Can you identify these proverbs?

(I wrote this article for the Vidyalaya patrika of a KV. )

When it comes to speech, we humans are slaves to convenience. We like to express our thoughts in the least possible time and with the least possible effort, using just sufficient number of words. A renowned thinker has said that it is a great tragedy that we cannot speak more than one word at the same time. This must be one of the reasons why all the proverbs which have been handed down to us from generations bygone are so succinct. Proverbs are often used to spice up our speech. Imagine what woud happen if these proverbs were as long as a paragraph. It would be so clumsy to use them. Here are ten of the most familiar proverbs, a little elongated from their original version. See if you can identify them. Try to use them in your speech.

Proverb 1: A container for holding any entity creates a comparatively greater degree of auditory impression if it is devoid of the entity which should occupy it.

Proverb 2: The substance that contains particles that easily move and change thier relative position without a separation of the mass and which travels through big and small vessels within living things with backbones is more viscous in consistency than an oxide of hydrogen.

Proverb 3: It is unadvisable to place the totality of the hard-shelled duplicating bodies produced by a certain backboned animal of the class Aves that aid in the close imitation of that animal in a single receptacle made of interwoven material.

Proverb 4: The fact or condition of being aware of something is quite hazardous if that awareness exists only to an appreciable and not to an extensive degree or amount.

Proverb 5: It is foolish to imagine that every bunch of small flashes of electromagnetic waves in the visible range returned from surfaces is a certain heavy, precious, yellow, metallic element which is unaffected by tempreature changes and is highly resistant to acids.

Proverb 6: One sufficiently early exercise involving a single in-and-out movement of a threaded steel instrument with an eye subsequently makes nine similar movements dispensable.

Proverb 7: The chronological periods as reckoned astronomically extending from March equinox to the June solistice and from December solistice to the March equinox are naturally consecutive.

Proverb 8: Carnivorous mammals of the family Canidae are bound to have a specific period of prominence.

Proverb 9: All open ways for vehicles, persons, and animals, expecially those lying outside of an urban district, run towards an important cultural centre which is the capital of Italy, on the river Tiber.

Proverb 10: A thing which stimulates aesthetic pleasure in a person is created by the combined action of the curved cornea, the internal fluids and the lens of the organ of vision of that person.

Are you scratching your head in confusion? Here are the ten proverbs in their original form.

Proverb 1: An empty vessel makes more noise.

Proverb 2: Blood is thicker than water.

Proverb 3: Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Proverb 4: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Proverb 5: All that glitters is not gold.

Proverb 6: A stitch in time saves nine.

Proverb 7: If winter comes, can spring be far behind?

Proverb 8: Every dog has its day.

Proverb 9: All roads lead to Rome.

Proverb 10: Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

A simple classification of reading materials

Most students are not well aware about the types of books kept in a standard school library. Here I am providing a brief introduction to the different types of books and what to find in them.
Traditionally, the information sources in a library are classified into:
- Documentary sources

- Non-documentary sources
Documentary sources are the reading materials in different formats, and non-documentary sources are the many formal and informal channels through which information flows (universities, personal contacts). Here I am concentrating on the documentary sources. On the basis of the nature of information, these are divided into:
- Primary

- Secondary

- Tertiary
But for simplification, let me make a classification on the basis of reading materials usually found in a KV library.
Reading materials in a school library can be broadly categorized into:
- Books

- Periodicals
The difference between the two is that the latter has a periodicity and contains relatively current information. Eg. Education today (Monthly), Employment News (Weekly), Sangam (Quarterly), etc.
Books can be further classified into:
- Textbooks

- Monographs

- Reference books
Textbooks contain information that has been tested and reviewed by experts in the field. They are meant for readers who want to acquire a deeper knowledge on a subject. Eg. NCERT prescribed textbooks, grammar books, essay books, etc.
Monographs are, more often than not, a single unit containing information on a single subject, or one or two related subjects. Monographs usually have a single author who follows a uniform train of thoughts throughout the book. Eg. books related to a specific topic like ornithology, books of fiction, biographies, etc.
Reference books can be
- Dictionaries

- Encyclopaedias

- Yearbooks

- Atlases

- Directories
Everybody is familiar about general dictionaries. But there are subject dictionaries also – dictionaries listing the words related to a specific subject like physics. In a library you can find biographical dictionaries (Eg. who’s who), geographical dictionaries. Also, there are thesaurus (dictionaries giving synonyms and antonyms) dictionaries dealing with phrases, etc.
Like dictionaries, encyclopaedias can be either general, or related to a specific subject, place, person or time.
Yearbooks can be classified as periodicals, since they have a periodicity (Yearly). But they contain a lot of information on a variety of subjects. They chiefly deal with events that have taken place in a specific period, usually a year. Eg. Manorama Yearbook.
Atlases deal with maps. But they also contain a lot of statistical information of a geographical or economic nature.
Directories are lists, like Directory of Universities in India.
All the above reference books are nowadays available in the CD-ROM format also, which helps in the easy and quick location of specific information. But for getting extensive and a more convenient information on any subject, it is usually wise to depend on a hard copy.

Library quotes

A good book on your shelf is a friend that turns its back on you and remains a friend. ~Author Unknown
A book is the only place in which you can examine a fragile thought without breaking it, or explore an explosive idea without fear it will go off in your face. It is one of the few havens remaining where a man's mind can get both provocation and privacy. ~Edward P. Morgan
The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it. ~James Bryce
Anyone who says they have only one life to live must not know how to read a book. ~Author Unknown
A good book should leave you... slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it. ~William Styron, interview, Writers at Work, 1958
If there's a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. ~Toni Morrison
A good book has no ending. ~R.D. Cumming
I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~Anna Quindlen, "Enough Bookshelves," New York Times, 7 August 1991
Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers. ~Charles W. Eliot
The smallest bookstore still contains more ideas of worth than have been presented in the entire history of television. ~Andrew Ross

Computers in libraries

Use of computers in libraries was a logical and natural choice, since the very nature and aim of library work is, in a way, creating order from chaos. And wherever one wants order, computers can step in. But for this order to dawn a lot of manual keying work has to be undertaken first. For data to be organized, data has to be created. But that is another story.
Software to be used when computers first made their entry in libraries was not readily available, naturally. So, in the initial stages, ambitious librarians had to make do with whatever data-manipulating software the mother-institution used for their own end to foster their academic or non-academic pursuits. Later, software exclusively for libraries began to be designed. And, librarians began to flex their muscles.
In a library, computer can be used for cataloguing, circulation, preparation of various subject indexes, maintaining different databases, checking various statistics, aiding administrative works and networking.
Coming of computers has surely lessened the burden on the librarian. But it has not eliminated hard work altogether. Each and every field in which human beings are engaged is widening its horizon. And computers, on the one hand where they have increased the efficiency of the library services, they have on the other opened up a vista of so many other fields in which a library can easily contribute. So, where the early librarians had to be concerned only with books, cataloguing and circulation, the modern librarian has to add a lot more feathers of skills to his cap of versatility.
But the basic qualities to be an efficient librarian remain the same. You have to be a continuous learner, have tons of patience up your sleeves and a lot of imagination. The last quality comes handy just about anywhere. And, to sharpen it, read fiction. That's a librarian's advice.