The Time Machine Goes to the Library
Bill Higgins
end of it.
A month or so ago, a discussion on rec.arts.sf.fandom covered the "Time
Machine" stories by "Donald Keith" that appeared in *Boys' Life* in the
Sixties and Seventies. See
<http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=Pine.SGI.4.31.0301091124220.2137703-100000%40fsgi01.fnal.gov&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fq%3D%2522time%2Bmachine%2522%2Bbrains%2Bpatrol%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26selm%3DPine.SGI.4.31.03010911242
20.2137703-100000%2540fsgi01.fnal.gov%26rnum%3D1> for the thread.
The author was a pseudonym for Donald Monroe and Keith Monroe, a
father-and-son team. The stories dealt with a Boy Scout patrol that
discovered a mysterious time machine, figured out how to use it, and voyaged
across time and space.
I enjoyed these stories when I was a Scout. I now recall that I read some
even before that. My dad was a Scout leader and I remember reading a Time
Machine story, maybe the origin story, in one of his issues of *Boys' Life*
before we moved out of The Little Red House, so it must have been 1962 or
earlier.
Memory is tricky, so I might be wrong about this.
Anyway, all this discussion had given me a bug to read some of these
stories. Last night I found myself in a large and substantial library, and I
enlisted the help of a couple of reference librarians. My plan:
1. Find which nearby library has a collection of *Boys' Life* that stretches
back to the Sixties, or maybe Fifties.
2. Find which issues have Time Machine stories in them.
3. Journey to the appropriate library with a roll of quarters. Photocopy
stories.
4. Take home and read.
Step 1 turns out to be difficult. There are "union lists" of "serial
holdings" on paper and on the Web (translation from librarianese: lists that
tell you which magazines, for which years, other libraries have in their
collections). *Boys' Life*, being the magazine of the Boy Scouts of
America, is extremely common, as you might guess. However, nearby public
and school libraries seem to hold issues only for about three to five years
before purging their collections.
Step 2 is not too easy, either; the librarians report that *Boys' Life* is
not indexed in the *Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature*, which
surprised me. Possibly it was indexed in the Sixties-- I haven't checked
that yet. But determining which issues hold Time Machine stories may be a
non-trivial problem.
One lead: the Scouts have councils, stores, paid staff, and other
infrastructure; maybe they have libraries which aren't on the Library Radar.
If not, Scouting people might be able to direct me to someone with a private
collection.
I turned to the Web, of course. Struck paydirt: a posting by the inimitable
Jerry Boyajian, back in the golden age of Usenet
<http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=1705%40ryn.esg.dec.com&output=gplain>.
Jayembee wrote:
> There were two novels published by Random House, the first for the Boys'
> Life Library imprint, and the second for the Pedro Books imprint (Pedro
> was the BOYS' LIFE mascot, a burro):
>
> MUTINY IN THE TIME MACHINE 1963
> THE TIME MACHINE TO THE RESCUE 1967
>
> The first was originally published (in abridged form) as a 4-part serial
> in BOYS' LIFE, December 1962 through March 1963 issues. The second was
> probably also published as a serial, "The Time Machine Hunts a Treasure",
> April through June 1967 issues. I have 2 of the 3 parts for that serial,
> but without a copy of the second novel, I can't say for sure whether it
> was an expanded version of the serial, or "fixed up" from separate
> stories.
I read it in the orginal serial; I believe the former is the case.
Shouldn't be hard to find the books for sale or at a library, but the
uncollected stories are the challenge.
> Later stories that I either have or know about are:
>
> DK "The King and the Time Machine" Aug 1971
> DK "The Time Machine Cleans Up" Feb 1973
> KM "The Time Machine Twins the Jamboree" Aug 1973
> DK "Santa Claus and the Time Machine" Dec 1973
> KM "The Time Machine Fights Earthquakes" Nov 1974
> KM "The Time Machine Saves a Patriot" Apr 1975
>
> "DK" means it was written as by Donald Keith, "KM" as by Keith Monroe.
> Date, obviously, is the issue of BOYS' LIFE in which the story appeared.
> There are undoubtedly a number of others that I don't have citations for,
> but I can say with reasonable certainty that none appeared between 1977
> and 1984, inclusive.
