Were 20th Century Librarians Smarter Than Google? An Investigation.
A screenshot of Google.com
Long ago, before Google was humanity’s all-knowing sage of indispensable wisdom, people used to go to libraries. At these libraries, there were stacks upon stacks of books that anyone with a library membership card could open up and read. One could gloss the pages of seminal works of fiction, or learn about biomechanical engineering, if they felt so inclined. But, if someone felt stumped by a passage or got tired of the alphabetized rows of thickly-bound books, they could ask a friendly librarian a question, and they did so by writing it on a paper card.
It turns out that the New York Public Library, which opened in 1895, recently unearthed a forgotten trove of these library cards with questions written throughout the 20th century. Smartly, the NYPL has been posting them to their Instagram account using the hashtag #letmelibrarianthatforyou. The questions speak volumes about the trust placed on librarians nearly a century ago, and they pretty closely reflect how much present day humans trust Google.
But does Google in 2015 know the answers to these bizarre questions? An investigation ensues!
Question 1: “What does it mean when you dream you’re being chased by an elephant?”
Photo: NYPL’s Instagram
Does Google know?
Google is pretty close here, but not quite as perceptive as this question from 1947 needs it to be.
Question 2: “Why do so many 18th century English paintings have so many squirrels in them?”
Does Google know?
Squares? Really, Google? Sounds like you’re the only square around these parts. We can give Google the benefit of the doubt though, being that we forgot the word “English” in the search bar. Whoops!
Question 3 demands “the name of a book that dramatizes bedbugs.”
Does Google know?
Google you sly fox, you! You’ve done it again, and all you needed was nearly every damn word of the sentence!
Lastly, Question 4 wants to know “the significance of the poem ‘crossing the bar’ by Browning.”
Could Google possibly know?
We’re getting nowhere with this.
But if you don’t have time to ask Google random questions from the 20th century about obscure literature and bedbugs, all of the New York Public Library’s long-lost cards can be found on their Instagram page.
Follow Sam Blum on Twitter @Blumnessmonster
