Do I want to finish watching Star Trek: Deep Space 9 or check out Star Trek: Picard but resent that it's all on yet another streaming service I don't want? I can borrow season box sets of DVDs from my local library!

Obviously, available circulating collections vary a lot between library systems. (My hometown's library has all of Star Trek DS9 on DVD, for example, but my college town's library only has TOS, Picard, and Discovery.) And of course it depends on whether things are released in physical media form at all, and you won't be able to keep up with new episodes of new series - it takes a while for many things to come out on DVD.

But there can be a lot of good stuff there too. For example, I missed Nope in theaters, but I still really want to see it. So I have it on hold from my local library. I'm 73rd in line on 50 copies, so it'll be a while.

So check to see what DVD collections your library does have - it might surprise you what you can get access to, for free, in a manner that no greedy corporation can yank away.

And by checking out DVDs, you are telling the library that you use and want them to maintain and grow their AV media collection. Which is an encouragement we could really use these days.

[salty-dracon]

does sunday even know about the events of 2.6? is he aware of the banana virus?

like is he just going to join the express, pop into the archives, and be like "hey dan heng, can i read your data bank entries on penacony, i want to see what my home's been like ever since i left"?. and after dan heng gives him a nod, five minutes later is sunday going to have the bravery to ask him "what the hell do you mean a minion of dr primitive unleashed a monkey-themed memetic virus on penacony and all three of you were infected and started saying 'bana' every sentence? were you cured? ... is my sister okay?"

[housecow]

Giving off fat librarian vibes and I’m all here for it. Could see myself ogling at you from afar while you’re behind your desk munching on snacks or struggling to reach your fat ass to the top shelf to get a book down for someone, all while fantasizing about taking you into the back and stuffing you. Gotta keep that mouth crammed full so you’re staying nice and quiet 🤭

holy shit jsyk this is everything i am. i have the fat librarian look so down at this point, add in my obsession w cardigans and that’s it !! esp because i also have big glasses (and i used to volunteer at my public library)

but anyways.. i wanna be so heavy n wide my hips brush the bookshelves on each side as i walk through an aisle 🥺

[queerliblib]

Hello!! I was looking for non-fiction books of butches and femmes that mention bisexual butches and femmes too! I guess that's a very specific thing and difficult thing to ask for but I was hoping if you knew some? In the end, I'll take any and all butch femme non-fiction books you know of please! 👉👈💖

hello! okay so don’t wanna promise bisexuality in all of these because that’s tricky to do without having read each cover-to-cover*

that said, we do have some recs! I’m going to split this up two ways;

Non-fiction (not memoir)

Butch is a Noun by S. Bear Bergman

Persistance: All Ways Butch & Femme eds. Ivan Coyote & Zena Sharman (& it’s precursor, Persistent Desire: a butch-femme reader although sadly it’s not available as an ebook for us to purchase)

The Life & Times of Butch Dykes by Eloisa Aquina

Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold by Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy & Madeline D. Davis

& one essential we haven’t gotten around to buying yet: Female Masculinities by J. Jack Halberstam

Non-fiction (memoir)

Burning Butch by R/B Mertz (also in audio)

Pregnant Butch by A.K. Summers

Rust Belt Femme by Raechel Anne Jolie

Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H. (also in audio)

& before anyone asks Stone Butch Blues is NOT in our collection, but that’s because it’s available for free, as a pdf, directly from Leslie Feinburg’s website