At my quilting group, we got into a discussion of group names of animals such as an exaltation of larks or a murder of crows. Back in the old days before the internet, we would get calls all the time at the library wondering what is the group name of plovers (stand) or starlings (chattering or murmeration)? The Science & Business dept would field these calls due to the science part of it. We had a book on the shelf that was green and no one could remember the boring name of it. It was the green book we used to answer these questions.
Later that week, while working at the S&B desk I started looking for the book, but it was not on its hallowed place on the shelf. My fellow librarian who has been there since 1974 and I could not think of the title until she searched in some old excel database we have where we stuffed the fugitive facts we had formerly kept in a little card file drawer. The Fugitive facts were bit of information to answer questions which were asked so often that we kept notes on, and which were asked so often that we seldom had to use the actual file. The book…drumroll….Encyclopedia of Biological Sciences, was not even in the dept anymore, but rather shelved with the Telephone Reference people who answer actual human phone calls! Patrons who do not find what they want on the internet or are too old or computer-phobic to have ever learned to use it, call Refline and ask questions! I checked: it WAS green although the spine had faded to blue and it was in terrible shape.
It is still chugging along listing Group names of mammal, fish, birds and others; Gender names, and Juvenile and Juvenile Group Names. Call Refline if you want to know the names of baby clams, cicada, cougar, dragonfly, or group names of magpies, horses.
Ok, Ok….baby clams (littlenecks), cicadas (nymphs), cougars (cub or pup), dragonfly (naiad) or magpies (tiding), horses (hara, among other names to numerous to mention).
