A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
I thought ebooks are cool for a while but the smell, the memories, the sound of paper books. It’s my childhood. Life is the whole experience and nowadays I don’t even watch movies until I have a proper setup first, which sometimes also means stimulants. It’s why cinemas are still a thing.
We can strip it down to just clean, raw information but the noise enriches the taste.
that's why I buy vinyls.
but honestly I just listen to it all steaming on YouTube and downloaded from Anna's archive /shame
Ebooks for the win. I “go to” my library all the time by finding an ebook on Libby and downloading to a reader
My local library doesn’t use Libby, and it makes me want to riot every time I think about it. They use another app called cloudLibrary, which is inferior in every way; It doesn’t even have e-reader support. You’re forced to read the books on your phone or desktop, because cloudLibrary refuses to integrate with third-party services like Amazon or B&N for kindle or nook. You can’t even download the ebooks. You have to view them in the app or on your desktop browser, and it basically loads a page at a time.
Needless to say, I own library cards to all of the libraries in the surrounding cities, because all of those use Libby.
A new public library place recently opened very near to where I live. I've nothing to say, am just a bit comforted that when the world is crashing and burning, at least I can be happy about this.
Also some libraries provide 3D printers which is really cool
edit: I didn't notice how many people were commenting about 3D printers
Libraries around here also have free passes to museums among other things.
They'll also give you New York Times and Wall Street Journal access for when the paywall bypass stops working. At least mine does
I think libraries should get improved internet connections and some up to date web browsing capable computers for people who don't have Internet or computers at home.
Now hear me out before I get stabbed. Libraries shouldn't have to provide this service. In fact I wish more libraries were specialized in locking down their systems to be only used for knowledge gathering. Think a terminal that an only access reliable web sources for information.
We need a separate public space for free Internet access. Most libraries see funding hits because they are used as resources for the less fortunate to get back on their feet.
Large metro libraries right now sort of act as a "get a job center" which the unfortunate fact is drives off anyone else who wants to use the library for it's actual resources. And also puts other costs on the library.
About ten years back, I had moved away from home and was living in a small town with no Internet in my apartment. The only internet connection I had was the local library.
I remember being so surprised at the amount of viruses on those dumb computers. I wondered what the heck people were doing to them to get them in that state, and then one time I saw some dude looking up porn and just downloading whatever programs the pages he came to told him to.
Anyway, I'm glad I have Internet in my apartment now.
The computers likely get automatically re-imaged overnight, so every morning is a fresh start. That (and some VERY strong LAN isolation) is pretty standard for public-facing computers, for exactly this reason.
That definitely wasn't the case for this small-town library.
They don't already? My library system has since at least the early '00s.
Need funding for that
I have a library card. But never used it bc I pirate all of my books. But I will still be keeping it.
I also find most of my books through unconventional sources but still use my library card for books through apps like hoopla and libby, both for the convenience of the mobile format and to keep my ratios in line.
I'm in Germany we have Onleihe and it's shit thats why I pirate.
One of the "protect our children" protests in the UK yesterday involved burning down a brand new library because....reasons, I guess?
If you ever had any doubts about the right wing protests affecting the UK, remember they burned down a local community library for no fucking reason.
protect the children from learning!
Protect the children from finding out we suck
I mean, quite literally what book burnings are, yeah.
This is a national post, without any science
But how are they doing that without any profit motive?
/s
My library offers free accounts for online courses like Coursera and Udemy. Saved me a few hundred bucks when I was trying to get into UX and web development. All I had to give was an email and choose my local library from a list, that was literally it. I was surprised these things were readily available for free with no hassle.
Mine lets me borrow eBooks and audiobooks via smartphone app, very useful and convenient.
Yes
My wife is a library administrator in (depending on how you want to look at it) a large town or a small city.
Some of the things the library offers people might not expect:
• Free 3D printing.
• Free large format printing.
• Free sewing machines.
• A 'libary of things' where you can check out things like tools or musical instruments.
• Tabletop RPGs you can take home or play there with people.
• A teen room with an XBox and a Playstation and a bunch of games, but adults are welcome too.
• eBooks and streaming audiobooks, movies and TV. My wife listens to audiobooks constantly and hasn't paid for one in years.
You can also book a librarian to basically be your own personal researcher for a certain amount of time and they will even deliver books to you and pick them up later if you need them to.
Soon, a new branch will be opening. It will have a room with a lockable door and a signup sheet, one person allowed at a time. Inside will be a shower, a washer and a dryer, free to use.
By the way, if a library doesn't have the item you want but another library has it, they can get it for you from that library.
Libraries are amazing.
I love the musical instrument loan programs. I loaned a violin for a month to test out whether I wanted to learn to play it.
I like it and the experience gave me enough of an understanding of the instrument to feel comfortable buying a used one to continue on with.
I don't think I ever would have started learning it without the library program, the instrument is so intimidating
That's awesome! My wife brought home a ukulele to try, but then she never tried it and brought it home. On the other hand, she's already very good on piano, so that's not the worst thing in the world.