It blindsided me with science?

Citation

Boese, K.C. (2005), "It blindsided me with science?", The Bottom Line, Vol. 18 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/bl.2005.17018aaf.001

It blindsided me with science?

Keywords: Libraries, Sciences, Collections management, Public libraries, Library users, Forecasting

Science news, while interesting, is often not earth-shaking in the library world. However, October 2004 witnessed breaking science news that will affect library collections much like ripples in a pond. Yet if I were to take a random sample of both library staff and patrons to see if they knew to what I am referring, my bet would be that the majority of, if not all, respondents would think that I’m excited about the volcanic activity of Mount St Helens in Washington (State).

If this were your guess, you’d be wrong. While I do think Mount St Helens – being the most active volcano in the Pacific Northwest – is interesting, its recent activity in the final weeks of September and beginning of October are not of any major importance. Mount St Helens has been an active volcano for about 40,000 years, and its recent behavior was a textbook case. Scientists studying and monitoring the volcano were able to predict its every move, and the mountain offered up no surprises.

So, if the awakening of an 8,364-foot giant wasn’t the cause of my excitement, what could have drawn my attention? It wasn’t volcanology, but paleontology that caused me to reflect on what is in our library collections and how those collections may be effected. Specifically, news releases on dinosaur discoveries in China.

Dinosaur news is not uncommon, and China is the source of a lot of it these days. Most of it expands our knowledge and fine tunes what we know of ancient life on Earth. New discoveries do this for all scientific disciplines, but unlike the Mount St Helens news, the news from China emphasized once more that the science of paleontology is not set in stone … it is merely written there.

The first discovery, and arguably the more important of the two for librarians, is that a fossil of an early ancestor of Tyrannosaurus rex shows the existence of protofeathers – precursors to the feathers on modern birds. The new species, named Dilong paradoxus, marks the first time feather-like structures have been directly observed on a tyrannosaurid, and supports earlier predictions by several paleontologists. The discovery also supports theories that dinosaurs were bird-like, warm-blooded creatures that evolved feathers to stay warm, rather than to fly. While no one is suggesting that an adult T. Rex had feathers, they may have had them when they were young (Roach, 2004).

The second discovery is that of a sleeping dinosaur, in fact, the first report of sleeping behavior at all. From what is described as one of the most complete skeletons discovered, this dinosaur died a peaceful death while curled up with its head tucked under the forearm, similar to how modern birds sleep. Furthermore, the posture indicates the posture probably originated in dinosaur ancestors of modern birds (CNN.com, 2004).

These two discoveries are important because they expand our understanding of dinosaur behavior and appearance. They both strengthen the argument that modern birds are their descendants, and that strengthens the argument for evolution – even if it is not as clean and linear as we once thought it was. As important as all of this is, you have to be wondering by now just how this all relates to our library collections.

One of the obvious ripples of this news will be felt in science libraries, but they will likely be the least affected, as most of the papers describing these discoveries will be published in scholarly journals already subscribed to by the library. In fact, the scientific method demands that new discoveries be published for them to exist. To this end, the protofeather discovery appeared in issue 431 of the journal Nature (14 October, 2004). Eventually, these discoveries, and arguments surrounding them, will appear in books, CD-ROMs, and other tangible forms that will need to be added to collections. The legacy collections, however, will not lose their importance, nor will they need to be weeded or withdrawn.

Another subtle ripple will be in natural history museums, where libraries not only serve scientists and curators, but also public programs, education activities, and exhibitions staff. Exhibits constantly change in this environment. Some are short-term and others more sedentary. Within my museum, the National Museum of Natural History, the long-term goal is to redo the three main life sciences halls. The first hall, mammals, has recently been completed. The second hall, oceans, is in the planning phase. The third, dinosaurs/early life, is still some time in the future.

From experience, I know how important image collections with textural descriptions are. During the installation of the mammals hall, I was asked by the exhibits department to see if I could find out the color of thylacine (aka Tasmanian wolf or Tasmanian tiger) eyes. The taxidermists were remounting the museum’s specimen and were unsure about the eye color. As thylacines have been considered extinct since 1936, when the last known specimen died in Hobart, published accounts are all that remain. Our answer came not from textural sources, but rather from a survey of 19th century color prints, where we decided dark brown seemed to be the consensus.

With this in mind, it is safe to assume that artistic representations of dinosaurs – even sleeping feathery ones – will have some influence on how the new dinosaur hall will appear. Librarians in this environment may be asked to help identify images or artwork that incorporate the most recent discoveries, or find electronic resources and web sites from which dioramas or interactive multimedia can be developed. When you are faced with a hall full of bones, you have to flesh it out by creatively and appropriately using images.

The last and largest ripple will be in the public library. This is where these discoveries will have the greatest impact. As a young boy, books on dinosaurs were among my favorites at the library. While the words were OK, I must confess that I generally chose my books based on the images. Back then, all the dinosaurs were in various shades of greens and browns with thick, leathery skin.

The appearances of dinosaurs have changed dramatically over the years. From popular sources that include the Jurassic Park films and the Dinotopia series, popular culture now takes it for granted that dinosaurs are brightly colored and come in a wide spectrum of choices … and now, they have feathers! They are no longer the drab, lumbering giants of my youth, but sleek and exotic.

Similarly, the books of 20 years ago with their archaic images are no longer of interest to our young library visitors. Children are both perceptive and demanding. They don’t want the pictures in their books to be “wrong”, even if the text is accurate.

Every scientific discovery or new theory that impacts the physical representation of dinosaurs does two things in a public library. It dooms some previously popular titles to obscurity and eventual withdrawal because they are no longer “accurate”, and this in turn creates a void that needs to be filled with new material. The speed, extent, and cost of this will all depend on how significant the discovery is, and how dramatically it alters the expectations of our visitors.

Kent C. BoeseCataloging Services Department, Smithsonian Institution Libraries, Washington, DC, USA