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1. Ravenna
   Member

   Hi all.

   The library seems to have scattered to the four winds. Nobody quite knows who has what, or what there is to be had. Hence, the clawsmittee has decided it's bout time to catalogue the whole thing so that we can all get our grubby paws on the cool stuff. I need the following infos:

   1. If you possess part of the library (book, module, wargaming stuffs etc) email me and tell me exactly what you have (don't worry I won't make you give it back right away). And I know who to poke if no one owns up...

   2. If you know what should be in the library (even if you don't know where it is) email me the exact info.

   3. If you have something you want to PUT into the library (especially modules and LARPs!!!!!!!) email me and tell me all about it. The plan is to have a hard copy, online-available copy and CD copy of all modules and LARPs.

   Once I have a decent list I'll wiki it. Don't be shy, it's for your own good. We'll also try to run a request service, so if you really need a book and someone else has it, we'll prod nicely and see if we can get it.

   My email is annamalczyk at gmail dot com.

   Lastly, there was a suggestion that all CLAWslibrary books be put in the UCT main library in the Special Collections section. This would make them available to ALL UCT students (unlikely that non-CLAWs folks would use them) and it would make them easier to access and find for campus people, BUT it would make it a lot harder for non-campus people to get hold of them. Let me know what you think of this idea.

   That is all.

   Posted 17 years ago #

2. Shadowslight
   Member

   Greetings

   The majority of the CLAWs library is still sitting in one of my offices where I work. I know some stuff has been taken (like the bloodbowl stuff by Yanke), but all in all, it is still very much here.

   The office is very close to campus, and thus the location makes it very accessible to both students and non-students alike.

   Cheers

   Roo

   Posted 17 years ago #

3. DarkOutThere
   prolific poster

   I took most of the modules and LARPs at the beginning of last year, I think they are sitting with Chris somewhere in the deepths of his room.

   Posted 17 years ago #

4. SethsMatches
   Member

   "I think 'x' has them..." seems to be a recurring theme... crud.

   Posted 17 years ago #

5. Ravenna
   Member

   Thanks guys, received lots of good input on this. Good to know it's all in one place (mostly), so thanks Roo. :)

   I'll brave the depths of Chris's room sometime when I'm feeling a bit stronger and see if I come up with any goodies. ;P

   Posted 17 years ago #

6. kwill
   Member

   yo, 2c,

   Roo, how often are people borrowing from the CLAWlibrary currently, and how are we keeping track of borrowfications?

   I still think Special Collections is the best idea, since CLAWs doesn't have a dedicated librarian, and, well, they do

   at some point in the future I promise to help capture the contents of the library on http://www.librarything.com/ - for all the world to see, dontcherknow

   d@vid

   Posted 17 years ago #

7. Shadowslight
   Member

   Things are being borrow at about 1 item per year ;-)

   The process used to be: Tell Ian, Ian tells me, I give when you pick it up, as long as I have heard from Ian.

   But nothing has been taken in AGES, and I am not certain if Ian has an up-to-date list of who has what.

   You are welcome to come and relocate the library, if you so desire.

   Cheers

   Roo

   Posted 17 years ago #

8. StormMaker
   Member

   Crud on a greenie, 1 item a year, the old CLAW member in me weeps, the library used to be a bloody altar onwhich members sprawled.

   Moving in on campus is a great idea, however, what of the photocopied stuff in the library (in terms of photo copy issues)?

   Also I think the value of the library is providing a wide range of different systems for members to look at before going out to buy the books for themselves (not that we would photocopy them; no we respect the livelyhood of RPG companies too much)

   But what of raising funds to have the stuff scanned and made into PDF's so that the library; or certainly core rule books; goes cyber.

   Hech a call to the working CLAWS alums may be all it takes...

   Posted 17 years ago #

9. gnome
   Administrator

   The idea of a digital version of the library has been kicking about for a while. But producing the docs ourselves is not an option.

   It's feasible to download PDFs from IRC or whereever. Having PDFs of books we already own is a legal grey area - but I think as long as access is restricted to CLAWmembers it's acceptable.

   For ancient tomes that we're unlikely to find online, well, I guess we have no choice - a PDF of non-OCRed scans is better than nothing.

   We were looking not so long ago* for a light-weight web-based document management system, with basic access-control and tagged (rather than hierarchical) sorting but didn't find one.

   *a March 2006 thread on CLAWnet list: http://claws.uct.ac.za/TheTome/CLAWnet

   Posted 17 years ago #

10. DarkOutThere
    prolific poster

    A far as I could tell (during the brief time that I braved the lib) it was in quite a mess, most of the modules that were down there were missing pages, or just going yellow from ages. It's going to be a huge task to sort it out. most of the other stuff that I didnt take with me was really only ADND books, old posters and scoring sheets, I might be wrong here, I didn't look too closely.

