Friday, April 24, 2009

Steampunk & Libraries

Steampunk in Libraries: Events and Librarian Musings

The Steampunk Librarian: http://steampunklib.vox.com/

Steampunk Librarian: All Hail Verne & Tesla

Neo-Victorians of the world, unite

Description: a spooky librarian who loves the Victorian era, futuristic technology, and much, much more.

New York Public Library Talks Steampunk:

http://www.nypl.org/blogs/subject/steampunk

Steampunk and A Legend Passes

Posted June 3rd, 2008 by Paula Baxter, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Art & Architecture

Steampunk @ The Groton Public Library, Groton, CT http://steampunkworkshop.com/steampunk-groton-public-library

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Scope a.k.a The Parts Inside

Scope:

How I can help you now and in future searches

This pathfinder was created for students and/or library patrons who need a general place to begin in their search for information on the sub genre Steampunk. Because of the complexity and obscurity of this somewhat new sub-culture searching is difficult. Often teens get wind of the movement or read a title that grabs them, but then they are left confused. When they reach out to librarians and booksellers they are often a step beyond them. Librarians are unsure of how to best direct patrons in this field and end up doing a general search and only turning up a few common anthologies tagged with "Steampunk" because it is in the title.

Notes about search terms (words):

The word "Steampunk” was not invented until 1987.
When searching the ERIC thesaurus no such word can be pulled up.
When searching the Library of Congress only two titles can be brought up. Now we can whine over our being excluded or we can done our steampunk googles and search OUR way. Fantasy fiction is an alternative search term for sites like these but as you can imagine it isn't very discriminating.

This pathfinder is designed to help you beat the system and introduce you to a variety of materials that deal with the Steampunk sub-genre in a more complex then is currently available to libraries. Though more complex in nature then a simple OPAC library search I tried to keep it simply a beginning point. Trust me I had to beat the system just to create this pathfinder!

This pathfinder covers not only literature. Steampunk has never been solely about reading. It crosses boundaries into a frenzy of art, fashion, decoration, music, lifestyle, technology, crafts, inventions and history. You'll find a little piece of it all here.

How to Search this Site

Searching the Blog: In the top left corner of the blog is a search bar. Type in whatever you want and if it is on here it will pull it up.
Labels: Labels are the tagging system Blogger uses. I have tagged my blog entries with the most prominent subjects. ex.: fashion, click on it and it will bring up any blogs with fashion (aka. costumes clothing etc.)
There is lot of great information on Wikipedia. Often you will get redirected through links. The purpose of links is so you can know where information is coming from & therefore can judge its relevancy and accruancy
Finally, I did not compile the book lists, create external sites, nor endorse or condemn any information. My job here is to give you a treasure map and let you be the judge!

The best place to start is the Steampunk on the Web.

Happy Hunting!

FAQs:

What is a pathfinder?

A pathfinder is quite literally a path for you to find the information you need in any particular subject. In our case, it's the Steampunk movement.

Why use a pathfinder?

This pathfinder is designed for the teen or adult as well as for librarians to use at either home or the library. Therefore, as a beginning point, the bonus of a blog as the medium enables the user to revisit it from home. Certainly the industrious nature of the steam-powered engine in the 19th Century can serve as a subtle metaphor for this pathfinder & technology as a whole. While really great now, eventually it will be useless when something better comes along. At that point we can look to it for aesthetics.

Is everything about Steampunk in art on this pathfinder?

Unfortunately no. Pathfinders are generally a place to begin. You will find many great resources to get you started and hopefully give you a lot to go on. If you have any questions you should always contact your local librarian, museum, or professor for more information.

The Escape Artist

Steamy Sounds: A Steampunk Playlist

All Steamed Up & Nowhere to Go? Pink Parasol Paper Doll at Deviant Art!

Tag: You're It! Looking for something particular? Check labels for where to look within blog!

Affinity Bridge By George Mann

The UnLibrarian YA Book Blog

About Me

Clockwork Heart (Paperback)

Leviathan, By Scott Westerfeld, Coming in Fall 2009

Electric Links

Pathfinder: The Steampunk Movement

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