Notes from Slavic Quick Cataloging, Pt. 18

Today’s discussion topic among the media librarians: one of them has got a video of a modern dance production done at Stanford, which is choreographed to represent protein synthesis, and how exactly do you put the right subject headings on such an item, to indicate that it is more than modern dance, and more than a normal visual representation of a biology lecture… They put it up on one of the screens, so I got to see part. The film starts with a fellow in a suit and a tie, washed out colors from 1971. He’s got his chalkboard all set up with a diagram, and as he points out each player in the process of protein synthesis, they flash to a still of the dancers who will represent it. You don’t have to wait for the media librarians to figure out how to label it, it’s already on the internet. Overall, it reminds me of the cellular respiration ninjas.

Back in the Slavic domain, I have “Designers of Novosibirsk (they were first)” by Iu. Shepel’. First though they may have been, they were not assigned an ISBN number, and have no copy.

Also had a book cover with Braille imprinted on it, with the title. The book itself is not printed in Braille, so why did they include it on the cover? Did someone think it would make the book stand out design-wise (yes, at least if you pick it up), or is it just mean-spirited? Imagine the blind man, picking up the book. He is intrigued by the title, and flips it open, and… damn.

(“I wonder,” says one of the media catalogers, “if it should be performance art, instead of modern dance.”)