In the darkness of the Library in Cambridge
Spent the whole sunday at Jerwood Library: reading, writing, looking out of the window, juggling during breaks, participating in linguistic experiments, reading again.
I had no internet connection, so I could really focus. It worked partially. The library at Trinity Hall is really nice. It’s 24 hours open and in front of the toilets there is a newsstand with the Economists.
What I like about Cambridge as well is that it has access to almost all online journals in the world, which makes researching very easy. On the other hand, the online catalogue is fractalized into the University Library Catalogue and the Catalogue of the Colleges and Departments. Each college and each department has its own filing system. The one at the University Library is specifically complicated.
The other day I was looking for a book, realized that it was in the Open-Shelf-Section. Only two million out of seven million books are on open shelf, the rest remain in the archive but be viewed in the reading room. I went to the sixth floor, entered the room where the book was supposed to be only to find me in complete darkness. I first had to find the switch for turning on the light. The switch works like an egg-timer, so five minutes later I was in the dark again.
The books are sorted out by size and then by number, so I ended up looking for the book in a completely different section. Nevertheless, I learned it now. Lending a book is is often possible only for a few days, but this at least ensures that books are on the shelf when you need them.
