e_jo_m: Scholar with long blonde hair writing, possibly taking notes. Commonly interpreted to be a real or ideal secretary or student of Saint Augustine, painted by Raphael Sanzio in fresco opposite 'School of Athens' in the Stanza della Segnatura at the Vatican, commonly referred to as 'Disputa'. (Default)
Sometimes when I uncover some obscure fact, I want to ensure that other persons can find it without having to go through the tedious research I had to undergo. But that's a matter of degree, innit?

Some levels of accessibility of a given proven fact (to a random American), in approximately descending order:

 –  Takes seven seconds of Googling.

 –  On the Wikipedia page.

 –  In every book on the subject, incredibly basic part of the field.

 –  Most undergrads in the field can tell you.

 –  Most everyone who works in the field can tell you.

 –  Most everyone who works in the field can figure it out in short order, because either one of their colleagues knows it or it's in one of the well-known and respected books.

 –  You have to spend a day at the library, plus another day once the book you've requested from the Harvard Depository arrives.

 –  You have to check the indices of all 72 books on the subject at the Library of Congress.

 –  You have to check the indices of all 1137 books on the subject, and the one you need is at some random university library thirteen hundred miles away.

 –  It's randomly buried in an obscure book on the subject, and not indexed in any way.

 –  It's randomly buried in some random book in the university stacks.

 –  It's randomly buried in some random book somewhere.

 –  Not extant.



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