Librarian: Source of Knowledge

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

The librarian can stock titles into the database for people to remotely check out, maybe. The library can be turned into more of a chill common area, the same dim atmosphere, maybe more chairs and tables. Still has a bookshelf or two for things like manuals and hiding the mutiny authentication disc in a hollowed out book bibles?

I don't want to make an already under-appreciated job totally derelict, is the issue.

 

If we actually took all of the job guides out of the departments and consolidated them into the library then the librarian might see some traffic. Anything actually useful in book form is just... Readily available.

The librarian should be a source of knowledge and instructions since he's a huge-ass nerd that sits around reading all day. Letting them have knowledge from reading and tell someone else how to do a job would make them a form of all-department consultant. They'd be able to read a wiki-page in book form while someone else does their instructions.

It'd be like letting someone powergame a little-bit but it would involve interaction and dialogue. This, hopefully, leads to a situation where the result is worth the bending of the literal meaning of the rules.

So this suggestion is, at its essence:

1) Remove all books and put them in the library. All of them.

2) Let the librarian open a book on, for example, supermatter engine set-up, and give someone step-by-step instructions on how to set up the suppermatter. Same for surgery. This does NOT let the librarian do the job himself - reading instructions for someone is different from actually doing it. Unless the librarian is a Skrell, then they can do anything.

The librarian can be our one-stop-shop for technical knowledge or information.

[Guest]

I once had the idea of replacing the Library with a 'NanoTrasen Archive' and replacing the Librarian with an 'Archivist' . Then removing the record consoles from every department, leaving only Heads with their respective records consoles, and giving them all to this new Archivist, then Security/Medical would have to rely on their Huds, and for the sake of paperwork, head to the Archive (Public Records Office?) and request a hard copy of the records. Or perhaps just stopping the ability of the records consoles from printing records (where the fuck does the computer even get the paper from?) and having to rely on the Archivist printing out the records. This would allow Sec/Medical to still access/alter records, but they'd need to get hard copies from the Archivist.

[Guest]

The librarian can stock titles into the database for people to remotely check out, maybe. The library can be turned into more of a chill common area, the same dim atmosphere, maybe more chairs and tables. Still has a bookshelf or two for things like manuals and hiding the mutiny authentication disc in a hollowed out book bibles?

I don't want to make an already under-appreciated job totally derelict, is the issue.

 

If we actually took all of the job guides out of the departments and consolidated them into the library then the librarian might see some traffic. Anything actually useful in book form is just... Readily available.

The librarian should be a source of knowledge and instructions since he's a huge-ass nerd that sits around reading all day. Letting them have knowledge from reading and tell someone else how to do a job would make them a form of all-department consultant. They'd be able to read a wiki-page in book form while someone else does their instructions.

It'd be like letting someone powergame a little-bit but it would involve interaction and dialogue. This, hopefully, leads to a situation where the result is worth the bending of the literal meaning of the rules.

So this suggestion is, at its essence:

1) Remove all books and put them in the library. All of them.

2) Let the librarian open a book on, for example, supermatter engine set-up, and give someone step-by-step instructions on how to set up the suppermatter. Same for surgery. This does NOT let the librarian do the job himself - reading instructions for someone is different from actually doing it. Unless the librarian is a Skrell, then they can do anything.

The librarian can be our one-stop-shop for technical knowledge or information.

 

yet like every other fluff role in the game, playing librarian is still an option and most other people will look up a wiki page instead for OOC knowledge so they can reliably use it in IC.

anything that doesn't involve manual labor is usually an RP or fluff role.

 

The librarian should be a source of knowledge and instructions since he's a huge-ass nerd that sits around reading all day.

 

no, dummy. the library is the repository of knowledge, not the person who manages it and keeps it neat.

 

It'd be like letting someone powergame a little-bit but it would involve interaction and dialogue. This, hopefully, leads to a situation where the result is worth the bending of the literal meaning of the rules.

 

Could've left this part out and the suggestion would sound less like as if you want the librarian to be the ultimate, only valid metagamer on the station.

 

1) Remove all books and put them in the library. All of them.

 

Why? That's dumb. Why do reference manuals that belong to a specific department need to be removed from their convenient locations to teach new people to their roles, and moved to the other side of the station?

 

2) Let the librarian open a book on, for example, supermatter engine set-up, and give someone step-by-step instructions on how to set up the suppermatter. Same for surgery. This does NOT let the librarian do the job himself - reading instructions for someone is different from actually doing it. Unless the librarian is a Skrell, then they can do anything.

 

This just in: every single spaceman is illiterate and cannot read books, with the exception of the librarian, therefore the engineers must waste valuable time as the SM is slowly destabilizing just so they can sit and be lectured for 20 minutes on how to set up the supermatter instead of just snagging the book and reading instructions on what to do during the SM delamination sequence, and going about their job from there.

 

The librarian can be our one-stop-shop for technical knowledge or information.

 

Nah, it's a pointless idea when the books themselves serve that purpose better than the person holding the RP fluff job.

The purpose of the librarian is the following:

1) To stock the library with reading/reference material

2) To ensure books belonging to the library do not leave the library without the book being checked out first

3) Keep the library tidy and organized

4) Be the guy who is the roundstart cultist powergaming all the words for cult tomes

5) Be the guy making armies of juggernaughts for the sake of hilarity

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Delta.

[K0NFL1QT]

I think we talked about this in the Holobooks thread. But yeah, if it needs to be said again here, I'm down for this.

[Guest]

Delta.

