29 Sep
2024
29 Sep
'24
4:05 p.m.
I wonder what happened to the amazing library at
Murray Hill.
Last I knew, the Bell Labs archives were intact under supervision of a
professional archivist. Formally speaking, the archives and the library
were distinct entities. The library, which was open to self service 24
hours a day, declined rapidly after the bean counters decreed that it
should henceforth support itself on rental fees. Departments immediately
turned to buying books rather than borrowing them. It's very likely that
this was bad for the Labs' bottom line, but the cost (both monetary and
intellectual) was not visible as a budgetary line item.
The 24-hour library contributed to one of Ken's programming feats. Spurred
by a lunchtime remark that it would be nice to have a unit-conversion
program, Ken announced units(1) the next morning. Right from the start, the
program knew more than 200 units, thanks to a book Ken grabbed from the
library in the middle of the night.
Doug