Barricades have Become a Familiar Landscape

Hie-jinja (Shrine) in Rain
Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
one of the frontispieces missing from MSU's copy of
Shintô and its architecture
by Akiyama, Aisaburō

Possibly the most cop out way to start or end an essay is with a quote, and yet, interestingly enough, it's almost always the thing that inspires me to write the most...

As stated on Michael Stephen's ALA TechSource Blog, the second principal of Library 2.0 is that:
"The Library has no barriers.What barriers are we putting up that prevent our users from getting the information they need? Are you closing off resources and systems within your building? Make sure your users can get to your stuff no matter where they are—and make the systems easy to get to!"

This resounded for me, i think, because of a very recent experience at the Michigan State University Library. Allow me to highlight a few of the "resources and systems that were closed off" to me today. I had gone to the library after class with some very specific things in mind that i wanted to accomplish. As often happens, i left with more questions than I answered, and they even got me feeling like i should give them money... All right, well maybe the second part doesn't happen that often...

i had wanted to research the published work by a professor of Japanese Lit., Rika Saito, whose presentation i had attended last week. i had the name of one journal she'd published in, and the name of her dissertation... under normal circumstances, that seems like it would be a good start. i had a feeling that MSU wouldn't have any materials, but being a research school i knew they'd have access to a great many databases. i needn't have wasted my time--without a working MSUNet ID, i might as well have been an illiterate person wanting to vote in the 18th Century. Most websites, excluding Google, are blocked, and ProQuest asks for an institutional password. Additionally, the wireless network, which is configured to allow both MSUNet users and Guest users, conveniently wouldn't connect... On top of that WorldCat had never heard of her, or her dissertation. None of the available databases had heard of the one journal i had written down either, the "U.S.-Japan Women's Journal".

It almost makes me think that we were better off back when the only resources were printed resources. Unfortunately, it turns out that her dissertation is only two years old and that the U of Penn simply hasn't released a circulating copy (the MSU Reference Librarian I was working with informed me that their Thesis and Dissertation collection does not circ either), other than in electronic format. Aha! An Electronic Version! Well doesn't that beat all... available for a mere $32. ^^;; (for those of you not familiar with the anime sweat drop smiley, let me summarize it as representing intense stupefication, which is a word i just now coined).

After leaving the library and coming to Panera Bread, i was able to login to ProQuest with my Wayne State account, and download the Full-text dissertation in PDF format. Of course i'm really not interested in reading 338 pages in PDF, but i guess them's da breaks. It also occurred to me after the fact to try searching MelCat for the U.S.-Japan Women's Journal, and low-and-behold Kalamazoo College does own a copy... i never realized just how complex, with how many hidden layers and how many misfiring synapses reference librarianship entails (two terms coined in the same day!).

Unfortunately, that's not quite the end of it. While i was in the library i wanted to borrow a book i had just learned of in class called, A Guide to East Asian Collections in North America, compiled by Thomas H. Lee. I had a feeling this book would come in handy in the future, should i ever get the guts to pursue a career in Asian Library work. It turns out MSU did own a copy, though whereas i had written down the LC no. as being Z 3001. L4 (cuttered correctly for a reference book), MSU had chosen to give it the call number, DS 504.5 .L6 1992. Well, all right then, no harm done. Except... that the only catalog computer in the basement at MSU that non-MSU students can use was not logged in (for some unknown reason even the catalog computers at MSU Libraries requires a password to login to the MAGIC Catalog). Thus, i had to go back up stairs to use a different catalog computer, then to travel up to the 2nd floor East (if you've ever been to the MSU Library, you'll know exactly how absurd it is to have to negotiate two buildings joined at the hip... namely: stupefying, as you can never remember which side is East and which is West).

To attempt to bring an unnecessarily long and pointless drivel of a story to a close, let me say that i have mixed feelings about the MSU Library. Although they DO have a great many resources, and even a Map Library (fancy that), they simultaneously put up barriers all over the place against the non-MSU Student from doing research there. ;\

Now, if you thought this seemed to be going nowhere fast, check this out: i have zero room to complain because when i went to check out my book i was told it wasn't due until November 22nd. The head of circulation at MSU Libraries had done me an incredible favor at the beginning of the year and awarded me graduate-level borrowing privileges when she saw how much time i would spend doing research at MSU (and due to the fact that i'm in a Library Science program and she happened to find that to her liking). So, after all that bitching and moaning... i have zero room to complain about MSU Libraries. They are, in retrospect, an incredible library and very giving. =]

Oh yeah, and I did say something about wanting to give them money, didn't i... Well, while i was walking around aimlessly, doing my "Watch out, I'm an independent researcher non-MSU badboy" routine, i happened to come across a pamphlet for Adobt a Book at MSU Libraries. This reminded me of a book i have often checked out, both at Western Michigan University, and at Michigan State University, Shintô and its architecture by Akiyama, Aisaburō. It occurred to me that MSU's copy is badly beaten up (having been printed in 1955) and many of the gorgeous fontispieces have been stolen. No, not by me: this book is such an incredibly unique resource even i, with my "Pirates for Hire, specializing in Mayhem and Madness" flag in the window of my car, wouldn't sink so low. But damn, they are SOO insanely gorgeous (see above). i'll think about donating some money to get it restored or replaced.