Wa-acko!

Last week, I was in a major tizzy trying to find a book that I've quoted from extensively in my dissertation: How we Became Posthuman by N. Katherine Hayles.

I had come across a reference to it in another article, and wanted to check up on the context since my database of notes didn't have anything down for that particular page. So I started searching my shelves.

I have a lot of shelves.

LibraryThing lists 1199 books in our collection. So, yeah, lots of shelves.

But I couldn't find it.

I looked again.

I asked everyone in the family if they'd seen it. They hadn't.

I looked some more.

I started wondering if I'd lost it. As I thought about it, I realized I had been relying on my notes for the last few years. Perhaps I'd lost it before we'd even moved.

That got me thinking.

So I checked LibraryThing. It wasn't actually listed there. Not a big surprise. I only activated by LibraryThing account in 2006, and I'm pretty sure I read it in 2005.

So then I checked my amazon buying history, since I would've purchased it from them, given it wouldn't exactly be a given that I could find it at my local bookstore.

There was no history of purchasing.

Gradually it dawned on me. This book? The one that plays a pretty major role in my dissertation?

I don't own it. Never have.

But I was convinced for a week that I had. Wa-acko!

Question is: Do I buy it now, or say to hell with looking up this reference? (The local academic library has it out till September, and I want to finish this draft before then)

Decision time.