I'm pretty sure that there were stories in the Sixties that Jayembee doesn't
list, and I suspect that the *Mutiny in the Time Machine* serial is not the
first of the TM stories. I recall a late-Sixties story where the TM crew
searches for the parents of Kai, the future Scout, which doesn't seem to
match any of the titles here. But this is a great start on an exhaustive
list.
The Web also told me that Donald and Keith Monroe were both Scoutmasters,
which is not surprising, and that Keith wrote an amusing book called
*Be Prepared* about his experiences as a Scout leader, under the pseudonym Rice
E. Cochran.
And I learned that the Time Machine stories were discussed in SF-LOVERS
Digest, the Arpanet predecessor to these newsgroups, in June
1981, possibly earlier...
So I guess my next step is to contact my local Scouting council and see if
they can help me find somebody with a collecton of old *BL* issues. I'm not
active any more, but I used to teach Fermilab's Explorer post; I wonder if
that will help.
--
Charismatic Art Guy Thomas Hoving | Bill Higgins
described Vermeer as | Fermilab
"one of the great 17th-century painters | Internet:
of all time." | hig...@fnal.gov
Dan Goodman
news:Pine.SGI.4.31.0302211...@fsgi01.fnal.gov:
> This is a progress note, since I've begun a quest but I haven't
> reached the end of it.
>
> A month or so ago, a discussion on rec.arts.sf.fandom covered the
> "Time Machine" stories by "Donald Keith" that appeared in *Boys' Life*
> in the Sixties and Seventies.
>
> The author was a pseudonym for Donald Monroe and Keith Monroe, a
> father-and-son team. The stories dealt with a Boy Scout patrol that
> discovered a mysterious time machine, figured out how to use it, and
> voyaged across time and space.
>
> I enjoyed these stories when I was a Scout. I now recall that I read
> some even before that. My dad was a Scout leader and I remember
> reading a Time Machine story, maybe the origin story, in one of his
> issues of *Boys' Life* before we moved out of The Little Red House, so
> it must have been 1962 or earlier.
> Memory is tricky, so I might be wrong about this.
>
> Anyway, all this discussion had given me a bug to read some of these
> stories. Last night I found myself in a large and substantial library,
> and I enlisted the help of a couple of reference librarians. My plan:
If you want more help, try the Stumpers mailing list; see
http://domin.dom.edu/depts/gslis/stumpers/ Stumpers is mostly for
librarians faced with difficult questions; but nonlibrarians are welcome to
join, and non-members can post.
Note that you can get materials from libraries nowhere near you, through
Interlibrary Loan (ILL).
Loren MacGregor
r.a.sf.w., this is more clearly on topic there than on r.a.sf.f.,
yet due to time I still have to make a choice....)
Bill Higgins wrote:
> I enjoyed these stories when I was a Scout. I now recall that I read some
> even before that. My dad was a Scout leader and I remember reading a Time
> Machine story, maybe the origin story, in one of his issues of *Boys' Life*
> before we moved out of The Little Red House, so it must have been 1962 or
> earlier.
> Memory is tricky, so I might be wrong about this.
Before reading the rest of your message, I paused here, because I
was a cub scout in the late 50s - early 60s, and I too recall the
stories, either from my brothers' copies, or from my own, once I got
the paper route (around 1962) and started subscribing on my own.
I -loved- the stories. Also "Pee Wee Harris," but that's another story.
Wow. I didn't even know about those! Something to look for!
>>"DK" means it was written as by Donald Keith, "KM" as by Keith Monroe.
>>Date, obviously, is the issue of BOYS' LIFE in which the story appeared.
>>There are undoubtedly a number of others that I don't have citations for,
>>but I can say with reasonable certainty that none appeared between 1977
>>and 1984, inclusive.
>
> I'm pretty sure that there were stories in the Sixties that Jayembee doesn't
> list, and I suspect that the *Mutiny in the Time Machine* serial is not the
> first of the TM stories. I recall a late-Sixties story where the TM crew
> searches for the parents of Kai, the future Scout, which doesn't seem to
> match any of the titles here. But this is a great start on an exhaustive
> list.
I am pretty certain that I was reading TM stories before the date
given, and I vaguely (and I -do- mean vaguely) recall the search for
Kai's parents -- but I am surprised that it was late 60s, because by
then we had moved to another house, and I was less interested in the
Boy Scouts, possibly because of family finances at the time.
