@@tizzytyke - 25 out of 43 is 58.1395348837% (yes, I Google'd it). Generally, over 25% casualties on one side is considered sufficient to destroy unit cohesion, so losing over double that would make being a Redshirt in the ST:TOS universe a "suicide mission".
I am actually laying on the grass, having tied up a overgrown hedge and are planning how to beat cut and shape the plants so that i can keep as much of the flowera as possible and still prevent it from intruding into my neighbours yard. I'm not a professional gardener. But this is my hobby and what i do to relax and feel good. So yeah... ever since i first saw star treks hydroponics bay I have dreamt of working there. Hehe.
By the time of ST:TNG, I assumed that Boothby was only out there working on his own because he wanted to be. He probably could've done everything by remote or just supervised the automated gardening machines -- but if you love gardening (I don't, but my Mom and Grandma both did), you want to be out there doing at least some of the work by yourself. I also think, as has been suggested elsewhere, that Boothby is extremely long-lived and had served as an unofficial counselor and instructor for as long as there had been a Starfleet Academy. I wonder how Kirk slipped past his notice - or if he knew the future, and that the advantages of a cowboy like James Tiberius Kirk would far outweigh the disadvantages. Also, wasn't Sulu originally the USS ENTERPRISE's Botany Officer? Maybe Sulu was Boothby's eyes on Kirk....
@@timeliebe Bootby's real job wasn't pruning and gardening leaves and grass, but helping to shape the next great captains and future leaders of StarFleet. He was a little bit like Hagrid at Hogwarts. I'd bet even Jonathan Archer would recall Boothby being there from his time at the Academy.
Well, Boothby _does_ bear a striking resemblance to a certain "Martin O'Hara" from the early 1960s... it makes you wonder if he was originally from Earth, or perhaps Mars? 😉
There is a theory that Boothby is a Holographic AI, much like the EMH. So there are multiple Boothby's about doing work, just not near each other so you only see one of him at a time.
"Ship's librarian" was incredibly badly realised and played for laughs, but if you think of it, an archivist/librarian would be potentially crucial on a ship of exploration. Just imagine all the constant reports coming in from all different departments, and the need for someone to chase crew members to submit them.
Perhaps she also helps researchers with context. Often what someone wants to ask isn't exactly the material they need. Many episodes revolve around the ship's A.I. misunderstanding relatively basic questions after all.
It may also provide a semi-public study area for crewman who find it difficult to study alone, & a location for non-crewmen to access the ship's computer under very limited search parameters.
Especially for the practice of maintaining good records, absolutely. Retrieving information is easy as we've seen many times (well, honestly there's quite often the unrealistic "I've been skimming through the database for hours" when the computer really has or should have a near-perfect search engine), but making sure mission records are complete, categorised or otherwise stored following certain rules that make finding the right information later on easier seems like a very valid job.
@@dinoschachten "unrealistic "I've been skimming through the database for hours"" Yeah, that's a great point. I always assumed that the implication was that the database has access to the collected information of the entire Federation, hence the slowness, but it would never be feasible to store all of that.
Good point and also....The justification might be to have someone write the history as it happens. Instant History books are a fact on 21st century Earth. No reason to suppose that'll change. Plus there's the need to be aware of parallels in Alien current affairs and/or history. Like in "A Piece of the Action" when a whole civilization remodeled itself on Gangster era Chicago.
So you're suggesting the Temporal Displacement Bureau had agents as early as ST:TOS? Lt. McGivers must've found Capt. Kirk to be constant headache! No wonder she ran off with Khan....
@@timeliebe I wouldn't go as far as to say ship historians were temporal agents. I'm just saying that if you need intelligence about a specific point in history, to establish situational awareness, there's no one better suited to that than a historian. But, yes. I'm sure she found Cpt. Kirk somewhat annoying. I'm sure he's made more than a few passes at her. 🤣🤣🤣
I suspect most of these "ten oddest" are job functions and not job titles. One person could probably be the historian, librarian, and ( _in extremis_ ) court reporter.
The court reporter on the Enterprise-A may only be a part-time responsibility for one of the security personnel, only performed when necessary. Like being a notary public or the designated office fire safety person.
Actual, real life ships have a legal department, for dealing with legal issues with the ship, crew, ect... It's actually a full time department. When the ship is at general quarters, these personnel would have other duties. Court Reporter could be one of the jobs within that department. Likely a part time job within the department though.
Boothby does have help in keeping the grounds of Starfleet Academy pristine. On several episodes, of the shows, it is mentioned that first year cadets are assigned to him as helpers. It probably counts as part of their Botany qualifications. Some continue to help him after their first year out of choice.
@@MCEvans66 Like Guinan, very little seems to ever escape his notice. And I believe there was good reason he did things by hand. As mentioned in a different reply, he was assisted by some of the cadets at Starfleet Academy. Doing things by hand likely impressed upon them the importance of getting your hands dirty, even with tasks that may seem beneath you. This is a necessity for all who wish to become Captain one day, as there's a lot of work one has to put in after graduation to reach that mark. Having the right mindset is vital. Side thought: If Boimler did meet Boothby (said this way because I'm unsure about any overlap), what do you think Boothby's impression of him would have been?
There is some legend behind that character in that he has been there so long. I think he is some kind of like retired Admiral that in his retirement he tends to the plants and flowers and watched the new cadets go through the journey of Starfleet Academy.
I always figured that Boothby's title of Groundskeeper meant that he was _in charge_ of groundskeeping duties, not the sole groundskeeper himself - I assumed there were various underlings and automated systems which he oversaw, but he just preferred getting his hands (and his knees) dirty tending to flowerbeds and walking the grounds looking for signs of petty vandalism to sitting at a desk sending out work orders. After all, he is known for being a pretty gregarious and outdoorsy type, so he seems like he'd be happier gardening than paper-pushing. Sort of like how the moment O'Brien finds himself in a position to dictate his duties as Head of Ops on DS9, he chooses to do as much practical work as possible to avoid any admin... We see what you were up to, Miles! lol
I don’t know if I’d call that last one the worst job in Starfleet. I mean, for one thing I always imagined Boothby as having a staff, or there being some automation at his disposal, to oversee the grounds at the academy, and that he was also just a very hands-on kind of manager who chose to personally get on his knees and plant the flowers himself merely because he enjoyed doing it. I mean, that is the Federation utopian ideal, isn’t it? That all these gardeners, baristas, Creole chefs and such would continue to run businesses in a moneyless world because they genuinely enjoyed doing the work, and not out of any financial obligation.
I kinda got the impression, that Boothby had always been in the gardens at the Academy, literally. As in Jonathan Archer meeting Boothby, the old man tending the roses, on the day the Academy was founded. Fun thought; and quite plausible, maybe Guinan's second cousin?
@@andytol1976 I think he's either a Q making sure history goes the way it is ment to, or some sort of construct used by the psych team at the Academy to monitor the mental health of cadets.
Agreed. He seemed like someone who loves the job and does it the way he wants to. As perceptive and omnipresent as he is, it seems very likely that he was not an ordinary human though...
@@dinoschachten - I don’t know how I’d feel about that, honestly. As tempting as it may be to retcon Boothby as an El-Aurian or Q, I personally would be prefer he be kept as a human being. I just feel there’s a lot to be said for having a regular guy show up whose empathy, compassion and wisdom aren’t presented as superpowers, especially in a franchise as OTT as Star Trek.
I always assumed Boothby was just the head of groundskeeping hence why he is always doing the detail work and never mowing! Honestly his position seems like a fantastic job for someone who enjoys working with plants. In an age where you can simply work at what you want to do and not worry about money I can think of dozens of people that I know personally who would drop everything right now to be Boothby! Someone has to do it since there are no machines that can make things JUST right as evidenced by Data always trying to be creative but never really BEING creative. Boothby is simply an artist doing what he loves.
I feel like Boothby was some sort of Phycologist. His job wasn't to keep the grounds but happen to be where he was needed as if Star Fleet tagged students that had great potential but needed guidance they normally wouldn't seek out.
I know retirees who practically live in their yards working on them nearly every day to make them perfect. There's great satisfaction in growing things yourself. I'm proud of the plants I grew from seed even though many are probably "useless" crabapples and I know I could buy better varieties from a nursery ready to flower and fruit.
Honestly, I always viewed gardening as a chore that old people did. But I am actually starting to really enjoy it. It's rewarding and doesn't feel like work. In a future moneyless society, I would definitely be first in line to do this as opposed to a desk job, despite my smarts being in IT.
That’s how I feel. If money was never a consideration, jobs like these would be done by people that LOVE it. I would totally dedicate my life tending to parks and plants because the task itself is very rewarding, and brings joys to others. At that point you’d be practicing it like an art form.
Being a gardener isn't the worst job. I loved working with my parent's garden after I turned 18. Very relaxing and satisfying work to see what you have done bloom and prosper.
Don't forget that the century plus Boothby, is particularly old-fashioned..and prefers doing real work, with his real hands..for himself. And yes..has an extensive work force working, on the many square miles of landscape in and around the academy.
Also, it wouldn't surprise me if boothby were an enlisted or commissioned officer at some point, Keiko O'Brien is a botanist, so clearly an area of study at the academy as well. Also I imagine he delights in entertaining those students just as much as the headstrong future captains.
Boothby was really a Q. Stop looking at the outward appearances, there is more to Boothby than meets the eye lads. In Boothby's past, he had a difference with training cadets, and this training flaw resulted in the deaths of a squad of cadets on a "Training Exercise" Boothby then decided if he could not change things for the better, he would maintain the academy grounds, having total control over that limited sphere of influence.
The fact that a great many senior Starfleet officers have fond memories of Boothby, and his insightful wisdom, does make me wonder if there's more to him than we're shown. He was played, beautifully by Ray Walston, a lovely warm performance.
