Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Professional Musings

I often curse the compulsion that forced me into a profession that is chilly, quiet, and sedentary. I crave sunlight, fresh air, music!

But weeks like this remind me why I love my job.

In the past two nights, I've helped students find:

books about:

  • Hawaiian political history

  • film editing

  • personal finance

  • introductory physics

  • English grammar

  • ethnography


  • journal articles about:

  • pacific octopus

  • sea turtles

  • the bison massacre

  • cultural influence of fast food


  • a video on tobacco

  • Time magazine articles on microfiche

  • Hawaiian language newspaper birth and death notices from the 1870s.


  • In between patron requests, I'm preparing for two classes I'll be teaching on how to find scholarly journal articles. The instructors have assigned topics like mail order brides, marriage brokers, paternity leave, custody decisions, dating customs in different cultures, and premarital sex.

    As has been recently pointed out, I'm a geek -- an assessment I agree with whole-heartedly, by the way. I'll add to my geekiness quotient now and admit that I enjoy helping people find information.

    Sure, most of them are just trying to finish the assignment, usually “due tomorrow.” But some of them are genuinely interested in their topics and curious to learn. Knowing that I’ve pointed them in the right direction brings a smile to my face. And the ones who make a point to come back to the desk to say ‘Thanks!’ put a smile in my heart.

    For them I’ll suffer the cold, the stale air, and the silence. After all, I can use the ride home to lower the windows and crank the radio.

    4 comments:

    Anonymous said...

    hmmm... all I found was how large the head of human male sperm is (and that took 3 hours!). Maybe I should get out of my office more often... lol

    - jack


    (the word verification looked like some funky form of iloveyou, swear to god. synchronicity is really really freaky)

    Anonymous said...

    (oops)

    Ya done good there, Ma'am!

    Now, I'm looking for various uses for fudge...

    Anonymous said...

    Jack,

    Hey! You never know when that kind of factoid will come in handy! Someday that could be the information that convinces someone to trust us!

    I can help you with that fudge research -- it's not something you should tackle (heh!) alone. I also think the blonde volcano priestesses will help make the process smoother :} So, shall we away to Oceania?

    ~~Daniel

    Anonymous said...

    Daniel ~

    Best idea you've had all year. I'm suited up already. Let's blow this joint...

    - jack