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Post by Gray Librarian on May 5, 2015 2:49:02 GMT
Contrary to popular misconception, the Library does not actually contain all possible books. We have an unlimited capacity, and our goal is to stock all books ever written, but this is necessarily a work in progress.
Generally speaking, books do not automatically enter the Library upon being written or published. Although we try to have wings and branches in as many locations as possible, the majority of worlds are infinitesimal in the L spatial dimension, and so the majority of the collection must be obtained manually.
Visitors are always welcome. We are a reference (non-lending) library. We do stock newspapers, periodicals, multimedia, and other non-book materials. We do maintain a card catalog. The computer catalog is a volunteer effort, not officially supported, and currently incomplete.
Infohazards, cognitohazards, basilisks, and other such items are generally labeled appropriately, though our precautions may not apply to all psychological architectures. Please consult a xenopsychologist before accessing materials produced outside your baramin or psyclade.
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Hadassah
Regular
Posts: 107
World: Pantheon
Pronoun: She/Her
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Post by Hadassah on May 5, 2015 19:01:25 GMT
Do you have a process for applying for access to the Library, and, if so, is there some way to query for a particular set of information? I do not want to inconvenience a sentient librarian with a large number of questions that may waste their time on my behalf.
Currently, I am looking for studies, guides, or material that will help me identify signs of stable, long-term interuniversal portals? For the most part, our universe has tenuous, temporary connections to other universes, or simple lines of communication, a la this forum. At least as far as I know, which explains why I am seeking this information.
I am already well versed in our local Mordenchaiden's ritual work in pocket subset universes, and Seer Antony's travelogue of dimensional sliders has been interesting but not relevant or factual enough for my search.
I am mostly concerned with artificially created portals, rather than natural gateways, but I believe I am looking for something my world doesn't have a reference for since we only recently learned that large-scale interuniversal transfers were possible.
Feel free to PM me if the answer is more complicated than can be answered here.
Thank you very much for your assistance.
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Post by Leaf on May 5, 2015 23:17:47 GMT
Baramin? Psyclade?
Infinitesimal in the L spatial dimension?
This post would be fascinating if only I understood it...
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Post by Gray Librarian on May 6, 2015 0:37:13 GMT
If a wing or branch of the Library exists in your world, then the only requirement for access is that you arrive there. If the Library possesses information regarding the identification or creation of stable, long-term interuniversal travel to and from your world, then it is likely that that information either has been used to establish a wing or branch of the Library in your world, or soon will be used to do so.
If I considered queries for information to be inconveniences, then I would not be a librarian. However, I encourage you to visit the Library in person if possible, because any indirect communication channel such as this forum may in principle be compromised.
A baramin, or "created kind", is an ontologically basic category of life. Creatures from different baramins do not share common ancestry and, if interfertile, usually do not produce hybrids.
The word "psyclade" is a contraction from "psychological clade". Creatures from different psyclades have significantly different psychological architectures.
It is often the case that a world possesses one or more spatial dimensions that are subject to elliptic geometry with a small circumference, in which case that dimension may be either largely irrelevant or nontrivial to detect. L-space is a spatial dimension into which libraries extend and through which libraries are often contiguous with each other.
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Post by Leaf on May 6, 2015 0:39:17 GMT
I am very curious about L-space.
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Post by Gray Librarian on May 6, 2015 1:52:08 GMT
In worlds that support L-space, dense collections of information such as libraries cause spatial distortions, broadly analogous to the spatial distortions caused by dense collections of mass in worlds that support relativistic phenomena. These distortions cause such collections of information to become physically contiguous despite being otherwise separated in space and/or time. The result is that, in worlds that support L-space, one may in principle travel through a library, bookstore, or similar to any other library, bookstore, or similar in a world that supports L-space. The Library makes use of this phenomenon to establish wings in worlds that support L-space. In worlds that do not support L-space, we instead establish branches.
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Post by Leaf on May 6, 2015 1:57:22 GMT
Fascinating.
Does L-space tend to be a widely understood phenomenon in worlds that support it, or should I be doing experiments to find out if my world is secretly one such? How dense a collection of information do you need?
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Post by Gray Librarian on May 6, 2015 2:33:52 GMT
L-space is usually understood by librarians in worlds that support it. The density threshold may vary according to local conditions, but 5×1010 words of accurate information within 20000 cubic meters should be sufficient. Unsubstantiated but pervasive rumor holds that the phenomenon is more likely to manifest if the information is in print format and accessible without extraneous assistive devices, the collection is laid out in such a way that it is not the case that every part of the collection is visible from every other part of the collection, and one refrains from speaking loudly or causing other loud noises.
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Post by Leaf on May 6, 2015 2:40:17 GMT
That's... a little eccentric.
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Post by Andrew on May 6, 2015 4:49:35 GMT
I want L-space to be supported by my world. I expect I would know if it were, though. Just in case, when I’m next at the local library, is there anything I can ask an experienced librarian to see? I assume just asking if they’ve heard of “L-space” would be insufficient, because they might call it something else here.
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Post by Gray Librarian on May 6, 2015 5:16:01 GMT
The librarians may not necessarily choose to share what they know with you. However, I would suggest briefly describing the nature of the phenomenon. For example, you might ask whether the library sometimes connects to other libraries in a manner not predicted by common understanding. You might also ask about L-space by name, since it is possible that the librarians might call it that, and asking seems unlikely to be significantly counterproductive.
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Hadassah
Regular
Posts: 107
World: Pantheon
Pronoun: She/Her
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Post by Hadassah on May 6, 2015 9:27:57 GMT
Thank you for your assistance. I believe my issue may reside in locating the nearest branch.
Reassuringly, it looks like many of the universe's secrets will not be easily disclosed to the populous via a convenient Library, as the closest thing I found to the nearest annex is a small shop that appears to consider themselves a competing branch to the Library of Babel, but most of their material is subtly coded marketing material for what amounts to a guild of the local multiversal merchant deities.
I will continue to seek out for when an Annex can open nearby. Thank you again!
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Post by Andrew on May 6, 2015 14:05:10 GMT
I’ll ask today.
I won’t be very available on this forum during the operating hours of the Seattle Public Library most weekdays for the next several weeks. It is currently Wednesday, May 3, 1995; weekdays are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday; there are two other days, Saturday and Sunday. This cycle repeats, in that order, every seven days.
I have note experienced the time dilation others have mentioned.
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Post by Gray Librarian on May 6, 2015 14:14:31 GMT
Hadassah, thank you for bringing to my attention the presence of a schismatic library in your world. I will recommend to my superiors that expansion to your world be prioritized in order to extinguish the presence of the apostasy in your world as quickly and decisively as possible.
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Post by Leaf on May 6, 2015 14:16:10 GMT
Apostasy? Isn't that a little extreme?
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