I would think having an historian would be of the utmost importance seeing as how they have been to a Nazi planet, a gangster planet, a Roman planet and have gone back in time on numerous occasions. Someone has to be around to keep the timeline intact and prevent others giving out formulas for transparent aluminum and make sure communicators aren't left behind accidentally.
Makes for better continuity and logic than the over used trope of a main character that just happens to have a hobby studying the specific time and place important to the episode.
@@brodriguez11000 Dolphins are very much like us, They have saved many Human lives, I love Dolphins, and would never hurt or kill or eat one. I remember feeding fish to Dolphins when I was 9 years old, and the Dolphins were so gentle in how they took food from my hand. I loved petting and gently scratching them, and they loved the attention.
@@carenlettofsky3045 In that respect, Boothby shouldn't have been mentioned either. I think this video should have been called something else. Maybe "10 Federation jobs....."
I like to think in my head canon that Boothby is actually an El-Aurian who is secretly watching over people at the Academy. Gardening is his cover, and being on the grounds gives him the ability to “bump into” anyone who needs a good listener.
Re: Boothby's job as groundskeeper. It may be hard work, but as the saying goes, "When you love what you do for a living, you'll never work a day in your life". Boothby perfectly personifies that saying. He enjoys the challenges, the work ethic it requires. As a cook, I love what I do. Some days are harder than others, and there's a lot of BS that goes along with the specific "where" I work, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I was just thinking that Uncle Martin the martian, the teacher in Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Boothby were all the same guy (besides being Ray Walston lol) . Explorer, then Teacher and then Mentor!
This is the kind of stuff that most non-military members don't always realize. What a military base, or starship is, is essentially a city. Unless you have something like droids or holograms, you still need someone to do every job out there. For example, when I said I was in the Air Force, people assumed I was a pilot. My career field was actually Services. So many things full under Services, to include food service, fitness, lodging, mortuary, moral, education, laundry services, and general customer service. There are so many jobs you simply don't think about. When it comes to things like librarian or historian, I'm sure they are skilled in how to find specific data. Sure, they have the computer, but the computer is only as good as the questions you ask it. Really people from the social sciences would be extremely valuable if you are traveling through space and running into different species.
Officers aboard naval ships have multiple jobs. A pilot might also be a landing safety officer. A supply officer might also be in charge of the ships library
Only shows how crappy they look, sadly. They either look odd from the offset or they are made from silly materials like that polyester nightmare of an admirals uniform. I'd really love someone to just sell the real thing!
I imagine Boothby is a character that probably believes mechanical automatons won't have that "human touch" that he takes great pride in. Or he just enjoys the feel of soil between his fingers. Or both.
Boothby seems to enjoy his work. I honestly think that Starfleet Academy just keeps the job around to give him something to do so that he can feel useful. It also doesn't hurt to have the people used to using advanced technology do some actual manual labor to give them some perspective from a lesser-advanced point of view.
As in Federation you don't have to work for money you are free to follow your passions. Boothby apparently linked to be a groundskeeper. There is no harm him working in Academy. Sisko's dad had a restaurant. Which is unnecessary in time of replicators.
@@Starssinger Yep, exactly my point. The Federation easily COULD do away with "menial jobs" but why would they do that if having them around for those who WANT to do them benefits society by allowing people to pursue their passions and potential? I didn't mean the comment as a dig at Boothby or Federation society. There are probably lots of jobs that people do simply because they like them, and I absolutely love that about the Federation.
@@Starssinger I imagine there were still a few restaurants, be they few and far between, that were replicator free. Cooking is like groundskeeping and various other jobs.
I dont know - star fleet librarian sounds ok, a mix of gold and blue shirts, unlikely to be phasered by the kilingons.... access to bars and restaurants after work and pay at the usual rank rate... sign me up Scotty!
Well, they'd originally written it for Picard, but Stewart, Frakes and Sirtis kept giggling so much Frakes finally pulled some disapproving-looking 3rd A.D. or makeup/costuming person and gave Picard's lines to her. Or so I like to think....
Worse the common perception is that librarians sit around all day and read for recreation. I don’t know about that, for when I’m at work, I’m reading professional literature, email from my boss, the preface and perhaps introduction to books when I’m cataloging to find out the subject matters, taking training courses, and nowadays programming, both instructional workshops for the patrons and computer applications. Sounds like real work to me? Who has time to read for recreation while on the job?
@@Mnogojazyk Agreed - someone who can search the massive databases that would be available to Starfleet would be super helpful, even if the computer can do a lot of it, someone has to make sense of it all. Same with historian; there's so many details that would be necessary that it would totally make sense to have someone that specialized.
Having all the knowledge I starfleet at your fingertips is one thing, being able to know how to find what you need requires the skill of a librarian. ;-)
After Riker is done with it? I can imagine, I just don't want to. There are constant references to "pleasure mazes" in DS9. And holoprograms with "two or three Orion slave girls".
On the Boothby thing, I know this will sound crazy to anyone under the age of 30 but some people actually prefer doing tasks without aid of advanced technology, especially gardening.
@@RandomYT05_01 I dunno. It would be interesting to see Star Fleet a few decades after the dominion war for sure. Personally I've always wanted a mini prequel series focussing on bajor and the occupation. Kinda like what Caprica did with Battlestar Galactica.
Re: Mr. Kosinski...clearly you''ve never met an executive consultant in the corporate world. I imagine that character was specifically written with people like that in mind, especially getting someone like Stanley Kamel who has such a punchable face to play the roll . :) Taking credit for other people's work yet not having any real responsibilities associated with a real role is perfect for consultants like that, it means they can float from ship to ship making minor adjustments to engines and never staying long enough to see anything through. So his "rank" pin might be like how when as a consultant you get given credentials and temporary security passes (and in some cases, security clearance) to enter your client's offices and be treated a pseudo-employee. So despite the uniform, people could see he is not an officer.
That absolutely sounds like the most likely explanation for his position. Re: Stanley Kamel's punchable face though... When I saw him in the series "Monk" as his psychiatrist I was fully prepared to dislike him from the beginning entirely due to his part in TNG. But, the tables are flipped. I usually feel more sympathy for Kamel's character and sometimes want to punch the other guy, haha.
That's basically what I thought about the character. If he went through "usual" channels (rising through merit) I'm very sure his deficiencies would have been quickly sussed out, exposing him as a fraud. Of course then, he would have been of no use to the Traveler, who was trying to stay off of everyone's radar. He had to be a special consultant with little to no oversight to get away with that act for as long as he did!
What about the Teachers on the Enterprise D? Talk about bomb drills, how many times was the Self-destruct set on that ship and they needed to deal with the kids?
Boothby has the most awesome job! He does what he loves, sees everything, knows everyone and is completely overlooked... He's probably the top ranking founder of the Sigma 7 or whatever secret service of starfleet
I'm an electrical engineer... However during recession, Brexit, Covid or other quiet periods have fallen back to gardening work (Anything not to watch day time TV!)... Much nicer than engineering, relaxing and rewarding. If money had been abolished and all work considered on equal footing, then I'd be a gardener any day!
"Ships stores" is not "a store": it's a nautical term that refers to basically everything that isn't a permanent part of the vessel and is needed to keep the thing running. This includes everything from food and clothing, to all the spare parts, to the fuel itself, to the medical supplies is all "ships stores". It's "stored" all over the place: storerooms, supply closets, galley, sickbay, armory. Even when something is given to a crewmember, it's part of ships stores and the quartermaster is supposed to know where everything is, right down to power packs for your phaser. Now, a ship like Enterprise D certainly has one or more conventional "stores" (although they probably call them "shops") and they may even have civilian shopkeepers or shop owners. I find it weird that Kirk would requisition period clothing from "ships stores" in a generic fashion, because the quartermaster isn't going to know how to put that together. I'd expect a ship whose mission includes observing other cultures and making first contact to have some sort of "costumer" on a ship who gets the info from the specialists on that culture, gets the requisite materials from ship's stores, and puts it all together.
Re Mr. Kosinski: it would seem to me that he would be the Starfleet equivalent of a warrant officer. They tend to be extremely specialized in a particular field, as opposed to the more general knowledge that a regular officer is given. Like, Starfleet wouldn't take a propulsion specialist and assign him to be a science officer on a vessel. In the US military, other officers tend to address them as Mr/Ms as opposed to using a rank designation. As to his rank insignia, it's actually rather similar to what the US Army uses for their WO (black squares on a silver background instead of white).
Oooooooooo........ that last one killed the list! I always pictured the Gardner working on the grounds as a passion project! He might have been given the position as an honor!
@@GregorBarclay It's a bar. The entire concept is mood for socializing. People can stay home and drink now, but look how many were chomping at the bit for bars to reopen.
Guinan kept non-replicated stuff on board. Presumable she hand mixed drinks too. The replicator's just when you're on a hurry or don't care. Plus you can't actually get drunk on synthahol.
Also, people actually like tending gardens. And to do it in Starfleet where there are always new faces and endless stories.. Compared to my present job, it's really not that bad!
Exception: Boothby is like the Hagrid character. Good guy, great character, instrumental in the affairs of cadets but got sidelines for something out of his control, e.g. Astrophobia(?) but expert in botany and Human Capitol Management. Hence grounds keeper.
Sounds like you've not seen his episode. While the episode is important for understanding the arc of Wesley Crusher's character development over the course of the entire series, the character of Kosinski is depressingly pathetic.
I'd imagine they'd be legal officers whose job would be to know the laws on each planet the ship visits and advice the crew in advance. That, to me sound like the worst. Only because, either the ship never arrives (and all the research is wasted) or the crew ignores what they're told and causes an issue which needs to get fixed.