> So I guess my next step is to contact my local Scouting council and see if
> they can help me find somebody with a collecton of old *BL* issues. I'm not
> active any more, but I used to teach Fermilab's Explorer post; I wonder if
> that will help.
I know a couple of Scoutmasters here. It might be worth asking around.
-- LJM
--
*****************************************
* Loren J MacGregor - The Churn Works *
* churn...@att.net - (541) 338-0675 *
* Multi-Platform Systems Administration *
*****************************************
Robert A. Woodward
<Pine.SGI.4.31.0302211...@fsgi01.fnal.gov>,
Bill Higgins <hig...@fnal.gov> wrote:
> This is a progress note, since I've begun a quest but I haven't reached the
> end of it.
>
<snip re: Time Machine stories in Boy's Life>
>
> I enjoyed these stories when I was a Scout. I now recall that I read some
> even before that. My dad was a Scout leader and I remember reading a Time
> Machine story, maybe the origin story, in one of his issues of *Boys' Life*
> before we moved out of The Little Red House, so it must have been 1962 or
> earlier.
> Memory is tricky, so I might be wrong about this.
>
IIRC, I was reading _Boy's Life_ starting in 1961; I suspect that I
can't remember all of the "Time Machine" stories that I had read (1),
but I know that I didn't see the origin story (they had already picked
up their Spartan member).
> Anyway, all this discussion had given me a bug to read some of these
> stories. Last night I found myself in a large and substantial library, and I
> enlisted the help of a couple of reference librarians. My plan:
>
> 1. Find which nearby library has a collection of *Boys' Life* that stretches
> back to the Sixties, or maybe Fifties.
>
I think I have all of my issues storied away somewhere.
<SNIP>
IIRC, in the 1st one I read, they went to the future. I also remember a
visit to China (but not the era) and the Jamestown flood.
--
Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com>
<http://www.drizzle.com/~robertaw
Marilee J. Layman
wrote:
>This is a progress note, since I've begun a quest but I haven't reached the
>end of it.
rasff only
>A month or so ago, a discussion on rec.arts.sf.fandom covered the "Time
>Machine" stories by "Donald Keith" that appeared in *Boys' Life* in the
>Sixties and Seventies. See
><http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=Pine.SGI.4.31.0301091124220.2137703-100000%40fsgi01.fnal.gov&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fq%3D%2522time%2Bmachine%2522%2Bbrains%2Bpatrol%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26selm%3DPine.SGI.4.31.03010911242
>20.2137703-100000%2540fsgi01.fnal.gov%26rnum%3D1> for the thread.
You can get to the same place by tossing everything off beyond the
first message ID:
--
Marilee J. Layman
Handmade Bali Sterling Beads at Wholesale
http://www.basicbali.com
mike weber
<robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
>
>IIRC, I was reading _Boy's Life_ starting in 1961; I suspect that I
>can't remember all of the "Time Machine" stories that I had read (1),
>but I know that I didn't see the origin story (they had already picked
>up their Spartan member).
>
I recall the origin story -- though not clearly -- they find the Time
Machine half-buried in a hillside that has slipped after a heavy rain
or something like that.
I remember them going to get the Spartan kid to train their Patrol for
upcoming athletic competition, and i remember a story with a Hispanic
Scout who hijacks (or at least attempts to) the Time Machine to take
hime to what he believes will be heroic martyrdom in the 1920s Mexican
Revolution -- that woule be "MutinY", i suspect.
I also remember some other series from "Boy's Life" -- the "Tailbone
Patrol" stories (not sf/fantasy) and the "Scoops and Junkie" series
(which i must have been reading by 1957 or so, as i recall one that
must have been pre-Sputnik involving a Soviet MOUSE...).
Also, someone in this thread has mentioned "Pee Wee Harris" -- i seem
to recall that Pee Wee and friends were the subject of a series of
boy's novels (probably in the 30s/40s from the series design i recall)
before they were a comic strip.
--
mike weber mike....@electronictiger.com
==========================================================
The man who sets out to carry a cat by its tail learns
something that will always be useful and which never will
grow dim or doubtful. -- Mark Twain.
Book Reviews & More -- http://electronictiger.com
how...@brazee.net
On 21-Feb-2003, Bill Higgins <hig...@fnal.gov> wrote:
> The author was a pseudonym for Donald Monroe and Keith Monroe, a
> father-and-son team. The stories dealt with a Boy Scout patrol that
> discovered a mysterious time machine, figured out how to use it, and
> voyaged
> across time and space.
