RedGage

Most people, I suppose, think of a building when they think of a library, but a library doesn’t need a building. It can be rooms, or maybe one room, within a building. Most people also think of the collection. I hope there aren’t many left who think only of books and magazines. Let’s think of the scope of what can be in a  library and determine what it must have in order to be a library.

Print materials

• Books (of course)
• Magazines and journals (of course)
• Pamphlets
• Printed music
• Broadsides and posters
• Manuscripts (I know they’re not printed, but this heading seems the best place to list them.)
• Etc.

Art works and realia

• Original paintings
• Prints of paintings
• Slides of paintings
• Sculptures
• Pottery
• Objects associated with special collections (such as clothing and personal effects)
• Bones and skulls (What would a medical or dental library be without those?)
• Etc.

Microforms

• Reel to reel microfilm
• Microfiche
• Microcards

Recordings

• Sound discs (78 rpm, 45 rpm, 33 1/3 rpm
• Sound tapes (wire, reel to reel, 8 track, cassette)
• Video discs
• Video tapes (Beta, VHS, U-matic, and more)
• DVDs

Electronic media

• IBM cards
• Paper tapes
• Floppy discs of various sizes
• CD-ROMs
• DVD-ROMs
• Playaways
• eBook readers (Kindle, Nook, and others)
• More software than it’s worth listing

Machines

• Players and readers for the previous three categories
• Computers
• Copiers
• Printers
• Scanners

[MORE --plus, you might want to see what this is really supposed to look like. It looked great in the editor, but man what a mess!]