Mystery of the Microfiche Unveiled

Did you know that microfilm + microfiche = microforms?

For YEARS I would walk by the microform room at the basement of the library, wondering what kinda fun stuff people were up to in there.

Don't really know why it intrigued me, but it did.

Perhaps it was the dimmed lights or the taste of stale air. Who the heck knows. What was certain though, was that this place had an 'intellectual-ly' feel to it. It was like a light at the end of the tunnel that's drawing you in.

So anyways, on Sunday for the first time ever, I went in to do some research for my paper on Tibet. It was so much fun! I knew there was something magical in that room! I KNEW it!

Turned out that you could read newspaper articles from a lifetime ago. Right there, history was unveiling right befor your very eyes. In this case, my eyes. Imagine what exciting times those were. The world wars, imperialism, all the negotiations between the super powers - talking like they owned the world. Which they did I guess. It all sounded so grand.

They talked funny back then too. Connection was spelled connexion. Or something like that.

For my topic, resources were mostly found on microfilm of The New York Times and The London Times. Spent way too much time in there looking at advertisements for clothes and household stuff from the 1950s. If only time travel was possible...

Those reader machines...so much fun! If you make it go really quick, you'd almost instantly feel a headache coming on. You can make it go forward, backward, upside down, diagonal, bigger, smaller, focus, anything! Towards the end when you're rewinding the reel and going too quick , there's the sound of film spinning loose - flip,flip,flip. Never done THAT before. Some people go to disneyland to feel like a kid again, for me the microform room did the trick. Wish they'd have fun stuff like this in high school. Would have made it a hell of a lot more interesting, that's for sure.

Also, there were many references to Malaya at that point in history. Perhaps when time becomes available, I'd actually go sit in there and learn about my country - the right way. Not sitting in some stupid classroom with some stupid teacher who did not care whether you learned it or not. Seriously, the history teachers during my high school days were crap. They themselves did not know much, and again did not care.

In the right hands, history lessons can be nothing short of enchanting. With stories of real people, real places and real events. It would be fascinating to meet with some of the great leaders of the past. Apparently Hitler was really something. Fooled many people into thinking he was nice and trustworthy!

Wonder what people in the future will remember us by.