All I remember after all these years (besides that I loved them), was that
one of the characters was a Spartan, and I didn't know what a Spartan was.
Larry M Headlund
>>
>
>visit to China (but not the era)
Yuan Dynasty. They were looking for a Marco Polo era Chinese compass.
>and the Jamestown flood.
Johnstown Flood. Out to pick up some old uniforms, I beleive.
--
--
Larry Headlund l...@world.std.com Mathematical Engineering, Inc.
(617) 242 7741
Unix, X and Motif Consulting Speaking for myself at most.
William December Starr
l...@TheWorld.com (Larry M Headlund) said:
>> IIRC, in the 1st one I read, they went to the future. I also
>> remember a visit to China (but not the era)
>
> Yuan Dynasty. They were looking for a Marco Polo era Chinese
> compass.
Wow. I wonder what kind of a merit badge you get for _that_.
-- William December Starr <wds...@panix.com>
Garrett Fitzgerald
> see if they can help me find somebody with a collecton of old *BL*
> issues. I'm not active any more, but I used to teach Fermilab's
> Explorer post; I wonder if that will help.
Or you can just cheat and bother Jill Morgan at
http://www.purplehousepress.com - she might be able to bring the books back
into print.
Bill Higgins
> Or you can just cheat and bother Jill Morgan at
> http://www.purplehousepress.com - she might be able to bring the books back
> into print.
This certainly occurred to me. Purplehouse Press has revived such
hard-to-find gems as *A Space Child's Mother Goose* and the Mad Scientists'
Club stories. They're about to bring out Mad Scientists' #3, *The Big
Kerplop!* But I figure they get the request for "Time Machine" stories
fairly often. No reason to burden them with another.
Also, if someone did undertake to bring these stories back, they'd probably
start by reprinting the two Time Machine fix-up books, *Mutiny in the Time
Machine* (which launches the series, and also introduces the previous
owners) and *The Time Machine to the Rescue*. Only then, I imagine, would a
publisher consider scraping together the uncollected post-1967 stories.
I read these books last weekend. I went to the basement and found my copy
of *Rescue* (at the time I posted, I couldn't remember which of the two
books I owned) and read it Friday and Saturday. Saturday afternoon, having
seen the message that began this thread, indefatigable bibliophile Bill
Leininger showed up on my doorstep with a copy of *Mutiny*.
They were good. Not *quite* as good as rosy memory painted them, perhaps,
but skillful light-hearted adventure yarns promoting the themes of Scouting.
Although time machines, meddling with history, hypercephalic futuremen,
antigrav belts, ESP pills, and so forth were old stuff in magazine SF by
1959, "Donald Keith's" approach has some original flourishes that make these
stories hold up pretty well.
The Machine, mobile in both space and time, featuring storage compartments
you can stuff with handy Scout gear, and equipped with a big-screen,
surround-sound time-viewer, is lovely. I've wanted one since I was a Cub.
The amusing futurespeak of A.D. 4000, barely intelligible, just might have
evolved from beatnik lingo.
The Machine is sometimes used cleverly. [Slight SPOILER for *The Time
Machine to the Rescue*.] In the second book for example, facing a powerful
adversary, the Scouts back up ten minutes and shift the Machine's location a
little, then do it again and again, making a vast menacing fleet of Time
Machines appear for long enough to indimidate the bad guys.
Another thing: I heard from Jerry Boyajian, who writes:
> Anyway, you should know that in addition to the ones I posted in that
> message, I've found citations for a couple more of the Time Machine
> stories:
>
> Dec 1968 "The Dog from the Time Machine"
>
> Sep 1970 "The Time Machine and the Generation Gap"
So I'll add them to my quest.
--
Bill Higgins | Barry: "Cats don't need GPS-- they know
Fermilab | the world revolves around them."
Internet: | Me: "Good sigfile quote, but I probably have
hig...@fnal.gov | too many Barry Gehm sigfiles."
| Barry: "There's no such thing
| as too many Barry Gehm sigfiles!"
Loren MacGregor
> On Wed, 26 Feb 2003, Garrett Fitzgerald wrote:
>
>>Or you can just cheat and bother Jill Morgan at
>>http://www.purplehousepress.com - she might be able to bring the books back
>>into print.
