Do you need another way to open your mind? Wander around the library and look at the titles of the books.
Browsing is a marvelous thing. Try it — just put your stuff safely in a locker and stroll down a few of the aisles. You’ll run across wondrous things.
The other day, A Plague of Sheep caught my eye. (It was on C Level, in the S section.) With a title like that, I had to look and see what it was about, didn’t I?
And *why* are you talking about it?
Because of its cool subtitle, “Environmental Consequences of the Conquest of Mexico.” Nowadays we know that everything has environmental consequences. For example, a catalog search for the phrase “environmental consequences” in the TITLE gets 40+ hits.
Also, the title reminded me of The Thorn Birds (it’s an e-book! You can read it right now!) describing the time when Australia had a severe overpopulation of (really cute) European bunny rabbits who were eating all the crops.
What other surprising titles have you discovered?
- How about To Save Everything, Click Here and Networks of Outrage and Hope? The HM851 books are part of the section on “social change,” and you’ll be amazed at the things that have been written.
- Hmmm, I wonder what’s being delivered in this book called Home Delivery? Oh wow — it’s the homes themselves that are “delivered”! The subtitle is “Prefabricating the Modern Dwelling,” and it was published by New York’s Museum of Modern Art, which explains why it has such amazing pictures. These books at the beginning of aisle D-125 are about American houses and architecture (I really love the maps in the library catalog that show you exactly where the book is.)
- Say, look at what’s in the back of C Level, in the TX section: The Burger King: Jim McLamore and the Building of an Empire, and The Sign of the Burger: McDonald’s and the Culture of Power. TX is for books related to “home economics,” an old-fashioned name for a section of cool items about alcoholic beverages, eating and enjoying food, and the history of foods (including burgers).
What’s that book on the next shelf about? It’s called “Bittersweet“; is it a romance?
No, it’s the history of sugar.
Wow, look at the incredible photography books!
You’re right, they’re amazing — A Century of Colour Photography, Faking It, Photography in 100 Words; this TR section on C Level is really great.
Hey, look what I found down on D level in the blue labels: a rom-zom-com (romantic zombie comedy).
We have books about zombies? Really?
Have faith in your awesome library, my friend; the word “zombie” or “zombies” is in the TITLE of 96 books (and 2 songs), and 40 of THOSE are online!
By the way, browsing online is great, too. For example, try entering “environmental consequences*” into the article database called Academic Search Complete — again as a TITLE — and you’ll get more than 130 results. (Remember to add an asterisk to the end of “consequences” so that you get singulars *and* plurals.) My goodness, there seem to be environmental consequences to invasive species, tourism, war, and pig manure, to name just a few.
So don’t forget to browse! You will get ideas for wondrous projects and inventions, remember things that you’d forgotten, decide to visit another country, become a fan of a particular author, or change career plans on the spot. Browsing leads to momentous things!