The Castlegar Sun Wednesday, May 31, 1995 Page 10B Library getting ready for cyberspace Wednesday, May 31, 1995 DESPITE SNIPING The Castlegar Sun RNABC president credits Page 11B ., Selkirk; ‘SUN STAFF PHOTO / Ron Norman Helping bring the library into the computer age is secretary Chery! Babakaiff. Babakaiff is transferring patron information onto bar codes which will be used on the new library cards when the library completes its automation drive. RON NORMAN Sun Editor The Castlegar and District Public Library takes a giant step closer to cyberspace this week- end with the kickoff of its “Con- vert a Book” campaign. The library hopes the cam- paign will raise some $90,000, which will be used to complete the library's computer automa- tion project. Judy Wearmouth “We have been trying to raise funds for automation for over a year,” explains head librarian The library has already raised $35,000, thanks to generous donations from the Castlegar Legion ($10,000) and a B.C. 21 grant (another $10,000). Individual patrons have con- tributed $4,700 and the Koerner Foundation has chipped in $1,000. The rest of the money has come from book fines and the library's budget. But the library needs a total of $125,000 in order to become fully computerized. This is where the “Convert a Book” campaign comes in. Patrons will be asked to con- tribute towards the electronic conversion of the library's col- lection. Wearmouth estimates it will cost the library $1.50 to con- vert each of its 45,000 books, periodicals, audiotapes and videotapes to computer. That includes creating bar codes for each book and then entering the codes in the library's records, Wearmouth says the library has already converted about 13,000 books, but still has another 30,000 to go. The automation also includes transferring library cards to. a Pp ized format gain using bar codes. Secretary Chery! i has managed to , transfer 1,000 cards to, ne bar- code format. But Wearmouth Says it is a slow and ti ig pro- new computerized system will give patrons much better access to the library's collection. Once patrons have their books, they will go to the check-out area and simply present their card with its bar code. The informa- tion from the code will be entered into the computer by a “wand”. “Check-in and check-out will be much faster,” says Wear- ‘mouth, but cautions that patrons will have to present their cards when checkin, ig Out books. , the library offers to “We're taking time away from regular duties,” she explains, “We're trying not to stint on services to the patrons, but we're cutting down on other work we do.” How will the new - look up the ‘membership numbers of patrons who have left their cards at home. While Internet services will not be provided right away, Wearmouth that in time the library will have access to the ized library work? Wearmouth says the old card catalogues will be a thing of the past. Instead, patrons will go to a computer terminal to get the information they need. “It’s a very user-friendly pro- gram,” she adds, “If they only know one word of the title they can bring up all the titles with that word in it.” But for those who are wary of computers, there will be staff on hand to help. “There will be instructions on the computers and staff to help out,” Wearmouth notes. “People need have no fear of them.” Wearmouth suggests that the ‘The Appointment Jugg! Who'd ever dream of getting a 24th opinion after the first 23 all gave them a clean bill of health? Spend every day calling doctors seeing specialists, getting lab OK, he's a figment of the imagi- nation — a character you'd meet in a bad dream about our health care system. But he illustrates a trend that's all too real. The fact It’s time we woke up to the realities of health care in B.C. We all have to use it wisely. ““We do hope to be able to pro- vide CD ROM service like an encyclopedia and Internet access as an extension of the reference service.” Fundraising projects that are part of the “Convert a Book” campaign include this Saturday's Sunfest events at the library: the book and bake sale from 11 a.m.- 4 p.m.; the 1 p.m. Teddy bear picnic and the stories for grown- ups at 2:30 p.m. ‘Wearmouth says the library also has several other fundraisers in the works, including a Christ- mas gift shop in the library, a fashion show and a chocolate and jazz night. Hydro donates $5,000 B.C. Hydro has donated $5,000 to the Silvery Slocan . Historical Society in New Den- ver. The society was formed to collect, record and display the history of the Slocan Lake area. The funds were presented to society president W.W. Cummings by Bette Roberts, a Hydro cus- tomer service representative in the Nakusp district office. In making the presentation, Roberts noted that Hydro made a $250 contribu- tion to the society in 1993. “I am pleased that we are now able to make a more substantial donation in recognition of the tireless work done by the Silvery Slocan Historical Society to pre- serve the area's proud mining tradition and its importance as an early transportation and com- mercial centre.