>
> But I figure they get the request for "Time Machine" stories
> fairly often. No reason to burden them with another.
I wouldn't assume that -- and a polite letter of request is never
out of line.
I remember the fawning letter I once got from an advertising agency,
after writing in praise of one of their ads for a client (in this
case, Blue Diamond Almonds). The writer told me they -never- got
letters in response to their ads, and thanked me -- excessively --
for taking the time.
It made me feel like a big shot, until the next -lousy- commercial
came on. Then I went and put a Stan Freberg record on the Victorola.
mike weber
wrote:
>I remember the fawning letter I once got from an advertising agency,
>after writing in praise of one of their ads for a client (in this
>case, Blue Diamond Almonds). The writer told me they -never- got
>letters in response to their ads, and thanked me -- excessively --
>for taking the time.
Having grown up running tame in several different ad agencies
(including one my parents owned), i can agree that advertising people
(in general) never hear from the public about their *good* ads...
Unless you're, say, Freberg or Dick Orkin.
Samuel Lubell
>1. Find which nearby library has a collection of *Boys' Life* that stretches
>back to the Sixties, or maybe Fifties.
>Step 1 turns out to be difficult. There are "union lists" of "serial
>holdings" on paper and on the Web (translation from librarianese: lists that
>tell you which magazines, for which years, other libraries have in their
>collections). *Boys' Life*, being the magazine of the Boy Scouts of
>America, is extremely common, as you might guess. However, nearby public
>and school libraries seem to hold issues only for about three to five years
>before purging their collections.
I suggest you pay a visit to the library of the nearest big university
that has a school of education.
Brenda W. Clough
>On Fri, 21 Feb 2003 19:24:28 -0600, Bill Higgins <hig...@fnal.gov>
>sent via passenger pigeon:
>
>>1. Find which nearby library has a collection of *Boys' Life* that stretches
>>back to the Sixties, or maybe Fifties.
>>
>
>>Step 1 turns out to be difficult. There are "union lists" of "serial
>>holdings" on paper and on the Web (translation from librarianese: lists that
>>tell you which magazines, for which years, other libraries have in their
>>collections). *Boys' Life*, being the magazine of the Boy Scouts of
>>America, is extremely common, as you might guess. However, nearby public
>>and school libraries seem to hold issues only for about three to five years
>>before purging their collections.
>>
>
>I suggest you pay a visit to the library of the nearest big university
>that has a school of education.
>
This sounds wearying. I would go to my nearest public library, and have
the research librarian look at her InterLibrary Loan database. She will
be able to tell you which library (including public, university, and
institutional libraries) has what you want, and whether you can borrow it.
Brenda
--
---------
Brenda W. Clough
Read my novella "May Be Some Time"
Complete at http://www.fictionwise.com
My web page is at http://www.sff.net/people/Brenda/
Bill Higgins
> Samuel Lubell wrote:
>
> >On Fri, 21 Feb 2003 19:24:28 -0600, Bill Higgins <hig...@fnal.gov>
> >sent via passenger pigeon:
> >
> >>1. Find which nearby library has a collection of *Boys' Life* that stretches
> >>back to the Sixties, or maybe Fifties.
> >>
> >
> >>Step 1 turns out to be difficult. There are "union lists" of "serial
> >>holdings" on paper and on the Web (translation from librarianese: lists that
> >>tell you which magazines, for which years, other libraries have in their
> >>collections). *Boys' Life*, being the magazine of the Boy Scouts of
> >>America, is extremely common, as you might guess. However, nearby public
> >>and school libraries seem to hold issues only for about three to five years
> >>before purging their collections.
> >>
> >
> >I suggest you pay a visit to the library of the nearest big university
> >that has a school of education.
Good tip; in fact, I have learned that Northern Illinois University, about
45 minutes from here in DeKalb, has *Boys' Life* on microfilm.
Not sure whether they have a school of education...
> This sounds wearying. I would go to my nearest public library, and have
> the research librarian look at her InterLibrary Loan database. She will
> be able to tell you which library (including public, university, and
> institutional libraries) has what you want, and whether you can borrow it.
First, as my initial post indicates, I already visited a library and
got a couple of librarians to sift through digital and paper resources.