The fact that Ray Walston, who originally played Uncle Martin on the 1963-1966 American TV show, "My Favorite Martian", got the opportunity he was denied in that TV show to play an actual, more serious alien (rather than just a sitcom alien) before he passed away in 2001 is one example of justice in the universe. Or the multiverse. Or something
In Star Trek Online Boothby is referred to as "the Boothby Hologram". So either he has been replaced by a Hologram or he was a Hologram the entire time and is just there to help future Starfleet officers.
Boothby can't be a hologram unless the grounds of Starfleet have holo-emitters everywhere. The holo-emitter the Doctor has in Voyager was 29th century technology they acquired through a time travel mishap in Future's End. So the Boothby of TNG wouldn't have had access to one. And for the massive grounds of Starfleet Academy to have holo-emitters everywhere would have required a lot of power.
3 года назад
STO takes place in the early 25th century. Even with Federation life extension I don't think the original Boothby would live that long so they must have replaced him with a hologram version.
That is because Boothby died. They replaced him with a hologram. Which is kind of messed up. Remember when Quark set up a hologram of Morn while Dax and some others just learned he died?
Boothbie is secretly the head of Starfleet, probably owns the building the academy is in and he is just out tending his garden and getting to know all the future captains or maybe he is the head of section 31 and is pumping them for information as well as pruning the flowers and handing out solid life advise haha
Boothby is the most amazing character. He single handedly maintains the pristine look of the Starfleet Academy grounds all while having enough time to mentor many of the officers in training.
I would kill to be ship's historian. That would be a perfect job for me. Seems like all I have to do is to study history all day and barely have to talk to anyone ever.
“Barely have to talk to anyone ever” - considering how often exploratory ships have to consult historical records in order to better understand the situations they’re in…..
Be the best job for someone who was either frozen in time or accidentally time traveled. What work is there for someone from 200 years in the past? Well you are basically a living museum piece. Discuss your daily life, talk about current events from the time you left, etc. Learn and read up on what you missed and basically you are a living history teacher.
I've known a few head groundskeepers over the years and the one thing they all have in common is their love and passion for what they do. It never seems to matter how large their staff is they're always out and about keeping their hands in the dirt and caring for just about everything that grows. I have always seen Boothby as the perfect portrayal of a groundskeeper. As for ship historians... Anyone who has ever known someone with an advanced degree in history can verify, they are just as obsessed with their period of history interests. They would be the ones that everyone would go to for anything related to a specific period of time, including the Quartermaster and librarian. It's one thing to look up a specific time period, it's entirely another to get the information from someone with as intimate a knowledge of it as a historian.
Having a study library makes sense. Starfleet personnel often study for advancement courses, so having a space devoted to study, and having a central repository. Also, librarians mostly help with finding information, so a Starfleet Librarian makes a lot of sense
ships historian on the flagship makes sense when you remember how often various incarnations of the enterprise end up in the past do to time travel Librarian I bet are only on larger ships and it's likely that their job is mostly to study and cataloging of new cultures books and literature possibly also working on building the dictionary for a new races languages a court reporter is likely simply a role that is filled by Junior JAG officers as in JAG at some point you will fill every job in a courtroom save Baliff if you are in long enough there is also a theory that Boothby is a Q whose job is to keep an eye on Starfleet cadets and make note of ones with potential
Also not all crew are going to have full access to all the ships systems or the star fleet database. Im sure most of the junior ranks have to use the library because they dont have the clearance to just have full access to all ships systems and databases. And the librarian is there to monitor access to certain info or to give or deny access on a case by case basis. Also you might have guests on ship that you cant let have full access to all ship systems or data.
Boothby reminds me of the head Gardner of the local university. He was well in his 70’s and you can find him working on the university grounds gardening. He loved his job so much he had a weekly half hour show on tv about gardening. He always had a big smile and was very nice to talk to. I wouldn’t call it the worst job when the gardner loved it so much he did it way past retirement age.
@@8Biit - "Don't mind him, Wesley - he's my Babysitter and Cover Story." ::Wesley polishes his glasses on his tie, neither of which he was wearing in the last shot!:: "Someone to watch your back, Toby? Do you also have a few pavement artists on this ship as well...?" ::puts glasses back on, blinks owlishly::
I'd actually forgotten about that cameo from Max Grodenchik (Rom on DS9). It's a shame they cut that and Quark's cameos from Insurrection. But I'm glad you included "Turbolift Control" as that was the first thing that sprang to mind when seeing this video.
When I was Operations Officer on the USS MERRIMACK (AO-179), I was also the ship's historian. I got this job by being the only officer in MERRIMACK's wardroom with a history degree. My only job in that capacity was to write the final ship's history when she was decommissioned. It was quite fun, and I discovered the identity of the ship's ghost (a job y'all missed by the way).
Lt. Marla McGivers must be the worst ship's historian ever. She had one job, but it ended up being the Enterprise senior staff who determined Khan's true identity. All she did was betray Starfleet (although she redeemed herself at the end).
One presumes duties of a librarian on board a starship would chiefly involve the integration of works of art and literature acquired from alien trade and contact into Memory Alpha, and preparation, digitization, and preservation of any hard copies of said works. So, maybe not as useless as it may seem at first blush.
Librarians can also specialize in research. While the computer systems handle most of that in starfleet it wouldnt be hard to imagine the ships librarian as being respobible for updating such programing when necessary (ergo Memory Alpha duties).
I would argue that Boothby's job was one of the most important jobs at Starfleet Academy. He was always available to provide promising young candidates a stress-free environment where they could be guided towards resolving whatever issue they were facing.
The EMH Mark 1 - it was such a huge flop in Starfleet that they were rounded up and used as labour in the mines of asteroids. That's gotta be a worse job.
5:38 I don't believe that Rand meant "ship's store" as in a place for shopping, but more like the magazine/storage area where general items, supplies, wears, tools, etc are kept, often in bulk and especially for long term.
I'm thinking some of these kinds might be in addition to their other responsibilities. The librarian and historian could easily be the same person. Likewise, I can see the court reporter being like a pubic notary, where many do it part-time.
Boothby no doubt served to impart wisdom to many a young cadet. There were of course several positions on board a ship that did not seem important, until they were.
Also used for guests or transporting a travler to have access to star fleet data bases, you dont always want your guests to have full access to all systems. And you might not want junior officers to have full access to the same systems as a captain and or classified info. So you have a library on ship.
@@braddl9442 What you say makes sense, though on-screen we've seen many times when a crew member shows a guest how to access the library computer from their quarters. Troi does this in "The Neutral Zone."
@@NeilBlumengarten Or where junior officers and cadets or guests would go to use the DATABASE. Since they would not be given full access like a captain. The librarian would prob be the one organizing data the ship would upload to starfleet in a organized fashion. And prob control access to classified data.
yea seems whoever did the list tended to forget that starfleet is mainly exploratory vessels. The whole "seek out new life and new civilizations " thing, you dont think they just leave it up to the computers and what ever random ensign alone to put in and keep track of all the data of there travels . let alone the new data coming in from other ships they would have some type of human( or alien) specialist behind it making sure the data is stored correctly.
Given how long Boothby seems to have been at starfleet academy I think its more than feasable he's either secretly an El-Aurian or part of an, as yet unknown, race similar to the Q but takes on a more guiding and helpful role. he does hand out a lot of wise and usful information. I would not be surprised to find him turn up in Discovery with a new look (given the actor died in 2001)
"a starship's space is at a premium" not for ships like the enterprise, they are basically space cities when you look at the sheer number of crew they have.
Retired librarian here. Male. Public reference, West Point Military Academy, and director of a public library. Don’t worry, we’ll have things ready for the next cycle of civilization to rise from the ashes of the present one you are destroying.
Court reporter might be a second hat. The officer could have a regular job on the ship, but can be called upon to serve as a court reporter when needed. It's kind of like how a lot of bank officers are also notary publics.
I actually have an answer for the Ship's Historian, because I briefly was a Wing Historian in the US Air Force. That job was maybe 1/3 a matter of knowing history (specifically the units' histories, not whatever era you studied in school). The other 2/3 were split between maintaining the units' archives / keeping tabs on any artifacts you have and an ongoing process of recording the units' experiences as they happen. So it's a much more active, LIVING role than the "historian" you might find in a museum, university, or historical site who is mostly focused on having knowledge about a past era. That could be useful for almost any ship because, as ships are off exploring and doing things, it means there's someone aboard who specializes in recording what has happened, what lessons have been learned, and what artifacts you've collected. They could also be tasked with making sure the lessons are passed on to the wider Federation. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew can go back to making sure the engines are running, the ship's heading in the right direction, waste disposal systems are working, and all the other things that don't stop because a notable event happened. Need to find the medallion the away team picked up on Rigis-5? The Historian will know where it's kept. And it would probably be a historian who filed one of the first reports that Zaldans are angered by what humans would consider simply courteous behavior.
Star Fleet librarian: Standard uniform, Strict attitude to service, must wear big glasses on end of nose. Have the ability to shush loudly at times. Wear hair bun style, if female, have ability to handle any practical jokes from any one, and expell them from library. Apply at Star Fleet H.Q..
It is possible that some of these positions like Librarian, Historian, Quartermaster and Court Reporter are just secondary duties of a qualified personnel in related fields onboard or volunteering as such due to personal hobbies, etc. Also, it might be wise not to pay too much attention to those pips, only because it took Chief O'brien 7 seasons of DS9 to finally get a canon insignia on his collar.
Quartermaster is a very important job on any ship. They're in charge of all equipment and materiel from uniforms to phaser rifles. The quartermaster is the guy who ensures that all the right bits and pieces are picked up from starbases and makes sure there's plenty of spare parts.
