checking out a bird mount or skull or a
fish mount is just like checking out a
book
you present your library card
we scan it
it's due in two weeks and it's just like
checking out a book
this is the alaska resources library and
information services and we're in the
room that holds the furs mounts and
skulls in our collection many of the
items are available for the public
the focus of the collection
is alaskan animals birds and fish
i'd say there are hundreds of furs
probably
50 bird mounds and hundreds of skulls
this has a walrus skull which is kind of
interesting
it's got teeth behind the tusks i didn't
realize that until i got to look at the
school it was pretty cool
the bear furs or the really popular
well bear lynx
and wolf
when people
encounter this collection they are
delighted
they ooh in awe
it
sparks their imagination they
love having all the choice
of the different types of items that we
have
people who check out these items really
vary
mainly teachers for their alaska animal
component of their curriculum
i don't know of anywhere else that they
can
borrow
a mounted sandhill crane and
just study it up close
it's a very unusual program
[Music]
hello welcome to the library of congress
the library of congress is the largest
library in the
world located in washington dc this
collection of over 160 million items is
a vast archive of the history of the
united states there are over 70 special
collections that include rare
manuscripts maps sheet music and much
more
hello
i'm helena zinkem director for
collections and also chief of the prince
and photographs division
this collection of pictures numbers more
than 15
million
among the rarest pictures in our
collection we have the migrant mother
the iconic woman representing the entire
great depression the pictures bring
people together they invite you in to
look around and explore worlds that you
might never be able to see in person
hello i am paulette haysir i am the
chief of the geography and map division
we have 5.5 million maps 80 000 atlases
500 globes we have lewis and clark's
maps george washington's maps we have
the first map that shows the name
america on it we're part of the bigger
broader world and as we look at some of
these cartographic evidence of the
changes over time it's a realization
that we as a nation have changed a long
time
[Music]
hi i'm sue vita the chief of the music
division
there are about 24 million items in the
music collection
we have stradivari instruments we have
the original rhapsody in blue the
original edition of the star-spangled
banner
music tells us more about who we are and
tells us about our past and our future
[Music]
hi my name is michael north and i'm head
of reference and reader services in the
rare book and special collections
division at the library of congress this
collection holds over 800 000 items we
have everything from medieval
manuscripts early printed books
the libraries of thomas jefferson one of
our most famous books is the gutenberg
bible it's important to have a record of
the past so that we know how we came to
be where we are today both in terms of
ideas and in terms of history politics
art everything
hi i'm malia walker i'm a reference
librarian in the serial and government
publications division
this collection is massive we have 800
000 reels of microfilm we have about
7.2 million loose issues of newspapers
and approximately 42 000 volumes of
bound newspaper pages we also have about
140 000 issues of comic books
one of the great things about reading
newspapers is that you get a sense of
what it's like to be an american you are
reading how people lived the history
itself
[Music]
collections are our way of adding
memory
and remembrances
all of the collections
give meaning and context to the human
experience and a history of culture
with unique mirrors creating the
illusion of infinite books this chinese
library and bookstore is every story
lover's dream come true
while this may look like an ordinary
shop from the outside inside readers are
invited to settle in for an otherworldly
storytelling adventure the black mirror
floor is one of two distinct design
elements
the mirrors create the illusion of a
mirage meant to symbolize water which
has a long held significance in yangzhou
culture in the past famous authors and
poets gathered by the canals in this
chinese town
secondly the arch ceilings link
throughout the library which represent
the connection between people and books
zhongshuga
young joe's history while embracing the
future head-on by creating a space for
the next generation of readers to thrive
the soft lighting and flowing shapes set
a mood meant to entice the literary
curious to settle in for a storytelling
adventure
[Music]
what do you call a group of cats
let me check on that
[Music]
it's called a clowder of cats
if you have a question any question
there's a number you can call
[Music]
917-275
and a librarian at the new york public
library will try to answer it for you
hello thanks for calling ask nypl
we have 10 librarians on the team and we
answer any question that you may have
over the telephone
in the office today we have matthew
bernard serena diane and me
our department ask nypl began in 1967.
we started answering questions over the
telephone but people have been reaching
out to librarians for as long as there
have been libraries
the new york public library has actually
saved records of some of the more
interesting questions they've been asked
over the years
like is there a full moon every night in
acapulco
why do 18th century english paintings
have so many squirrels in them and how
do they tame them so they wouldn't bite
the painter
are plato aristotle and socrates one in
the same person in a world of google
it's a bit surprising to know that they
get around 30 000 calls per year
my question is why
oftentimes people
might not have access to the technology
at home and i honestly think some just
want somebody to talk to
so the next time you have a question
like how many teeth does a great white
shark have you can call this number 917
that'll ring inside of this building
up on this floor and maybe bernard or
rosa will pick up
and they'll answer it for you
they have about 300 serrated teeth
[Music]
this library is full of historic
treasures
the trinity library in dublin ireland
was founded in 1592
and remains the largest library in the
country
its most famous area is the long room
this 213 foot room houses 200 000 of the
library's oldest books
the room is lined with marble bus
many of great philosophers writers and
people who supported the college
the long room is also home to one of the
last remaining copies of the 1916
proclamation of the irish republic the
trinity college harp which is from the
15th century
and the book of kells an illuminated
manuscript of the four gospels that is
from the 8th century
it is the largest library in ireland and
as a copyright library it can obtain
books and materials published in ireland
for free it is the only library in the
country to hold this right
[Music]
in my work i really try to reproduce
smart scenarios for different purposes
be it a street be the neighborhood in
the city i've done thousands of smells
all over the world
could we on behalf of a small molecule
find out something about history that we
otherwise wouldn't know
this is cecil tolis she is many things
an artist a scientist
but more importantly a smell expert
she however prefers another title i call
myself a professional in-betweener which
means what exactly there's a whole world
to smell and the whole world to educate
how to smell so you cannot just limit
yourself to one discipline right the
point is she has dedicated her life to
the sense of smell what it means and how
it can be used to better understand the
world and each other
pretty early in my life i started to ask
questions why are we only understanding
the world on behalf of how the world
look like
what if we start to use the other senses
more appropriate
for the same purpose
[Music]
what i went starting to discover the
same world i've been looking at for
several years using the nose for the
purpose
so how exactly did you go about
recording and then reproducing these
smells i will walk around identify
smells with my own nose
i have small devices that enable me to
collect the smell molecules emitting
from the source with the result i go to
my lab and then the data i get back is
then the starting point of reproduction
of the actual smell i have a lab
consisting of up to 4 000 chemical
compounds
and with those ingredients with those
compounds i literally reproduce
invisible reality that surround you full
time all the time
name a city a neighborhood within a
neighborhood a historical building or
even an era in time and most likely
sizzle has reproduced that smell along
with thousands of other scents here in
her lab with the hopes of using the
findings for a bigger purpose the
purpose can be tolerance education
navigation
to memorize
the list is endless it's more
interesting if you really start to
understand the smells and see how you
can use that information for
a purpose beyond the smell itself
[Music]
you