The faculty lounge is fairly empty. There is only one small desk
at the back and a bed in the corner. The desk is currently occupied
by a blonde woman typing into a laptop. She notices you approach
and greets you with a smile.
Welcome to our humble library. I work to help keep things in order
and update the technology of this old place. I'm Vivi the Pythoness,
but you can call me Vivi. "The Pythoness" is an epithet that the
head librarian gave me. I do code in Python, but I don't think she
knows what code is. I don't know what was thinking when she
gave me the title, but it was after she caught me reading
astrology charts or tarot spreads one too many times on my break.
I am currently working towards a Master's degree in data science
for my main occupation. Computers have fascinated me since I was
a child so I am always happy to learn more about them and put my
knowledge to use. I work here as a labor of love to libraries
and to learn the trades of the librarian and web dev. I also find
myself fascinated by computers as a continuation of humanities
pursuit of knowledge. Since the beginning of history we have been
storing our history and wisdom in collections of physical materials
whether those were clay tablets or papyrus scrolls. There have been
very few advances in the technology to store and archive this
knowledge through the ages. The two most important developments were
the codex around the first century leading to books as a more efficient
storage medium than scrolls were before them and the printing press
in the 1400s. There were a few other developments like in the 18th
century and beyond that are worthy of mention like the Dewey Decimal
System and Lobachesvki's classification system, but these don't feel
as significant as the printing press.
With the 20th century came the computer and our ability to
store and access knowledge has been the largest revolution
in human history since perhaps the development of writing.
Not only can we store information with a nearly infinitesimal
fraction of the space we used to need, but we can also access
information from any storage location in seconds with our
current internet technology. This has been an incredible
asset for our pursuit of knowledge, but it has also caused an
overabundance of information that makes things much more
difficult than times in the past.
That's why I want to learn the skills I need to work at a library!
I hope to contribute in whatever small way I can to further our
collective pursuit of knowledge. If I can help democratize knowledge
and make it easier for people to avoid the pitfalls of the information
glut we find ourselves in, then my life will have been well spent.
I find that I am not the most creative type. I hope to develop
my creative side through this project of curation. I will write
about some of my interests so that others may see a somewhat
unique take on the world. Please keep an open mind as you
peer through my collections.
Last thing I have to share before I let you go explore the rest
of our collections; the librarian wanted me to be more professional
so I've made a card for myself. Please read it if you're interested.