Thursday, June 18, 2020

Throw-It Thursday: Dino-what?!

Happy Throw-It Thursday! Ashley here again. It’s been a while since I’ve focused on a specific section of non-fiction. And some exciting developments have been happening in paleontology over the last decade.  Even in the last year. More specifically, I’m talking DINOSAURS. A swimming Spinosaurus, a flying dinosaur as small as a hummingbird, new species of dinosaurs are being discovered more often than we might realize. This article from 2019 talks about the best dino discoveries of the past decade: https://nhmu.utah.edu/blog/2019/top-dinosaur-discoveries. Pretty cool stuff.
And don’t forget about controversial claims, such as “The brontosaurus is not a real dinosaur.” Back in 2012, NPR tells the story of how the Apatosaurus was discovered first and then the Brontosaurus, which turned out to not be its own species and was also labeled as an Apatosaurus, and in 1979, when the mistake was corrected, the Brontosaurus was no more. But in 2015, new technologies and research brought back claims that the Brontosaurus is its own genus of dinosaur. There will always be debates and changes in science as technologies change the way we see and discover the world around us. This just goes to show that we have to stay on top of ordering new materials, to keep our information and collections up-to-date. This also means we have to maintain a high standard of weeding, to keep our collections from looking overgrown and confusing.
Any time you add some new dinosaur books to your collection, take a few minutes to look through the dinosaur books on your shelves and pull out any that may be similar to what you are adding. Check them over for accuracy, condition, and patron usage. Are they still essential books for your collection? Do they add something special to your dinosaur section that will be missed by patrons if you discard them? Unless you have a very compelling reason to keep those older, dusty dinosaur books, THROW THEM OUT! Most kids (and adults) won’t even notice that old dinosaur book they liked is gone when there are newer, more enticing titles to pick from. Here are a few old books we tossed recently:

This series from 2006 was a well-used set in our library for years. But newer, more exciting books came along and with the things advanced technology has helped us discover about dinosaurs in recent years, the information in older books can be misleading and inaccurate, so it was time to say goodbye.
If you are worried about what the kids or patrons will say if they discover a favorite title gone, learn a few fun facts from your newer books to surprise and entice them with. I mean, who doesn’t want to know that some dinosaurs laid colored eggs? Or that Kryoryctes Cadburyi, (this one’s a mammal, sorry) was named after Cadbury chocolates? What about this weird tidbit: fossilized triceratops horns were once mistaken as oversized bison horns!  Here’s a thinker: humans are closer in time to the T. Rex than the T. Rex is to the Stegasuarus (facts from Nat. Geo.’s Weird But True Dinosaurs book)! Oh, how I love learning weird tidbits...excuse me while I go brush up on some more weird dinosaur facts. And don’t forget...there’s no reason to hang on to something that is inaccurate, falling apart, or unused...THROW IT OUT!
Articles of interest:
https://nhmu.utah.edu/blog/2019/top-dinosaur-discoveries

Guest post by: Ashley Borman, Technical Services Librarian, Clintonville Public Library


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