There's a fun part of the game Elite Force where you go to Voyager's deck 15 and the guy there has no idea what he's supposed to be doing. He keeps asking people, first Tuvok, then Chakotay and eventually Janeway and they just say "I'll get back to you" 5 years later and he's been privately making video games to keep himself busy.
I always assumed that jobs like "court reporter" were done by people who had other positions on the ship, but then had special training/certification to do this one specialized thing that might come up on occasion.
Ship historian is pretty necessary. These ships either travel back in time with some regularity, or encounter planets that are very similar to earth of the past. They can't go talking about LDS or having Russian crew members asking about nuclear "wessels" if they want to keep their cover, not to mention the old clothes they always seem to need.
I just assumed that Boothby had several assistant groundskeepers under him but that he made such a strong impression on the students he mentored that they only remembered him and that as the head of the groundskeepers he could arrange for his assistants to work out of sight when heard one of his former students was visiting -- thus giving the impression that he tended the grounds by himself.
I really like when Ray Walston, (Uncle Martin of My Favorite Martian fame,) is featured several times on the series, as the grounds keeper of Starfleet Academy.
The Ships Historian makes sense, if you remember, that Starfleet's main mission statement is exploration. Thus the flagsheep would likely encounter previously unknown civilisations, or remnants thereof. Having someone onboard, capable of studying and cataloguing these people's histories comes in handy.
I've read multiple comments about people being there to help Boothby, although I'd like to posit a different theory. Boothby serves as a counselor/set of eyes for the Academy, tending to the plants, less because they need him to, and more because there are probably some students who could use someone to talk to and it'd be easier to start talking to the caretaker who just 'happens' to start making small talk around you than going to an office to talk to someone.
I don't think Boothby is "just the groundskeeper," I think he takes care of the grounds as a passion project while being an informal advisor to cadets.
As a professional librarian myself, I can say that the librarian depicted in this episode of Star Trek is more 20th century than it is 24th century or 21st century for that matter. We are now information resource managers because we track and preserve information in all its forms*, recording its responsible parties, formal and informal titles, production dates and parties, and assigning formal subjects and some informal subjects, among other tasks, so that the information can be retrieved. Public libraries in the U.S. lend clothes to underincomed patrons for job interviews, formal family occasions, etc. We also teach skill workshops or arrange for them to be taught in the library space. Libraries are not quite the silent structures that they were supposed to be. Libraries may have silent zone to facilitate intense study and reading, but much of the library is bustling with traffic, conversation, and so forth. Even in my childhood, the local public library was noisy in some areas, but quiet in others. The reference librarians now do and teach ready reference, i.e., the type of questions that Google searching can answer, e.g., "Is June 14 a national holiday in the U.S.?" But more often than not, reference librarians help people find materials they cannot find themselves; or relieve them of searching for information so that the patron can attend to other matters. Some librarians even go on the Dark Web to do so under limited circumstances. As for the educational complaint, the reason librarians have so much education, especially in academic and research settings, stems from the ignorance among librarians after World War II. My mentors tell me that too many librarians knew too little to help adequately with research and development, so the educational requirements were intensified. As time passed, technical expertise became increasingly important. Nowadays, an academic librarian is expected to have a master's degree in addition to the library and information science degree; and many also earn a doctorate -- often not in librarianship. I studied for one in theoretical linguistics myself. While some librarians may be stern and condemnatory as the librarian in this episode is, but that is not the norm. That is a stereotype of a bygone era. Hecko, Marion Pugh from The Music Man is plucky and Katherine Hepburn's librarian in Desk Set is assertive. Both are now sixty-five years old or older.
Footnote * Many libraries are digitizing books that have fallen out of copyright protection. Books still appear in Star Trek, however. Witness Samuel Cogley in "Court Martial" and the books that Picard reads in various episodes. So books are not done yet even if many technophiles would have be so.
The Enterprise-E librarian isn't the only one to wear glasses. It's explained in The Wrath of Khan that Kirk has an allergy to (I believe it's called) retinal. That's why Bones gave him a pair of glasses for his birthday. The Enterprise D's librarian could also have a similar problem. Besides Geordie wore a visor for more than 7 years (plus one movie).
I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but in Star Trek online they even have a boothby hologram tending the grounds, as apparently he's just that iconic. Maybe groundskeeper isn't his job, but it's just what he likes to do. Maybe he just showed up one day and started cleaning up the place and continued to do it for 30 years to the point where the academy just disabled the automation
The absolute worst job in Starfleet was being assigned to a security detachment with Captain Kirk on any given landing party.
We wear a Red shirt because we might not be coming back.
@@thepumpkingking8339 Look into it, youll only 25 red shirts died out of the 43
I'm surprised they didn't just have targets on their chests.
@@tizzytyke - 25 out of 43 is 58.1395348837% (yes, I Google'd it).
Generally, over 25% casualties on one side is considered sufficient to destroy unit cohesion, so losing over double that would make being a Redshirt in the ST:TOS universe a "suicide mission".
@@timeliebe : Trademark violation.
Anyone who knows a gardener knows it is a passion, not a menial chore, for them.
I am actually laying on the grass, having tied up a overgrown hedge and are planning how to beat cut and shape the plants so that i can keep as much of the flowera as possible and still prevent it from intruding into my neighbours yard. I'm not a professional gardener. But this is my hobby and what i do to relax and feel good. So yeah... ever since i first saw star treks hydroponics bay I have dreamt of working there. Hehe.
By the time of ST:TNG, I assumed that Boothby was only out there working on his own because he wanted to be. He probably could've done everything by remote or just supervised the automated gardening machines -- but if you love gardening (I don't, but my Mom and Grandma both did), you want to be out there doing at least some of the work by yourself.
I also think, as has been suggested elsewhere, that Boothby is extremely long-lived and had served as an unofficial counselor and instructor for as long as there had been a Starfleet Academy. I wonder how Kirk slipped past his notice - or if he knew the future, and that the advantages of a cowboy like James Tiberius Kirk would far outweigh the disadvantages.
Also, wasn't Sulu originally the USS ENTERPRISE's Botany Officer? Maybe Sulu was Boothby's eyes on Kirk....
@@timeliebe Bootby's real job wasn't pruning and gardening leaves and grass, but helping to shape the next great captains and future leaders of StarFleet. He was a little bit like Hagrid at Hogwarts. I'd bet even Jonathan Archer would recall Boothby being there from his time at the Academy.
Well, Boothby _does_ bear a striking resemblance to a certain "Martin O'Hara" from the early 1960s... it makes you wonder if he was originally from Earth, or perhaps Mars? 😉
There is a theory that Boothby is a Holographic AI, much like the EMH. So there are multiple Boothby's about doing work, just not near each other so you only see one of him at a time.
"Ship's librarian" was incredibly badly realised and played for laughs, but if you think of it, an archivist/librarian would be potentially crucial on a ship of exploration. Just imagine all the constant reports coming in from all different departments, and the need for someone to chase crew members to submit them.
Perhaps she also helps researchers with context. Often what someone wants to ask isn't exactly the material they need. Many episodes revolve around the ship's A.I. misunderstanding relatively basic questions after all.
@@patrickmccurry1563 Yeah, interpretaion of data is vital.
It may also provide a semi-public study area for crewman who find it difficult to study alone, & a location for non-crewmen to access the ship's computer under very limited search parameters.
Especially for the practice of maintaining good records, absolutely. Retrieving information is easy as we've seen many times (well, honestly there's quite often the unrealistic "I've been skimming through the database for hours" when the computer really has or should have a near-perfect search engine), but making sure mission records are complete, categorised or otherwise stored following certain rules that make finding the right information later on easier seems like a very valid job.
@@dinoschachten "unrealistic "I've been skimming through the database for hours"" Yeah, that's a great point. I always assumed that the implication was that the database has access to the collected information of the entire Federation, hence the slowness, but it would never be feasible to store all of that.
Ship's historian is actually a pretty necessary job, given Starfleet's constant flirting with time travel. Historians are kind of the CIA of timestep.
Good point and also....The justification might be to have someone write the history as it happens. Instant History books are a fact on 21st century Earth. No reason to suppose that'll change. Plus there's the need to be aware of parallels in Alien current affairs and/or history. Like in "A Piece of the Action" when a whole civilization remodeled itself on Gangster era Chicago.
So you're suggesting the Temporal Displacement Bureau had agents as early as ST:TOS?
Lt. McGivers must've found Capt. Kirk to be constant headache! No wonder she ran off with Khan....
@@timeliebe I wouldn't go as far as to say ship historians were temporal agents. I'm just saying that if you need intelligence about a specific point in history, to establish situational awareness, there's no one better suited to that than a historian. But, yes. I'm sure she found Cpt. Kirk somewhat annoying. I'm sure he's made more than a few passes at her. 🤣🤣🤣
I suspect most of these "ten oddest" are job functions and not job titles. One person could probably be the historian, librarian, and ( _in extremis_ ) court reporter.
would they actually be an officer or non-comm though?
The court reporter on the Enterprise-A may only be a part-time responsibility for one of the security personnel, only performed when necessary. Like being a notary public or the designated office fire safety person.
Actual, real life ships have a legal department, for dealing with legal issues with the ship, crew, ect... It's actually a full time department. When the ship is at general quarters, these personnel would have other duties. Court Reporter could be one of the jobs within that department. Likely a part time job within the department though.
@@SgtBeltfed - like John G. Hemry's/"Jack Campbell's" "JAG in Space" books had?
@@timeliebe Or the JAG officers in "Measure of A Man" in TNG. The judge literally called herself a JAG officer
@@SgtBeltfed Makes sense. If Picard and team are in any way negotiating trade agreements, they would likely need some type of legal review.