Second, assuming somebody has what I want, isn't it unlikely to be available
by Interlibrary Loan? "Please send me a dozen random issues of *Boy's Life*
between 1959 and 1978..." The issues are likely to be bound, or on
microfilm, and the library (as I understand these things) will not be
inclined to make lots of issues unavailable to other patrons in order to
satisfy the request of one guy. Or so I inferred from my discussions with
my local librarians. Am I wrong?
So I believe that traveling to a place with a *BL* collection is my only
option.
--
Bill Higgins | "In his angst Daredevil asks himself the question
| 'Can one man make a difference?' And I think
Fermilab | the film answers inspirationally with a resounding
| 'Yes, one man with radioactive mutant super-powers
Internet: | can make a difference.'
| I think that is a message we all needed
hig...@fnal.gov | in these troubled times." --Mark R. Leeper
Kip Williams
> On Sun, 9 Mar 2003, Brenda W. Clough wrote:
>>This sounds wearying. I would go to my nearest public library, and have
>>the research librarian look at her InterLibrary Loan database. She will
>>be able to tell you which library (including public, university, and
>>institutional libraries) has what you want, and whether you can borrow it.
>
> First, as my initial post indicates, I already visited a library and
> got a couple of librarians to sift through digital and paper resources.
>
> Second, assuming somebody has what I want, isn't it unlikely to be available
> by Interlibrary Loan? "Please send me a dozen random issues of *Boy's Life*
> between 1959 and 1978..." The issues are likely to be bound, or on
> microfilm, and the library (as I understand these things) will not be
> inclined to make lots of issues unavailable to other patrons in order to
> satisfy the request of one guy. Or so I inferred from my discussions with
> my local librarians. Am I wrong?
As a former ILL person, we sent what people asked for, provided they
were members of our consortium. If it was a single article from a
periodical, we would send a photocopy. There are people whose job it
is to do all that.
(I take it by "random issues" you mean specific issues that you've
already determined using the reader's guide to periodical literature
or some such.)
> So I believe that traveling to a place with a *BL* collection is my only
> option.
Not necessarily so, though it could be quicker and more fun.
--
--Kip (Williams) ...at members.cox.net/kipw
"Why, what a splendid trifle, young man! You and your friends may
travel for free!" "Cor!" "Hooray for Tommy!" --Tommy and his Trifle
Bill Higgins
> Bill Higgins wrote:
> >
> > Second, assuming somebody has what I want, isn't it unlikely to be available
> > by Interlibrary Loan? "Please send me a dozen random issues of *Boy's Life*
> > between 1959 and 1978..." The issues are likely to be bound, or on
> > microfilm, and the library (as I understand these things) will not be
> > inclined to make lots of issues unavailable to other patrons in order to
> > satisfy the request of one guy. Or so I inferred from my discussions with
> > my local librarians. Am I wrong?
>
> As a former ILL person, we sent what people asked for, provided they
> were members of our consortium. If it was a single article from a
> periodical, we would send a photocopy. There are people whose job it
> is to do all that.
Ah. Thanks for the enlightenment.
I've obtained *books* by ILL (*The Life and Work of William Higgins* not
least among them) but I've never asked them for magazine stories.
I'm still left wondering whether requesting a barrage of Time Machine
stories would be abusing the ILL privilege.
> (I take it by "random issues" you mean specific issues that you've
> already determined using the reader's guide to periodical literature
> or some such.)
Correct.
[1] Wheeler, T.S. and Partington, J.R., *The Life and Work of
William Higgins, Chemist, 1763-1825*, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1960.
--
Bill Higgins | "Does anyone have figures for
Fermilab | the inductance of a pickle?"
Internet: | --Bernard Peek
hig...@fnal.gov | (b...@shrdlu.com)
Timothy McDaniel
Bill Higgins <hig...@fnal.gov> wrote:
>On Mon, 10 Mar 2003, Kip Williams wrote:
>> As a former ILL person, we sent what people asked for, provided
>> they were members of our consortium. If it was a single article
>> from a periodical, we would send a photocopy. There are people
>> whose job it is to do all that.
I once asked in Inter-Library Loan for a copy of Heinlein's speech to
the Naval Academy, published in Analog in the early 1970s (the reprint
in _Expanded Universe_, as best I recall, covered only the
"patriotism" half; I wanted the "how to write' half). I got a
photocopy back from ILL.
