Don’t worry. No, as the Washington Post recounts, it’s the Library of Congress that has lost 13% of its collection. Ouch!

I wonder how long a traditional “shelf read” would take. When I was at the UMich the Classics Department’s library* did one every Fall. Although it was only one room and they impressed most of the graduate students, it still took hours.

It’s too bad asking users for help is harder in the physical than in the digital world—although I’m sure a lot of thingamabrarians would pay for the privilege of rolling a cart through the LC’s stacks…

*available online through Filemaker of all things!

Labels: library of congress, physical world