@@marvelboy74 with how often the red shirts don't make it back alive, help with their wills might be useful as well.
Boothby does have help in keeping the grounds of Starfleet Academy pristine. On several episodes, of the shows, it is mentioned that first year cadets are assigned to him as helpers. It probably counts as part of their Botany qualifications. Some continue to help him after their first year out of choice.
Janeway volunteered an hour a day to helping him garden during her academy days
He also seemed to act like an unofficial counselor, like Guinen. Due to his longevity I wonder if the same race.
@@MCEvans66 Like Guinan, very little seems to ever escape his notice. And I believe there was good reason he did things by hand. As mentioned in a different reply, he was assisted by some of the cadets at Starfleet Academy. Doing things by hand likely impressed upon them the importance of getting your hands dirty, even with tasks that may seem beneath you. This is a necessity for all who wish to become Captain one day, as there's a lot of work one has to put in after graduation to reach that mark. Having the right mindset is vital.
Side thought: If Boimler did meet Boothby (said this way because I'm unsure about any overlap), what do you think Boothby's impression of him would have been?
There is some legend behind that character in that he has been there so long. I think he is some kind of like retired Admiral that in his retirement he tends to the plants and flowers and watched the new cadets go through the journey of Starfleet Academy.
"
I always figured that Boothby's title of Groundskeeper meant that he was _in charge_ of groundskeeping duties, not the sole groundskeeper himself - I assumed there were various underlings and automated systems which he oversaw, but he just preferred getting his hands (and his knees) dirty tending to flowerbeds and walking the grounds looking for signs of petty vandalism to sitting at a desk sending out work orders. After all, he is known for being a pretty gregarious and outdoorsy type, so he seems like he'd be happier gardening than paper-pushing. Sort of like how the moment O'Brien finds himself in a position to dictate his duties as Head of Ops on DS9, he chooses to do as much practical work as possible to avoid any admin... We see what you were up to, Miles! lol
I don’t know if I’d call that last one the worst job in Starfleet. I mean, for one thing I always imagined Boothby as having a staff, or there being some automation at his disposal, to oversee the grounds at the academy, and that he was also just a very hands-on kind of manager who chose to personally get on his knees and plant the flowers himself merely because he enjoyed doing it.
I mean, that is the Federation utopian ideal, isn’t it? That all these gardeners, baristas, Creole chefs and such would continue to run businesses in a moneyless world because they genuinely enjoyed doing the work, and not out of any financial obligation.
I kinda got the impression, that Boothby had always been in the gardens at the Academy, literally.
As in Jonathan Archer meeting Boothby, the old man tending the roses, on the day the Academy was founded. Fun thought; and quite plausible, maybe Guinan's second cousin?
I just assumed he was head groundskeeper and therefore chose which tasks to do himself.
@@andytol1976 I think he's either a Q making sure history goes the way it is ment to, or some sort of construct used by the psych team at the Academy to monitor the mental health of cadets.
Agreed. He seemed like someone who loves the job and does it the way he wants to.
As perceptive and omnipresent as he is, it seems very likely that he was not an ordinary human though...
@@dinoschachten - I don’t know how I’d feel about that, honestly.
As tempting as it may be to retcon Boothby as an El-Aurian or Q, I personally would be prefer he be kept as a human being. I just feel there’s a lot to be said for having a regular guy show up whose empathy, compassion and wisdom aren’t presented as superpowers, especially in a franchise as OTT as Star Trek.
I always assumed Boothby was just the head of groundskeeping hence why he is always doing the detail work and never mowing! Honestly his position seems like a fantastic job for someone who enjoys working with plants. In an age where you can simply work at what you want to do and not worry about money I can think of dozens of people that I know personally who would drop everything right now to be Boothby!
Someone has to do it since there are no machines that can make things JUST right as evidenced by Data always trying to be creative but never really BEING creative.
Boothby is simply an artist doing what he loves.
Pretty much. Beats dealing with the students, I bet.
I feel like Boothby was some sort of Phycologist. His job wasn't to keep the grounds but happen to be where he was needed as if Star Fleet tagged students that had great potential but needed guidance they normally wouldn't seek out.
I know retirees who practically live in their yards working on them nearly every day to make them perfect. There's great satisfaction in growing things yourself. I'm proud of the plants I grew from seed even though many are probably "useless" crabapples and I know I could buy better varieties from a nursery ready to flower and fruit.
Honestly, I always viewed gardening as a chore that old people did. But I am actually starting to really enjoy it. It's rewarding and doesn't feel like work. In a future moneyless society, I would definitely be first in line to do this as opposed to a desk job, despite my smarts being in IT.
That’s how I feel. If money was never a consideration, jobs like these would be done by people that LOVE it. I would totally dedicate my life tending to parks and plants because the task itself is very rewarding, and brings joys to others. At that point you’d be practicing it like an art form.
Being a gardener isn't the worst job. I loved working with my parent's garden after I turned 18. Very relaxing and satisfying work to see what you have done bloom and prosper.
Being the only gardener taking care of 1,536 acres, though, THAT'S a bad job.
Boothby is the “Head Gardener.” He has employees.
Ray Walston once played a Martian. No wonder he was hired here.
Don't forget that the century plus Boothby, is particularly old-fashioned..and prefers doing real work, with his real hands..for himself. And yes..has an extensive work force working, on the many square miles of landscape in and around the academy.
Also, it wouldn't surprise me if boothby were an enlisted or commissioned officer at some point, Keiko O'Brien is a botanist, so clearly an area of study at the academy as well. Also I imagine he delights in entertaining those students just as much as the headstrong future captains.
Boothby was really a Q.
Stop looking at the outward appearances, there is more to Boothby than meets the eye lads.
In Boothby's past, he had a difference with training cadets, and this training flaw resulted in the deaths of a squad of cadets on a "Training Exercise" Boothby then decided if he could not change things for the better, he would maintain the academy grounds, having total control over that limited sphere of influence.
The fact that a great many senior Starfleet officers have fond memories of Boothby, and his insightful wisdom, does make me wonder if there's more to him than we're shown.
He was played, beautifully by Ray Walston, a lovely warm performance.
I would think having an historian would be of the utmost importance seeing as how they have been to a Nazi planet, a gangster planet, a Roman planet and have gone back in time on numerous occasions. Someone has to be around to keep the timeline intact and prevent others giving out formulas for transparent aluminum and make sure communicators aren't left behind accidentally.
Makes for better continuity and logic than the over used trope of a main character that just happens to have a hobby studying the specific time and place important to the episode.
" a Nazi planet, a gangster planet, a Roman planet"
Say whaaat? O_o
@@Briselance Most of them being TOS
Someone has to clean and maintain the tanks the dolphins and whales live in.
I still cant believe anyone thought that was a good idea.
No. The dolphins clean it themselves mate. Keep up.
@@brucechmiel7964 : Kzinti in one of the books made lunch of a dolphin. Who says Star Trek doesn't serve good seafood?
@@brodriguez11000
Dolphins are very much like us,
They have saved many Human lives,
I love Dolphins, and would never hurt or kill or eat one.
I remember feeding fish to Dolphins when I was 9 years old, and the Dolphins were so gentle in how they took food from my hand.
I loved petting and gently scratching them, and they loved the attention.
They can’t even use sonic scrubbers since it would drive the animals crazy
I thought Mott the barber would be on here for sure
It did always seem quite unnecessary for Picard to have a barber...
Wasn't he a civilian & not a member of Starfleet? Maybe that's why he was not mentioned.
@@carenlettofsky3045 In that respect, Boothby shouldn't have been mentioned either. I think this video should have been called something else. Maybe "10 Federation jobs....."
Mott was not in starfleet he was a civilian
@@danielepps8729 as was boothby!
I like to think in my head canon that Boothby is actually an El-Aurian who is secretly watching over people at the Academy. Gardening is his cover, and being on the grounds gives him the ability to “bump into” anyone who needs a good listener.
Boothby was Species 8472 in disguise. 😄
Re: Boothby's job as groundskeeper. It may be hard work, but as the saying goes, "When you love what you do for a living, you'll never work a day in your life". Boothby perfectly personifies that saying. He enjoys the challenges, the work ethic it requires. As a cook, I love what I do. Some days are harder than others, and there's a lot of BS that goes along with the specific "where" I work, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
"Hey you cadets, want to help pick some crab grass, .........look at them run, ........i love my job."
Boothby could be mean at times.
Boothby is a Traveler in every game of Star Trek I run. What can I say, he was favorite Martian.
I was just thinking that Uncle Martin the martian, the teacher in Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Boothby were all the same guy (besides being Ray Walston lol) . Explorer, then Teacher and then Mentor!
This is the kind of stuff that most non-military members don't always realize. What a military base, or starship is, is essentially a city. Unless you have something like droids or holograms, you still need someone to do every job out there. For example, when I said I was in the Air Force, people assumed I was a pilot. My career field was actually Services. So many things full under Services, to include food service, fitness, lodging, mortuary, moral, education, laundry services, and general customer service. There are so many jobs you simply don't think about. When it comes to things like librarian or historian, I'm sure they are skilled in how to find specific data. Sure, they have the computer, but the computer is only as good as the questions you ask it. Really people from the social sciences would be extremely valuable if you are traveling through space and running into different species.
Boothby is the tenured professor of patience. He teaches all of the first year students to take their time and pay attention to detail.
I like to think that Boothby chooses to do things that way.
perhaps he is the Non-emegency Grounds keeper hologram if he has been there that long.
@@andygif290368 - no, he's real, but Zimmerman's hologram is stuck as the Emergency Holographic Groundskeeper...and HATES it!