“* The money will be used to preserve a provincial heritage building which house the Silvery Slocan Museum. Our Bas Sale *S/hag HOSPITAL peopl strangers stop by your business Madame Butterfly Still a great story The pathetic and abandoned Cio-Cio-San (Madame Butter- fly), dressed in a white, silk kimono, the traditional Japanese color of mourning, kneels centre stage and prepares to die. All her hopes and dreams have come in about her and there is nothing left but to immolate her- self in the honorable manner of her Samurai ancestors: by sep- puku (ritual suicide). This was the latest of thou- sands of perfor- mances of the 91-year old Puc- cini opera, per- formed recently at the Queen Elizabeth theatre in Vancouver, and playing for a week of sold-out audiences, I love it, despite my detestation of on, so I had to go. Madame Butterfly is the old, old story of a woman who enters into a commercial or brokered arrangement to live with a man, falls in love with him, is betrayed and ends up by losing everything. The cad in this case is an Ameri- can naval lieutenant, Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton and the wronged and naive lady is Cio- Cio-San, the daughter of the for- mer Samurai warrior who, following the fall of the Shogu- nate (the Japanese military dicta- torship which had ruled Japan for 250 years) had died in poverty. Cio-Cio-San, like many thou- sands of the women of her class, was forced into genteel prostitu- tion and brokered “temporary marriages” with Japanese men or visiting foreigners. This breakdown of the feudal Japanese society had been speed- ed by American Admiral Perry who, in 1854, had used his. gun- boats to force the Japanese to open their ports to American trade. Almost 40 years later, with the emperor back on the throne in Japan and the Americans on an imperialist binge after their civil war, there was Lieutenant Pinker- ton’s warship anchored in Nagasaki harbor for an extended visit. The handsome and heedless lieutenant had entered into a 999- year “Japanese” marriage with the beautiful Butterfly, on the understanding (on his part) that it could be terminated by divorce in one month. He has his eye on an American lady who, doubtless, in marriage will promote his career. Butterfly, of course, falls com- pletely in love with him. Eventually, Pinkerton leaves for the States and is gone for three years. Meanwhile, Butterfly has borne him a son and lives only for his promised return, since she has severed all connec- tions with her own family by turning Christian. The half- American child is, of course, unacceptable in Japanese society. Racism depends on those ox is being gored. Eventually Sharpless, the American consul and friend of Pinkerton, arrives at the house with a letter from the lieutenant stating that he is coming back to Japan—with his American wife, Sharpless does not have the courage to tell the ecstatic Butter- KABATOFF'S SAND & GRAVEL TOPSOIL 365-2260 365-6739 Castlegar & District Home Support fly the truth, She fills the house with flowers and waits up all night in expectation of his immi nent return. With the coming of dawn, the exhausted Butterfly is persuaded to go to bed. Pinkerton calls, accompanied by Sharpless and his wife, Kate, who offers to adopt the little boy. Pinkerton, now conscience-stricken, refuses to. see his betrayed lover, gives Sharpless money to pay her off, and leaves, Butterfly awakes to find Pinker- OVER MY _ SHOULDER | refuses the money, and asks them to return in half an hour for the boy. She says goodbye to him, sends him away and prepares to die like a Samurai. She picks up her last posses- sion—her father’s dagger. Dressed in white, she kneels on a silk cushion, facing in the direc- tion of the emperor's palace, holds the dagger in both hands and drives it into the carotid artery in her throat. She falls face down, respectfully in the direc- tion of the Imperial palace. The music sobs to a close and there are a lot of snuffles among the audience The politically-correct boys and girls, of course, have spent “years sniping at and condemning Butterfly as “racist”, “sexist” and “morally indefensible”. Since these expressions, like other “isms” mean just what their users want them to mean—no more, no less—I think little of them. Righ- teous ignorance, empty emotion- alism, and intellectual dishonesty hpve managed to produce some outlandish grotesqueries and dis- credited a worthy cause by ques- tionable criticism For example, the producers in this case, while managing to avoid many of the more extreme barbarism of some productions— particularly the movie version— Cio-Cio-San is repeatedly referred to as a geisha, a highly- skilled and sought-after entertain- er, rather than the prostitute which she is. Otherwise, she remains unsullied and emerges as the classic tragic heroine, the only strong, fully-rounded char- acter in the midst of two-dimen- sional stereotypes. She is a heroic figure with her own convictions and is prepared to stand up for them, even unto death. I despise these would-be politically-correct types who, so much like the lead- ers in Animal Farm and 1984, write history and manipulate facts and people to their own ends. They are the kind of people who would attempt to fix a watch with a mallet and chisel. The finest works of art are Precious, and never more than now. A pox, therefore, upon their pretensions, and the devil take their fingers. In the meanwhile I wept with the singing of “One Fine Day” and left the theatre damning Pinkerton more enthusiastically than ever. A good show. I'm glad I went. CHARTERS Complete Body & Paint Facilities Auto Glass Replacement Towing