Library Mingle Log

[foundafamily]

Who: Everyone!
Where: The Library
When: Throughout their time in Struxta
Rating: PG, will edit if this changes
What: The Circle gets together for some research on what this place is all about. Please treat this like a mingle log--feel free to put up a starter and tag around!

The Library (hopefully) promises to have the answers that the Welcome Committee and the general robot on the street don't. Characters can access the information by computer, and the Library has just about everything that's happened in Struxta.

That's thousands of years of information to wade through, so get to work!

[ooc: As it says above, please feel free to put up your own starter and tag around! Characters can have heard others chatting about the library or been told about it by the Welcome Committee or have just wandered in. If you come across anything of interest that you'd like me to edit into or link in the main post, please just let me know.]

Comments

[bowtiedbones]

[Eliza's been glued to her computer screen for a good solid couple hours now, same as she has been every day, but now she pushes back from her desk with a noisy clatter.]

Okay, oof. Stretch break!

[Louder than someone should really be in a library, but it's a little bit deliberate. There's too many people sitting too still at too many desks, get up and active, people! Stretch your joints, work your servos, either or.]

[tranquilforest]

[She's still not entirely used to this, but the climate control and chairs go a long way towards comfort, enough that the strangeness of reading things off a glowing screen is starting to wear off.

She smiles as she glances over at Eliza.] Time to rest your eyes, isn't it? Do you want to take a quick walk outside? I think a change in atmosphere might be good.

[bowtiedbones]

Yeah, and get some fresh air. Or however fresh it is out there.

[tranquilforest]

[She pushes back her own chair, rising up to her feet.] This place is so clean. But it is a little unsettling not to see plants and other living things.

[bowtiedbones]

I know I'm researching it, but outside I'm trying not to think about the lack of plants and all too much. It's definitely unsettling.

[tranquilforest]

I'll be honest, I never thought I would be - annoyed with people writing too many things down.

[There was just so much data.]

The new search capabilities of these advanced devices is helpful, and I shudder to think of how many eons it would take to find as much as we have if we were reduced to paper, pen, and ink, as is the case for me at home. But at the same time, the ease of producing materials means that there's so much that just isn't relevant for what we're trying to find.

[bowtiedbones]

Oh gosh, if you want to know how bad it can get, you should see what some of our paper libraries look like at home... University libraries are multiple buildings-full.

I wouldn't mind the amount of information, like I'm into research, I love searching journals and papers at home, digital or otherwise, but... Their search system is not great. I don't know if it's because it's not a system for humans, but this organization system is basically a haystack.

[tranquilforest]

[Oooh, yes, she loves it when Eliza goes on tears like this, always into it.]

I wonder how much they need to search for such things, when they spend their whole lives [trying to learn new vocab] "plugged in" to each other? Doesn't that mean that all knowledge they have gathered is accessible at any point?

[bowtiedbones]

Since they have libraries, I don't think everyone has this memorized. It would be a lot of information to have to download, and that's too much for any computer's memory or data plan? But yeah, if it's all connected to the cloud, they can download whatever they want when they need it. Plus this place is almost empty except for us.

[tranquilforest]

It does seem they don't rely on the physical building and access ports here, so I'm not sure why they have repositories like these libraries at all. Except that it's always prudent to have some sort of contingency in place...

[bowtiedbones]

Yeah... like if someone's router goes down, they can still check in here.

[tranquilforest]

I wonder if it would be too rude of us to request a similar interface for our rooms that they've set aside for us. In case some of us might prefer that to traveling here for our research.

[bowtiedbones]

Maybe! They might need to dig up a laptop, but I don't see why they couldn't.

[tranquilforest]

That's the kind of device you're used to using in your home for your own research and work, is it not?

[bowtiedbones]

Yep! They're suuuuper convenient.

[tranquilforest]

But only if it can connect to a central resource, correct? Or else you wouldn't be able to access the information you need for your work.

[bowtiedbones]

We've got ways to do that at home. I can connect to computers on the other side of the planet if I have to.

[tranquilforest]

But even being able to connect to those computers doesn't guarantee that the information you will find is correct, isn't that true?

[bowtiedbones]

Sure, but it's the same with books. You just need to keep a critical eye on the research you read.

[tranquilforest]

[Considering what they had been doing this entire time...] The sheer volume of data that can be generated using computers is far more overwhelming though.

[bowtiedbones]

They make data analysis and compilation way easier, that's for sure.

[tranquilforest]

[She laughs softly, shaking her head a little ruefully.] I'll have to rely on you for that. I can perhaps wrap my mind around the concepts after some more study, but I don't think I can ever adapt to it as easily and naturally as you, Eliza.

[bowtiedbones]

I just have the advantage of growing up with the stuff.

[tranquilforest]

[A slight sigh, though she's still smiling.]

That's true, I suppose. But in a place like this... I can't help feeling very much out of my depth. Compared to El Minha, I haven't the slightest clue how to begin.