OMG!!!! You found my dream job: librarian on the Enterprise. Now I really want to join starfleet. I'm ali brarian....so dat.
Hi there, Ali Brarian!
May also be a retired officer...although not sure they'd wear their rank like that if that was the case.
Ali Brarian? So dat? English?
They blow up a lot nowadays, so pick your era carefully. 😉
@@andrewshandle Or a hologram. Based on a librarian from Zimmerman's past.
Officers aboard naval ships have multiple jobs. A pilot might also be a landing safety officer. A supply officer might also be in charge of the ships library
Surely Sean, if you have this many Star Trek uniforms, we need a fashion show video with every uniform you have
Only shows how crappy they look, sadly. They either look odd from the offset or they are made from silly materials like that polyester nightmare of an admirals uniform. I'd really love someone to just sell the real thing!
I imagine Boothby is a character that probably believes mechanical automatons won't have that "human touch" that he takes great pride in. Or he just enjoys the feel of soil between his fingers. Or both.
Boothby seems to enjoy his work. I honestly think that Starfleet Academy just keeps the job around to give him something to do so that he can feel useful. It also doesn't hurt to have the people used to using advanced technology do some actual manual labor to give them some perspective from a lesser-advanced point of view.
As in Federation you don't have to work for money you are free to follow your passions. Boothby apparently linked to be a groundskeeper. There is no harm him working in Academy.
Sisko's dad had a restaurant. Which is unnecessary in time of replicators.
@@Starssinger Yep, exactly my point. The Federation easily COULD do away with "menial jobs" but why would they do that if having them around for those who WANT to do them benefits society by allowing people to pursue their passions and potential? I didn't mean the comment as a dig at Boothby or Federation society. There are probably lots of jobs that people do simply because they like them, and I absolutely love that about the Federation.
@@Starssinger I imagine there were still a few restaurants, be they few and far between, that were replicator free. Cooking is like groundskeeping and various other jobs.
I dont know - star fleet librarian sounds ok, a mix of gold and blue shirts, unlikely to be phasered by the kilingons.... access to bars and restaurants after work and pay at the usual rank rate... sign me up Scotty!
Until, you know the Borg show up and since you are basically a walking library, your ass would be high priority assimilation.
@@brettreed2633 true, but you will have a lot of people in front of you getting assimilated
Yeah, I'd take a job as ship's librarian in a hot minute. And I'm RETIRED!
@@brettreed2633 That depends on what you love to read. Some kinds of subject matter could send the Borg into overload.
pay? you know they don't have money right.
In “Data’s Day,” Worf goes to the store (replicating center) to find a wedding gift for Keiko/O’Brien
And does the DS9 replomat have a wait staff?
Thanks. I was wondering if anyone would make this comment. It seemed a strange oversight.
@@CieJe.Alexander With them working through hundreds of hours of content, it’s nice to catch a stray ball
So disheartening that the ship's librarian is portrayed so stereotypically: Prudish, bespectacled, and shushing.
Well, they'd originally written it for Picard, but Stewart, Frakes and Sirtis kept giggling so much Frakes finally pulled some disapproving-looking 3rd A.D. or makeup/costuming person and gave Picard's lines to her.
Or so I like to think....
Worse the common perception is that librarians sit around all day and read for recreation. I don’t know about that, for when I’m at work, I’m reading professional literature, email from my boss, the preface and perhaps introduction to books when I’m cataloging to find out the subject matters, taking training courses, and nowadays programming, both instructional workshops for the patrons and computer applications. Sounds like real work to me?
Who has time to read for recreation while on the job?
@@Mnogojazyk Agreed - someone who can search the massive databases that would be available to Starfleet would be super helpful, even if the computer can do a lot of it, someone has to make sense of it all. Same with historian; there's so many details that would be necessary that it would totally make sense to have someone that specialized.
I always thought most librarians chose that role because they enjoy peace and quiet.
Look at the librarians on the magicians
Having all the knowledge I starfleet at your fingertips is one thing, being able to know how to find what you need requires the skill of a librarian. ;-)
Could you imagine the “waste” in a holodeck?
jaysus!
"Computer end simulation"
*splop*
I don't know how that would work you use a holographic lavy to pish in. Computer end programme should be all over the floor lol
Let's face it, if you're supposed to clean the holodeck, your job title is jizz mopper.
After Riker is done with it? I can imagine, I just don't want to. There are constant references to "pleasure mazes" in DS9. And holoprograms with "two or three Orion slave girls".
On the Boothby thing, I know this will sound crazy to anyone under the age of 30 but some people actually prefer doing tasks without aid of advanced technology, especially gardening.
Blasphemy. Heretic. How dare you spout such profanity, lol. I work in construction and I see that crap every day. It really grinds my gears.
I'm the same way. I do blacksmith work on the side, no power hammers or such for me. Part of the fun hitting things with hammers.
theory: could the librarian be a hologram to add a bit of atmosphere and be a quick reference guide?
I like this theory, but I don't think they'd put the hologram in a uniform let alone with a rank pips. The EMH didn't have the usual CMO pips/rank.
@@chrishatherley3531 maybe, but this hologram would have been more advanced than the EMH so maybe it was added for more immersion
Maybe that will be the norm in the 25th century. Also, do you think there should be a show in that century? Maybe in the 2420s?
@@RandomYT05_01 I dunno. It would be interesting to see Star Fleet a few decades after the dominion war for sure. Personally I've always wanted a mini prequel series focussing on bajor and the occupation. Kinda like what Caprica did with Battlestar Galactica.
@@RandomYT05_01 the way Discovery is going it looks like they want to remove themselves from the timeline as much as possible, so who knows
Re: Mr. Kosinski...clearly you''ve never met an executive consultant in the corporate world. I imagine that character was specifically written with people like that in mind, especially getting someone like Stanley Kamel who has such a punchable face to play the roll . :)
Taking credit for other people's work yet not having any real responsibilities associated with a real role is perfect for consultants like that, it means they can float from ship to ship making minor adjustments to engines and never staying long enough to see anything through. So his "rank" pin might be like how when as a consultant you get given credentials and temporary security passes (and in some cases, security clearance) to enter your client's offices and be treated a pseudo-employee. So despite the uniform, people could see he is not an officer.
I though that pin was a civilian rank or a NCO equivalent.
That absolutely sounds like the most likely explanation for his position.
Re: Stanley Kamel's punchable face though... When I saw him in the series "Monk" as his psychiatrist I was fully prepared to dislike him from the beginning entirely due to his part in TNG. But, the tables are flipped. I usually feel more sympathy for Kamel's character and sometimes want to punch the other guy, haha.
I just thought he was a conman... is there a difference 🤔
Yeah, I straight up thought "it must be an 'overpayed consultant'" pin
That's basically what I thought about the character. If he went through "usual" channels (rising through merit) I'm very sure his deficiencies would have been quickly sussed out, exposing him as a fraud. Of course then, he would have been of no use to the Traveler, who was trying to stay off of everyone's radar.
He had to be a special consultant with little to no oversight to get away with that act for as long as he did!
What about the Teachers on the Enterprise D? Talk about bomb drills, how many times was the Self-destruct set on that ship and they needed to deal with the kids?
Oh man lifeboat drills. Wonder how many times they had to retrieve a pod because some handsy kid activated the launch sequence?
Boothby has the most awesome job! He does what he loves, sees everything, knows everyone and is completely overlooked... He's probably the top ranking founder of the Sigma 7 or whatever secret service of starfleet
I'm an electrical engineer... However during recession, Brexit, Covid or other quiet periods have fallen back to gardening work (Anything not to watch day time TV!)... Much nicer than engineering, relaxing and rewarding. If money had been abolished and all work considered on equal footing, then I'd be a gardener any day!
Someone to ensure all the pyrotechnics were replaced when an electrical system randomly explodes.
Proof that the worst job is electrician seeing as how they're so bad at it.
Yessss! Shields are hold, but ever other console is smoking and sparking as if CPUs were running on super-high voltage, or more likely blackpowder.
... working hand in hand with the a member of the geological department... to ensure each console also gets it's allotment of rocks.
"Ships stores" is not "a store": it's a nautical term that refers to basically everything that isn't a permanent part of the vessel and is needed to keep the thing running. This includes everything from food and clothing, to all the spare parts, to the fuel itself, to the medical supplies is all "ships stores". It's "stored" all over the place: storerooms, supply closets, galley, sickbay, armory. Even when something is given to a crewmember, it's part of ships stores and the quartermaster is supposed to know where everything is, right down to power packs for your phaser. Now, a ship like Enterprise D certainly has one or more conventional "stores" (although they probably call them "shops") and they may even have civilian shopkeepers or shop owners.
I find it weird that Kirk would requisition period clothing from "ships stores" in a generic fashion, because the quartermaster isn't going to know how to put that together. I'd expect a ship whose mission includes observing other cultures and making first contact to have some sort of "costumer" on a ship who gets the info from the specialists on that culture, gets the requisite materials from ship's stores, and puts it all together.
Thank you. Was going to post a comment about the the ships stores, but no need now.
@@claian12 You're welcome.
Re Mr. Kosinski: it would seem to me that he would be the Starfleet equivalent of a warrant officer. They tend to be extremely specialized in a particular field, as opposed to the more general knowledge that a regular officer is given. Like, Starfleet wouldn't take a propulsion specialist and assign him to be a science officer on a vessel. In the US military, other officers tend to address them as Mr/Ms as opposed to using a rank designation. As to his rank insignia, it's actually rather similar to what the US Army uses for their WO (black squares on a silver background instead of white).
I always thought he was a civilian expert
@@SevCaswell But then why did he wear the uniform and any rank insignia? No, he's clearly Starfleet.
Worf’s adoptive father identifies “Chief” Miles O’Brien as a Chief Petty Officer, so they do have NCO ranks.