>I'm still left wondering whether requesting a barrage of Time Machine
>stories would be abusing the ILL privilege.
To judge by the Inter-Library Loan request form at the Austin (Texas)
Public Library, some libraries charge fees for ILL items. (On the
form, you indicate the range of fees you're willing to pay.) So they
can recoup their costs if they feel like it.
In any event, the library receiving your ILL requests is always able
to tell you "we won't do that much", after all.
--
Tim McDaniel, tm...@panix.com; tm...@us.ibm.com is my work address
Alan Winston - SSRL Admin Cmptg Mgr
>I've obtained *books* by ILL (*The Life and Work of William Higgins* not
>least among them) but I've never asked them for magazine stories.
>
>
>[1] Wheeler, T.S. and Partington, J.R., *The Life and Work of
>William Higgins, Chemist, 1763-1825*, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1960.
If you were only in the Bay Area, I would be recruiting you heavily for the
Regency Science Fair to be held on March 23d, if only to be able to introduce
you as Higgins and have you answer questions about his work, specifically the
part between 1811 and 1820.)
(http://www.sfregency.org for those playing along at home.)
-- Alan
===============================================================================
Alan Winston --- WIN...@SSRL.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU
Disclaimer: I speak only for myself, not SLAC or SSRL Phone: 650/926-3056
Paper mail to: SSRL -- SLAC BIN 99, 2575 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025
===============================================================================
Bill Higgins
> In article <Pine.SGI.4.31.0303101...@fsgi01.fnal.gov>, Bill Higgins <hig...@fnal.gov> writes:
>
> >I've obtained *books* by ILL (*The Life and Work of William Higgins* not
> >least among them) but I've never asked them for magazine stories.
>
> If you were only in the Bay Area, I would be recruiting you heavily for the
> Regency Science Fair to be held on March 23d, if only to be able to introduce
> you as Higgins and have you answer questions about his work, specifically the
> part between 1811 and 1820.)
>
> (http://www.sfregency.org for those playing along at home.)
Wow, this is unspeakably cool! Talk about your Time Machines...
I fear I would not measure up, as I am unable to improvise anything but the
worst of Irish accents. Nor do I have appropriate costume. My only real
qualification is bearing the same name as William Higgins. I could probably
learn some dances.
--
Bill Higgins | "...most top computer programmers over the age of 30
Fermi National | have developed an emulation program
Accelerator | that allows us to fake being normal human beings
Laboratory | most of the time. I've gotten mine tuned
| to the point where it only crashes
Internet: | once or twice a week."
hig...@fnal.gov | --Robert J. Woodhead <tre...@animeigo.com>
Cathy Doyle
Bill Higgins wrote:
>On Mon, 10 Mar 2003, Kip Williams wrote:
>
>
>
>>Bill Higgins wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Second, assuming somebody has what I want, isn't it unlikely to be available
>>>by Interlibrary Loan? "Please send me a dozen random issues of *Boy's Life*
>>>between 1959 and 1978..." The issues are likely to be bound, or on
>>>microfilm, and the library (as I understand these things) will not be
>>>inclined to make lots of issues unavailable to other patrons in order to
>>>satisfy the request of one guy. Or so I inferred from my discussions with
>>>my local librarians. Am I wrong?
>>>
>>>
>>As a former ILL person, we sent what people asked for, provided they
>>were members of our consortium. If it was a single article from a
>>periodical, we would send a photocopy. There are people whose job it
>>is to do all that.
>>
>>
>
>Ah. Thanks for the enlightenment.
>
>I've obtained *books* by ILL (*The Life and Work of William Higgins* not
>least among them) but I've never asked them for magazine stories.
>
>
>I'm still left wondering whether requesting a barrage of Time Machine
>stories would be abusing the ILL privilege.
>
>
>
>>(I take it by "random issues" you mean specific issues that you've
>>already determined using the reader's guide to periodical literature
>>or some such.)
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
You might have to be concerned if the issues were less than five years
old, but in this case
it wouldn't be a problem, especially if you know the issues you need.
There might be a cost
involved to copy the material (and this cost can go well beyond 10
cents a page, since we're
also paying for the staff to make the copies, postage, oh the list is
endless...) depending on the
library. It wouldn't be abusing the ILL privilege, that's what we're
here for. If you feel that it
is, don't do them all at once.
Cathy, who did ILL a lot longer than her beloved...