 

Hey idk what's up with you right now, but I had pretty much assumed that you take your job as loremaster pretty seriously. I don't see what's so unreasonable about me plain up and saying, "hey your suggestion is dumb because it doesn't make any sense and it makes things intentionally much more inconvenient for no reason". The least you could do is not be a hypocrite and actually respond to legitimate criticism, instead of just crap-posting with a macro you've held onto since 2014.

[K0NFL1QT]

>serious loremaster

>Tajaran City of P'urr

>Ten Skrellian islands called Tacles

>Rimjob Union

ok

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

Delta.

 

Hey idk what's up with you right now, but I had pretty much assumed that you take your job as loremaster pretty seriously. I don't see what's so unreasonable about me plain up and saying, "hey your suggestion is dumb because it doesn't make any sense and it makes things intentionally much more inconvenient for no reason". The least you could do is not be a hypocrite and actually respond to legitimate criticism, instead of just crap-posting with a macro you've held onto since 2014.

 

1) You sound like scopes. My job as a loremaster has literally nothing to do with a gameplay suggestion on game mechanics for a job on the station. I can meme as much as I want in my own threads when I don't represent the lore.

2) I made this macro. This is OC.

3) Memes are not allowed in the lore anyway I don't stand for it.

 

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I'm not saying everyone has to be the librarian's little bitch and beg him to release textbooks on how to set up the engine or something dumb. Consolidating all of the schematics and textbooks in the library won't cause the SM to go nova every 5 minutes because the engineers are screaming and running around blind. One of the main reasons to read a book, for IC ways to gain wiki-knowledge, is just readily available everywhere. The only thing people go to the library for that you literally confessed in your own argument is to research cult runes and play DnD.

The librarian being a centralized source of IC knowledge would give people a reason to cooperate with the poor, ignored librarian.

"Yes, I have a book on setting up the SM right here!"

"Why yes, crew member and/or sec, I have books on corporate regulations right here!"

"Why yes, doctor, I have books on how to do brain surgery right here!"

"Hey engineering apprentice I notice we have no engineers and power is failing wanna check out this book on proper solar-wiring techniques?"

Meanwhile the librarian is creaming his pants because people are coming to him and using his previously shitty little pointless department.

Like I said in the OP I am a firm believer that we can/should bend pretty much any rule if it allows interaction and participation among the server and doesn't have ill-intentions behind it.

In addition, having all of the books have the innate status as 'being from the library' also makes it a lot easier to know when someone stole from the library. These books can all spawn in the bookshelves if we decide to make it laughably easy to steal from the library, but everyone immediately knows that if you're running around with a book and there's no librarian that you're stealing it.

[UnknownMurder]

While it does sound as it is a good idea HOWVER it proves to be useless while I must agree with Delta on this. Mrs. Jackboot, you're downplaying on Delta.

The point of Delta's message: We already have a Wiki Site, even if you take our books away... Even if you close down the wiki. We'll just look it up online on Bay Wiki.

This proving this suggestion to bring nothing but disappointment to a crew member when it needs a direction NOW. I'd like not the books to be taken away as it is fine being there for the new players with no guidance. Also, take this scenario: why would a professional head to the Library for brain surgery when someone needs a brain surgery STAT. They've been trained to do this. Library is pretty useless and a place for antags to do bad things.

[Guest Marlon Phoenix]

While it does sound as it is a good idea HOWVER it proves to be useless while I must agree with Delta on this. Mrs. Jackboot, you're downplaying on Delta.

The point of Delta's message: We already have a Wiki Site, even if you take our books away... Even if you close down the wiki. We'll just look it up online on Bay Wiki.

This proving this suggestion to bring nothing but disappointment to a crew member when it needs a direction NOW. I'd like not the books to be taken away as it is fine being there for the new players with no guidance. Also, take this scenario: why would a professional head to the Library for brain surgery when someone needs a brain surgery STAT. They've been trained to do this. Library is pretty useless and a place for antags to do bad things.

 

Then there is only one solution.

Build a wall around Baywiki and make baystation pay for it! Make Aurora great again!

But no, if someone wants to use OOC wiki knowledge that's well and good. This gives an additional option to acquire the knowledge in an IC way. If a brain surgeon wants to know the steps to brain surgery right now they can pull the wiki up at any time. The possible benefits to librarian integration into the station as a whole would surpass the minor drawback of inconveniencing people.

If this is integrated into further plans around the library database and functionality of books then I believe the library will become just as valuable as a chef or bartender.

[XdwbX]

As my librarians are among my favorite characters, I support Mr. Boots' idea to make the library the source of all books.

 

• I rarely, if at all, see anyone use the IC guides.
  
• Why would a place like the station, where people are understood to be trained in the occupation they are in, have guides on how to do the job that you have to have in order to access the books? "You're an engineer. Now, go learn how to engineer."
  
• A reference that is needed in a hurry would likely be found faster on the wiki, or by radioing the librarian, than the time to find the book and comb through it for the info. (This could also backfire if the librarian is unclear on what info is needed or has to comb through the book themself.)
  
• Make a check-out system that requires an ID swap before a book can be taken from the shelf? This way, if there is no librarian, books can still be checked out and tracked. If there is a librarian, people won't feel forced to interact with them if they really just want the info and to move on to the next project/assignment.
  
• This could work well with non-violent inmate release. They can earn time off by filling in for a missing librarian or by delivering/returning books.

 

no, dummy. the library is the repository of knowledge, not the person who manages it and keeps it neat.

 

I do not believe that he implied the librarian would know the information but would know where to find it. Also, as such a repository, wouldn't it make sense for people to go there for knowledge?

 

Library is pretty useless and a place for antags to do bad things.

 

I think it's about time this was not true. If we make the library a place where people want/need to be at some point, it's less likely to become a den of thieves.