Dear Max---
I think that Arlisia does not necessarily need to be a plural, and I do think it can be populated by Arlisians. After all: Africa, a continent, is populated by Africans, but I have to admit that my term "Arlisians" was inspired by an association with Elysium, Orpheus and Euridice etc. as the result of a vague longing for serenity (caused by a year that was unusually eventful in so many ways, I suppose).
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica online:
Elysium, "also called Elysian Fields or Elysian Plain in Greek mythology" was "originally the paradise to which heroes on whom the gods conferred immortality were sent. It probably was retained from Minoan religion. In Homer's writings the Elysian Plain was a land of perfect happiness at the end of the earth, on the banks of the Oceanus River. A similar description was given by Hesiod of the Isles of the Blessed. In the earlier authors, only those specially favoured by the gods entered Elysium and were made immortal. By the time of Hesiod, however, Elysium was a place for the blessed dead, and, from Pindar on, entrance was gained by a righteous life. Later writers made it a particular part of Hades, as in Virgil, Aeneid, Book VI."
Not bad, those associations with a paradise populated with heroes, perfect happiness, those specially favored by the gods, immortality, a righteous life!
Still perplexed,
Kitty Jansen MA, MLS
Librarian
Watanabe Family Library
Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art
500 West Washington St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204
[log in to unmask]
317-275-1346
visit our web site at www.eiteljorg.org <http://www.eiteljorg.org>
________________________________
From: ART LIBRARIES SOCIETY DISCUSSION LIST [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Max Marmor
Sent: Saturday, January 10, 2009 3:54 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ARLIS-L] Doubts about Arlisia?
Dear fellow-Arlisians,
I have just dutifully joined the Facebook "Arlisians" group, but I have to ask: Are any Arlisians out there at all concerned that "Arlisia" is actually a real word with quite distinctive - and perhaps not entirely desirable -connotations for us and for our profession?
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica (11th edition, article on "Palaeobotany), "Arlisia" are "curious, transversely-ribbed [floral] fossils." Now, colleague, I ask you: Do you see many curious, transversely-ribbed fossils at ARLIS/NA meetings? Or for that matter in your art library (on your side of the reference desk, that is; bolder souls may jump in to defend our patrons from slander)?
Now I wouldn't want to deny that with a bit of effort we could try to find our likeness in the dictionary definition of "Arlisia." While the EB writer surely used "curious" in the pejorative sense (i.e., odd), we tend, like all members of the genus homo bibliothecarius, to be curious in the good sense; and thus even those of us who don't regard ourselves as odd might qualify as "curious." And while I don't think a librarian anatomist would classify us as "transversely-ribbed" in the technical sense - that technical term is mostly applied to plants, plumbing pipes, and - let us be candid - various exotica for sale in, for example, the West Village - we do of course have ribs more or less perpendicularly-disposed vis-à-vis our spines. Similarly, no one would deny that some of us are more "floral" than others, nor that some few of us are, in our later years for the most part, described - uncharitably if not necessarily altogether inaccurately - as "fossils." But do we really want to work this hard to deserve being described as "curious, transversely-ribbed [floral] fossils"?
Now it's also worth reflecting that the word "Arlisia" is actually plural - and thus if we insist upon being associated with the word, we should really call ourselves, as a group, "Arlisia" not Arlisians, should reserve "Arlisian" for adjectival uses, and should find another name (Arlisium?) for the realm we plan to inhabit. And perhaps Arlisium should be consigned to Second Life where few palaeobotanists will discover it and add to the already rich thesaurus of stereotypes about librarians. We might even be able to market bottled water "fresh from Arlisian wells" and build an endowment for ARLIS/NA.
Respectfully submitted by
Max Marmor
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__________________________________________________________________
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
For information about joining ARLIS/NA see:
http://www.arlisna.org/join.html
Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc)
to [log in to unmask]
ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance:
http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html
Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask]