@@isaackellogg3493 Yes. But they didn't have insignia for those ranks before DS9. Then they had those patches for CPO, MCPO etc.
Oooooooooo........ that last one killed the list! I always pictured the Gardner working on the grounds as a passion project! He might have been given the position as an honor!
Being a bartender, who basically goes to the replicator and says what the other person wants. That's a bad job!
Yes. It makes completely no sense that they have a staffed bar in ten forward.
@@GregorBarclay It's a bar. The entire concept is mood for socializing. People can stay home and drink now, but look how many were chomping at the bit for bars to reopen.
Yes, the _setting_ of the bar is for socializing, but what about the _bartender_ as a person??
@@UGNAvalon atmosphere and authenticity. They computer isn't that great at giving suggestions.
Guinan kept non-replicated stuff on board. Presumable she hand mixed drinks too. The replicator's just when you're on a hurry or don't care. Plus you can't actually get drunk on synthahol.
Personally, I'd rather be groundskeeper at the Academy than being waste extraction on board a ship, especially from the holodecks. lol
Also, people actually like tending gardens. And to do it in Starfleet where there are always new faces and endless stories.. Compared to my present job, it's really not that bad!
Exception: Boothby is like the Hagrid character. Good guy, great character, instrumental in the affairs of cadets but got sidelines for something out of his control, e.g. Astrophobia(?) but expert in botany and Human Capitol Management. Hence grounds keeper.
I think it's more "ship's stores" as in things stored on the ship rather than a "ship's store" as in a retail space....
Yeah, I wondered about that.
So it would probably fall more under what we'd think of as a quartermaster.
The way I look at it, Bothby choose to do it. My grandfather was a nursryman, and after he retired, he still went in, and tended to his plants.
Find a job you love and you never have to work any day
Mr Kosinksi sounds like literally every middle manager in the Civil Service.
Sounds like you've not seen his episode. While the episode is important for understanding the arc of Wesley Crusher's character development over the course of the entire series, the character of Kosinski is depressingly pathetic.
@@BS-vx8dg "the character of Mr Kosinski is depressingly pathetic"
That's what I was saying... And yes, I have seen it.
I'd imagine they'd be legal officers whose job would be to know the laws on each planet the ship visits and advice the crew in advance. That, to me sound like the worst. Only because, either the ship never arrives (and all the research is wasted) or the crew ignores what they're told and causes an issue which needs to get fixed.
The law is TPD unless TPD is ignore it.
The fact that Ray Walston, who originally played Uncle Martin on the 1963-1966 American TV show, "My Favorite Martian", got the opportunity he was denied in that TV show to play an actual, more serious alien (rather than just a sitcom alien) before he passed away in 2001 is one example of justice in the universe. Or the multiverse. Or something
In Star Trek Online Boothby is referred to as "the Boothby Hologram". So either he has been replaced by a Hologram or he was a Hologram the entire time and is just there to help future Starfleet officers.
Boothby can't be a hologram unless the grounds of Starfleet have holo-emitters everywhere. The holo-emitter the Doctor has in Voyager was 29th century technology they acquired through a time travel mishap in Future's End. So the Boothby of TNG wouldn't have had access to one. And for the massive grounds of Starfleet Academy to have holo-emitters everywhere would have required a lot of power.
STO takes place in the early 25th century. Even with Federation life extension I don't think the original Boothby would live that long so they must have replaced him with a hologram version.
That is because Boothby died. They replaced him with a hologram. Which is kind of messed up. Remember when Quark set up a hologram of Morn while Dax and some others just learned he died?
Boothby is implied to have died by 2409, since one of the dedication markers is for him.
Boothbie is secretly the head of Starfleet, probably owns the building the academy is in and he is just out tending his garden and getting to know all the future captains or maybe he is the head of section 31 and is pumping them for information as well as pruning the flowers and handing out solid life advise haha
A theory was posted by RUclipsr RyanEdits that Boothby is a hologram put there to help cadets.
I was about to post that same thing.
This. Most of his fan theories are obviously jokes (though even then sometimes credible), but his Boothby theory is too good to dismiss.
I thought he was an El Aurian like Guinan?
@@Lans32485 that’s another interesting theory I’ve seen touted around
Boothby is the most amazing character. He single handedly maintains the pristine look of the Starfleet Academy grounds all while having enough time to mentor many of the officers in training.
I would kill to be ship's historian. That would be a perfect job for me. Seems like all I have to do is to study history all day and barely have to talk to anyone ever.
That job exists in real life, go for it 😀
“Barely have to talk to anyone ever” - considering how often exploratory ships have to consult historical records in order to better understand the situations they’re in…..
Be the best job for someone who was either frozen in time or accidentally time traveled. What work is there for someone from 200 years in the past? Well you are basically a living museum piece. Discuss your daily life, talk about current events from the time you left, etc. Learn and read up on what you missed and basically you are a living history teacher.
I've known a few head groundskeepers over the years and the one thing they all have in common is their love and passion for what they do. It never seems to matter how large their staff is they're always out and about keeping their hands in the dirt and caring for just about everything that grows. I have always seen Boothby as the perfect portrayal of a groundskeeper.
As for ship historians... Anyone who has ever known someone with an advanced degree in history can verify, they are just as obsessed with their period of history interests. They would be the ones that everyone would go to for anything related to a specific period of time, including the Quartermaster and librarian. It's one thing to look up a specific time period, it's entirely another to get the information from someone with as intimate a knowledge of it as a historian.
Uh...all these jobs make perfect sense for Starfleet.
Having a study library makes sense. Starfleet personnel often study for advancement courses, so having a space devoted to study, and having a central repository. Also, librarians mostly help with finding information, so a Starfleet Librarian makes a lot of sense
ships historian on the flagship makes sense when you remember how often various incarnations of the enterprise end up in the past do to time travel
Librarian I bet are only on larger ships and it's likely that their job is mostly to study and cataloging of new cultures books and literature possibly also working on building the dictionary for a new races languages
a court reporter is likely simply a role that is filled by Junior JAG officers as in JAG at some point you will fill every job in a courtroom save Baliff if you are in long enough
there is also a theory that Boothby is a Q whose job is to keep an eye on Starfleet cadets and make note of ones with potential
Also not all crew are going to have full access to all the ships systems or the star fleet database. Im sure most of the junior ranks have to use the library because they dont have the clearance to just have full access to all ships systems and databases. And the librarian is there to monitor access to certain info or to give or deny access on a case by case basis. Also you might have guests on ship that you cant let have full access to all ship systems or data.
Yea Starfleet is probabbly counting days until the current enterprise does a time travel xD i mean feels like everybody is timehooping all the time
" Spock, have you seen my log book?".
" I believe the ships historian is checking it for accuracy , Captain."😂
A librarian would also be there to help you research.
I would presume there is some Marine Bioligist working in Cetacean Ops too!
What about the guy who has to wait in the transporter room all day long until someone wants to beam down to a planet? :D
Or worse: is trying to relax with their PADD when suddenly, EMERGENCY TRANSPORT! NUMEROUS CASUALTIES! WHAT’S TAKING YOU SO LONG?!
@@UGNAvalon Also, just like the bridge tactical station, the transporter rooms need a seat
The Holodeck waste extraction system.
The canisters Mariner was holding were full of...
Oh, thank you for the wonderful picture.
boothby may say he has the best job in starfleet
Boothby reminds me of the head Gardner of the local university. He was well in his 70’s and you can find him working on the university grounds gardening. He loved his job so much he had a weekly half hour show on tv about gardening. He always had a big smile and was very nice to talk to. I wouldn’t call it the worst job when the gardner loved it so much he did it way past retirement age.
"Kazinski has a job he's unqualified for, can't be fired from" -- basically, that's a significant percentage of every bureaucracy ever.
Sounds like a cover for Starfleet Security who well knows the Traveler was responsible for the warp changes, and was his "handler".
@@8Biit - "Don't mind him, Wesley - he's my Babysitter and Cover Story."
::Wesley polishes his glasses on his tie, neither of which he was wearing in the last shot!::
"Someone to watch your back, Toby? Do you also have a few pavement artists on this ship as well...?"
::puts glasses back on, blinks owlishly::
I'd actually forgotten about that cameo from Max Grodenchik (Rom on DS9). It's a shame they cut that and Quark's cameos from Insurrection. But I'm glad you included "Turbolift Control" as that was the first thing that sprang to mind when seeing this video.
I can see why they would want an earth historian on Kirk's Enterprise... They seemed to encounter civilisations based on earth's past all the time!
When I was Operations Officer on the USS MERRIMACK (AO-179), I was also the ship's historian. I got this job by being the only officer in MERRIMACK's wardroom with a history degree. My only job in that capacity was to write the final ship's history when she was decommissioned. It was quite fun, and I discovered the identity of the ship's ghost (a job y'all missed by the way).
Lt. Marla McGivers must be the worst ship's historian ever. She had one job, but it ended up being the Enterprise senior staff who determined Khan's true identity. All she did was betray Starfleet (although she redeemed herself at the end).
She knew who Khan was at first sight. She just kept it from the crew because she wanted to sleep with him.
When it comes to the court reporter, that could just be a secondary role that regular crew members take when needed.
One presumes duties of a librarian on board a starship would chiefly involve the integration of works of art and literature acquired from alien trade and contact into Memory Alpha, and preparation, digitization, and preservation of any hard copies of said works. So, maybe not as useless as it may seem at first blush.
Librarians can also specialize in research. While the computer systems handle most of that in starfleet it wouldnt be hard to imagine the ships librarian as being respobible for updating such programing when necessary (ergo Memory Alpha duties).
