I don't get it.

It the search option I would want if I'm in a library, a warehouse, a supermarket, ....

Seems pretty reasonable.

Am I missing something here? Is this a joke? I think I've been tricked. Shit.

You have to understand the system of understanding to get the library. If you use a search engine you results spat at you but learn nothing...<p>[Bzzrrap-ting!]<p>

[Ed.: <i>again, in the Hal 9000 voice</i>...]<blockquote class="smalltext">You have a drifted too far from the Borg, Don. Stop thinking about understanding. Just think about results.</blockquote>[Bzzrrap-ting!]

It's the process of wading through the context that produces the knowledge. I may learn that the word "colour" was produced by an Order in Council in 1890, but the context -- the BNA act, issues around the formation of the Dominion, Sir John A, Webster's intense hatred of the British -- that lead to actual knowledge. Otherwise it's just a sound byte, a parrotable fact that is interesting but ultimately useless. Learning stuff is very exciting, but it is quite time consuming. Thinking is actually pretty hard work. Fun, though.

Learning stuff is very exciting, but it is quite time consuming.

Actually, the essence of learning stuff is patience.

I thought it was yogurt...but there's been a heck of a lot of posting going on here today so I might be a little confused.

I thought it was yogurt

No, no. It's Jello.

so we're slagging the guy because he asked "can you tell me what i need to know" or "show me the book that will tell what i need to know?" i don't get it either.

and it's yogurt.

and i think that it's manipulating vocabulary that produces knowledge.

I have to admit, I don't get it either... it seems to me like the guy thought that material outside the library would be difficult or time-consuming to obtain, and he worried about being overwhelmed by search results?

If it's a choice, I'd go with the jello.

What there is to get, I would propose, is that the laddie thought there was a "search results" process to a library. If you recall your pre-webcrawler days, the idea that a nugget of fact rather than a source of nuggets of fact would be handed to you was impossible and pointless. Knowledge could not be found in the World Book encyclopedia and the internet is essentially a really bad, amateur, unindexed and self-important World Book encyclopedia. To walk into a university library expect "search results" is like going to the Blue Tusk and being pissed off because there is no Milwaukie's Best - the bad beer someone might think is beer because it is the only beer you know. A library is full of questions yet to be asked, "search results" only provide questimates of half-baked questions you might already have in mind.

He's just looking for what books are in that particular library??

Maybe he had to produce some answers in 30 minutes or his first born would be shot and so he didn't want to partake of the "in-depth research using document delivery options".

Instead of
1: You search the database. 2: You find an interesting abstract. 3: You click one button, which then gives you a window telling which options are available for accessing the article, which are either that the journal is in the library, it’s online in Database X, or you can use document delivery. 4: You get the article, or you go back to step 2 and try again.

they could have
1: You search the database. 1a: If you only want abstracts from the current library, click the option box 2: You find an interesting abstract. 3: You click one button, which then gives you a window telling which options are available for accessing the article, which are either that the journal is in the library, it’s online in Database X, or you can use document delivery. 4: You get the article, or you go back to step 2 and try again.

I disagree that "he was just looking for what books are in that particular library" but that is entirely based on my interpretation of the meaning of "search results" so I am not necessarily disagreeing with you, Don. <p>Let me explain. The image in my mind is that he lacked an understanding of the nature of the intermediary which is a library as opposed to the alleged non-intermediary which is the internet. Hence he had an expectation of "search result" not of the books present but of the facts present. But that is my take on an actual event that has actually been abstracted in this thread of comments as an illustration.

Ah.

So, all we really figured out is that I'm more of an optimist.

Never! I reserve the right to give myself and only myself the gold stars.<p>Look at this portion of what was written:<blockquote class="smalltext">To do it that way (even if it were technologically possible, which I’m not sure it is, given the natures and varied products of our vendors) would prevent users from doing in-depth research using document delivery options, and our universe of available resources is greatly expanded by those document delivery resources.’</blockquote>That is where I get the idea the kid wanted quick answers not awareness of the breadth of the available sources. I am sure you would be the sort of optimist who knows there are not quick answers on the road to wisdom so I may be willing to cut a gold star in half on this one.

i hate it when i have to concentrate to figure out what it is youre saying. instead, can well all just agree that al is wrong. all though in favor say yo-zam.

The yo-zammite faction is with me.

only because i made a spelling mistake. i'll get you yet al mcleod.

Oooooh...that whippersnapper...I'll get him yet...

We prefer the term "yo-zamonians"

yo zama dama do.