Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • FUTURES

The librarian

Methods of preservation.
By
  1. Robert Dawson

    1. Robert Dawson teaches mathematics at Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Canada. His work has twice appeared in Nature Futures, as well as numerous other publications. His preferred vehicle is a bicycle.

The Librarian rolled slowly through the stacks, its rubber treads making no sound. Its side cameras scanned the spines of the books, 100 call numbers every second. One book — a hardback copy of Murder on the Orient Express, last borrowed five years ago — was upside down and shelved out of order. The Librarian stopped, took the book from the shelf, and replaced it, right-way-up, in its proper location.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 567, 564 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-00905-4

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links