I would argue that Boothby's job was one of the most important jobs at Starfleet Academy. He was always available to provide promising young candidates a stress-free environment where they could be guided towards resolving whatever issue they were facing.
The EMH Mark 1 - it was such a huge flop in Starfleet that they were rounded up and used as labour in the mines of asteroids. That's gotta be a worse job.
that never made sense to me. why didn't they just delete them.
5:38 I don't believe that Rand meant "ship's store" as in a place for shopping, but more like the magazine/storage area where general items, supplies, wears, tools, etc are kept, often in bulk and especially for long term.
I'm thinking some of these kinds might be in addition to their other responsibilities. The librarian and historian could easily be the same person. Likewise, I can see the court reporter being like a pubic notary, where many do it part-time.
Boothby no doubt served to impart wisdom to many a young cadet. There were of course several positions on board a ship that did not seem important, until they were.
Librarians could be historians maybe 🤷♂️
This is my view. The "library" could be more an office where a team could work on a research assignment together, collaborating.
Also used for guests or transporting a travler to have access to star fleet data bases, you dont always want your guests to have full access to all systems. And you might not want junior officers to have full access to the same systems as a captain and or classified info. So you have a library on ship.
@@braddl9442 What you say makes sense, though on-screen we've seen many times when a crew member shows a guest how to access the library computer from their quarters. Troi does this in "The Neutral Zone."
@@NeilBlumengarten Or where junior officers and cadets or guests would go to use the DATABASE. Since they would not be given full access like a captain. The librarian would prob be the one organizing data the ship would upload to starfleet in a organized fashion. And prob control access to classified data.
yea seems whoever did the list tended to forget that starfleet is mainly exploratory vessels. The whole "seek out new life and new civilizations " thing, you dont think they just leave it up to the computers and what ever random ensign alone to put in and keep track of all the data of there travels . let alone the new data coming in from other ships they would have some type of human( or alien) specialist behind it making sure the data is stored correctly.
Given how long Boothby seems to have been at starfleet academy I think its more than feasable he's either secretly an El-Aurian or part of an, as yet unknown, race similar to the Q but takes on a more guiding and helpful role.
he does hand out a lot of wise and usful information. I would not be surprised to find him turn up in Discovery with a new look (given the actor died in 2001)
"a starship's space is at a premium" not for ships like the enterprise, they are basically space cities when you look at the sheer number of crew they have.
The D had something like 70,000 sq ft per person.
Retired librarian here. Male. Public reference, West Point Military Academy, and director of a public library. Don’t worry, we’ll have things ready for the next cycle of civilization to rise from the ashes of the present one you are destroying.
Court reporter might be a second hat. The officer could have a regular job on the ship, but can be called upon to serve as a court reporter when needed. It's kind of like how a lot of bank officers are also notary publics.
I actually have an answer for the Ship's Historian, because I briefly was a Wing Historian in the US Air Force. That job was maybe 1/3 a matter of knowing history (specifically the units' histories, not whatever era you studied in school). The other 2/3 were split between maintaining the units' archives / keeping tabs on any artifacts you have and an ongoing process of recording the units' experiences as they happen. So it's a much more active, LIVING role than the "historian" you might find in a museum, university, or historical site who is mostly focused on having knowledge about a past era.
That could be useful for almost any ship because, as ships are off exploring and doing things, it means there's someone aboard who specializes in recording what has happened, what lessons have been learned, and what artifacts you've collected. They could also be tasked with making sure the lessons are passed on to the wider Federation. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew can go back to making sure the engines are running, the ship's heading in the right direction, waste disposal systems are working, and all the other things that don't stop because a notable event happened.
Need to find the medallion the away team picked up on Rigis-5? The Historian will know where it's kept. And it would probably be a historian who filed one of the first reports that Zaldans are angered by what humans would consider simply courteous behavior.
This list made me think of the old Eddie Izzard bit about TOS that included Steves from Accounts
Star Fleet librarian: Standard uniform, Strict attitude to service, must wear big glasses on end of nose. Have the ability to shush loudly at times. Wear hair bun style, if female, have ability to handle any practical jokes from any one, and expell them from library.
Apply at Star Fleet H.Q..
Groundskeepers have a staff. The head position is called, “Groundskeeper”.
Yeah, just ask Willie.
@@FriendlyNeighborhoodNitpicker , Free Willy.
It is possible that some of these positions like Librarian, Historian, Quartermaster and Court Reporter are just secondary duties of a qualified personnel in related fields onboard or volunteering as such due to personal hobbies, etc. Also, it might be wise not to pay too much attention to those pips, only because it took Chief O'brien 7 seasons of DS9 to finally get a canon insignia on his collar.
Quartermaster is a very important job on any ship. They're in charge of all equipment and materiel from uniforms to phaser rifles. The quartermaster is the guy who ensures that all the right bits and pieces are picked up from starbases and makes sure there's plenty of spare parts.
As a retired Public Librarian, I would have loved to be a Librarian for Starfleet! Librarians are awesome, of course!
There's a fun part of the game Elite Force where you go to Voyager's deck 15 and the guy there has no idea what he's supposed to be doing. He keeps asking people, first Tuvok, then Chakotay and eventually Janeway and they just say "I'll get back to you"
5 years later and he's been privately making video games to keep himself busy.
I always assumed that jobs like "court reporter" were done by people who had other positions on the ship, but then had special training/certification to do this one specialized thing that might come up on occasion.
Ship historian is pretty necessary. These ships either travel back in time with some regularity, or encounter planets that are very similar to earth of the past. They can't go talking about LDS or having Russian crew members asking about nuclear "wessels" if they want to keep their cover, not to mention the old clothes they always seem to need.
I just assumed that Boothby had several assistant groundskeepers under him but that he made such a strong impression on the students he mentored that they only remembered him and that as the head of the groundskeepers he could arrange for his assistants to work out of sight when heard one of his former students was visiting -- thus giving the impression that he tended the grounds by himself.
Boothby, to me, came off as a person who was the do it yourselfer, taking great pride in his job at Academy Groundskeeper.
I'm pretty sure that court reporter would have been one function among many of a security officer
I really like when Ray Walston, (Uncle Martin of My Favorite Martian fame,) is featured several times on the series, as the grounds keeper of Starfleet Academy.
The Ships Historian makes sense, if you remember, that Starfleet's main mission statement is exploration. Thus the flagsheep would likely encounter previously unknown civilisations, or remnants thereof. Having someone onboard, capable of studying and cataloguing these people's histories comes in handy.
I've read multiple comments about people being there to help Boothby, although I'd like to posit a different theory. Boothby serves as a counselor/set of eyes for the Academy, tending to the plants, less because they need him to, and more because there are probably some students who could use someone to talk to and it'd be easier to start talking to the caretaker who just 'happens' to start making small talk around you than going to an office to talk to someone.
If those outdoors was in a non-polluted San Francisco, I'll take that job.
I don't think Boothby is "just the groundskeeper," I think he takes care of the grounds as a passion project while being an informal advisor to cadets.
As a professional librarian myself, I can say that the librarian depicted in this episode of Star Trek is more 20th century than it is 24th century or 21st century for that matter. We are now information resource managers because we track and preserve information in all its forms*, recording its responsible parties, formal and informal titles, production dates and parties, and assigning formal subjects and some informal subjects, among other tasks, so that the information can be retrieved. Public libraries in the U.S. lend clothes to underincomed patrons for job interviews, formal family occasions, etc. We also teach skill workshops or arrange for them to be taught in the library space.
Libraries are not quite the silent structures that they were supposed to be. Libraries may have silent zone to facilitate intense study and reading, but much of the library is bustling with traffic, conversation, and so forth. Even in my childhood, the local public library was noisy in some areas, but quiet in others.
The reference librarians now do and teach ready reference, i.e., the type of questions that Google searching can answer, e.g., "Is June 14 a national holiday in the U.S.?" But more often than not, reference librarians help people find materials they cannot find themselves; or relieve them of searching for information so that the patron can attend to other matters. Some librarians even go on the Dark Web to do so under limited circumstances.
As for the educational complaint, the reason librarians have so much education, especially in academic and research settings, stems from the ignorance among librarians after World War II. My mentors tell me that too many librarians knew too little to help adequately with research and development, so the educational requirements were intensified. As time passed, technical expertise became increasingly important. Nowadays, an academic librarian is expected to have a master's degree in addition to the library and information science degree; and many also earn a doctorate -- often not in librarianship. I studied for one in theoretical linguistics myself.
While some librarians may be stern and condemnatory as the librarian in this episode is, but that is not the norm. That is a stereotype of a bygone era. Hecko, Marion Pugh from The Music Man is plucky and Katherine Hepburn's librarian in Desk Set is assertive. Both are now sixty-five years old or older.
Footnote
* Many libraries are digitizing books that have fallen out of copyright protection. Books still appear in Star Trek, however. Witness Samuel Cogley in "Court Martial" and the books that Picard reads in various episodes. So books are not done yet even if many technophiles would have be so.
The Enterprise-E librarian isn't the only one to wear glasses. It's explained in The Wrath of Khan that Kirk has an allergy to (I believe it's called) retinal. That's why Bones gave him a pair of glasses for his birthday. The Enterprise D's librarian could also have a similar problem. Besides Geordie wore a visor for more than 7 years (plus one movie).
I'm sure it's been mentioned before, but in Star Trek online they even have a boothby hologram tending the grounds, as apparently he's just that iconic.
Maybe groundskeeper isn't his job, but it's just what he likes to do. Maybe he just showed up one day and started cleaning up the place and continued to do it for 30 years to the point where the academy just disabled the automation
The actor who played Boothby, Ray Walston, was the lead actor on another science fiction TV series called My Favorite Martian from 1963 to 1966.