Tomes & Talismans

"Tomes & Talismans" was a 1986 educational television series produced by Mississippi ETV, consisting of thirteen 20-minute episodes presented as a dramatic serial story. Each episode defines, illustrates, and reviews specific library/research concepts.

Plot summary

In 2123 humanity is evacuating Earth for the White Crystal Solar System, due to an attack carried out by the nefarious Wiper race, a group of aliens that appear to be little more than run-of-the-mill trailer trash. A special group is preparing a complete library of all Human knowledge which is hidden underground. Here, all fiction and non-fiction books are sorted by an alphabetical and numerical ordering system but an important volume is missing. A desperate search for it begins in the library in the outskirts of the city. The library team leader Ms. Bookhart, played by Niki Wood, is stranded in her bookmobile and is suddenly metabolically suspended for 100 years by a being known only as "The Universal Being". She awakens in a world under the control of beings known as "The Wipers" and is discovered by another group of extraterrestrials in the form of four children known as "The Users". The children, along with Ms. Bookhart, rediscover the hidden library and in the course of the series she teaches them how to use it. In turn, they discover how to defeat "The Wipers" and create a communicator to call the Human refugees back to Earth.

Episode/content guide

#Tomes Entombed— overview of library/research skills and concepts
#Fact or Fiction— fact and fiction; alphabetical shelving
#Under Cover— parts of a book
#In the Cards— card catalog
#The System— Dewey Decimal Classification System
#Information Quick— encyclopedia; typographical clues
#Hidden Meaning— dictionary; thesaurus
#Preference for Reference— special subject reference sources
#Direction Unknown— maps; atlases; world almanac
#SOS: Skim or Scan— skimming; scanning; paraphrasing; taking notes
#Guide to Light— Reader's Guide; Children's Magazine Guide
#Show and Tell— audiovisual resources
#Final Report— summarizing reports; concluding research; bibliographic sources

ee also

*Dewey Decimal System
*Library classification

External links

*imdb title|id=0467704|Title=Tomes and Talismans
* [http://www.mpbonline.org/educators-guides/guides-tch-2004-2005/tomes-talismans.pdf Mississippi Educational Television Tomes & Talismans Teacher's Guide] (PDF file)