    Posted 17 years ago #

11. confluence
    Administrator

    I went through it at some point -- probably during one of the cataloguing efforts -- and there is some cool stuff there besides D&D (although of course all of it is quite old). There was an original fantasy / sf setting which looked interesting. Unfortunately I don't remember what it was called. (It maaaaay be Skyrealms of Jorune; I can't remember enough of the details.)

    The AD&D stuff may be useless system-wise, but is still usable as a setting resource, for anyone into a bit of classic cheese (or a creative reinterpretation thereof). I believe we almost had a shared-world Dark Sun campaign at some point.

    This question has probably been answered before, but: do we have any partial lists of what is actually there? If so, why don't we just put them on the wiki as a start? Later we could add descriptions, reviews, etc., but at least people can look the books up on the internet for more information if they know what they're called. This is the simplest first step.

    We can talk back and forth about whether there's anything of interest in the library, but we won't actually know unless we give people an opportunity to look and see and possibly become interested. If enough people become interested, maybe they will care enough to find a more convenient storage arrangement. Until then, there's no practical difference between the library being packed into boxes at Roo's office and it being anywhere else.

    Posted 17 years ago #

12. gnome
    Administrator

    Ah, yes.
    Should have mentioned that I already sent the library list compiled from the Great Gnarliburr Purge of 2001 to Ravenna when she started the thread.

    See http://claws.uct.ac.za/TheTome/LibraryCatalogue2001

    Posted 17 years ago #

13. confluence
    Administrator

    I've added currently skeletal pages linking to reviews of / articles about Lords of Creation and Skyrealms of Jorune.

    Posted 17 years ago #

14. Yancke
    Member

    The Bloodbowl stuff was virtually unuseable. The reason i investigated the Claws set was to have a second board to have multiple games running at the same time.
    I ended organizing with Tim and and he printed another board out. The bloodbowl Claws had was ancient, with missing bits. They rules had changed so much the board wasnt even the same shape.
    It's still in my cupboard collecting dust so id be well pleased if i can get rid of it.

    I was also charged by with the safe keeping of a couple of boxes of 2000AD. Im not sure if the are Claws's or not.
    These were the ones Jason could no longer take care off. Adam (the one in Isreal) should recall since he helped me carry them down to my car. I remember having to swear on his unborn children that id take care of them.
    Speak to Jason and find out whose they are, if they are indeed Claws's property. (Cupboard space is a pain.)

    NOTE HOWEVER: These are pretty much Irreplacable, So id better be convinced they will be cared for. They arent going into some flat and be walked on. They are nice and safe where they are, till they find a secure lock up. End. Of. Discussion. I saw what happened to a lot of the library, what is left in roo's office is a shadow of what it used to be. (Clearly not blaming roo, was that way when he got it.)

    Posted 16 years ago #

15. Yancke
    Member

    "A far as I could tell (during the brief time that I braved the lib) it was in quite a mess'

    Yes it was. Chaotic. Seemed to be hurriedly packed.

    Posted 16 years ago #

16. Yancke
    Member

    I remeber Lots of original rpg's books n shit. Cant recall seeing all that many at Roo's. Granted a whhhillle has gone by since the bloodbowl.

    Posted 16 years ago #

17. confluence
    Administrator

    I recall those particular 2000ADs (I read them while Jason had them at Firleigh). I'm pretty sure they're not CLAWs' 2000ADs; as far as I know they were someone's private collection, and that person went overseas. I don't think it was anyone we knew.

    Posted 16 years ago #

18. Ravenna
    Member

    UPDATE
    UCT is considering offering some societies offices again, and the SRC is fighting for it. Now, this won't be happening any time soon, but maybe next year we'll have somewhere safe and accessible to store all our stuff. No promises (of course) but I'm fighting for our right to decent space! ;)

    Posted 16 years ago #

19. confluence
    Administrator

    That would be really cool. I'll believe it when I see it, though. :/

    Posted 16 years ago #

20. hodgestar
    Administrator

    A new room would be awesome. Good luck tangling with the bureaucracy.

    Posted 16 years ago #

21. gnome
    Administrator

    It would be awesome just to have the library back on campus and accessible to CLAWmembers.

    I suspect there will be quite a bunch of societies fighting for offices, but mainly the political and religious groups (the swollen-with-self-importance types). Over the years many societies became quite jealous of the CLAWroom too. I wonder if the current SRC even remember the CLAWroom?

    Maybe have someone run for next year's SRC. The candidate doesn't even need to be able to spell...

    Posted 16 years ago #

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