Monday 24 September 2012

Margaret English, my hero

In Luker's chapter 5, "Reviewing Literature", she gives us 8 steps to get started with your research project. Her second step is on the importance of courting your reference librarian, and what really hit a soft spot for me. There was a point when doing my undergrad, when I really thought that seeking help from anyone (my professor, librarian or even my peers) meant exposing my stupidity. But even more than that, I did not want to be a nuisance, asking people for help. I can really relate Luker's comments on the independent researcher trying to do it all on their own. With so much information out there it is hard to weed through it and find something useful for you and your topic. I spent a lot of my undergrad being overwhelmed in the library stacks and on my laptop, trying to sift through it all.

That is, until Margaret English rode in on her white horse, in shining armour. On the first day of one the most important and influential seminars, Margaret (who is the Art Librarian at U of T) gave us a presentation on library resources that would be helpful to know for our research projects. At the very end she said something along the lines of "if you don't remember anything from this 15 minute presentation, it does matter, because you have me". And we did have her, and we used her, and she did not mind at all.

Lesson learned, take advantage of the most amazing and helpful resource: your friendly neighbourhood/academic librarian. This is their job and what they went to school for after all.

1 comment:

  1. As I read through your post, I couldn't help but be reminded of a quote I have frequently come across online: "Google can bring you back 100,000 answers, a librarian can bring you back the right one" - Neil Gaiman.

    Unlike you, I have never had any one librarian act as a guiding light for my research. I have, however, become a better researcher by working within libraries and learning from librarians throughout my life. It truly is amazing how creative and resourceful these people can be when it comes to finding and acquiring information.

    When one considers the sheer amount of information that exists in the world today, the diversity of information systems within which this information is stored, and the myriad ways in which it can be accessed, retrieved, modified, translated and converted... it is understandable that Luker (2008) would consider librarians to be "... among the greatest human beings in the universe" (p.85), for they are the ones who exist at the front lines of these perpetual developments and must constantly adapt in order to survive.

    When the time comes to roll up your sleeves and immerse yourself in the literature, "Only a reference librarian can teach you the tricks of the various [information] systems and direct you to the ones you most need." (Luker, 2008, p.86). Sure, you could read books, or watch online instructional videos, or seek out websites or PDF tutorials on how to navigate the literature of a subject, but the most useful knowledge will inevitably come from experience - and reference librarians, especially subject-specific ones, often have plenty of experience to draw from when guiding a researcher.

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