More on My Love Affair

Korrin B.

May 30, 2009 - 3:00 PM

I have stated in previous posts that I have found my true love - the library. Yes, it sounds nerdy, but it is kind of a special place with amazing resources. This past week, I have spent an extraordinary amount of time in the Knight Library. It should be less enjoyable than it has been. However, although the stress is real, the excitement of the process mostly outweighs it.

I have two large research papers due this term - both on the same day. My first one is in my nonprofit class. I am writing that one on how public schools can benefit from cooperation with local nonprofit organizations. My second paper is for my Honors College literature class. For that one, I am writing about how settings in the novel Maud Martha by Gwendolyn Brooks help the reader better understand Chicago city living during the 1930's and 1940's.

My nonprofit paper is primarily interview-based. However, I need several types of resources for my Honors College paper. I was initially frustrated when I started my research process for this one because every book I wanted from the library was checked out already. Our library happens to have an amazing service for if this should happen though. It is called Summit and it saved me this week!

Summit is a service offered on the UO library website. It searches for the book you want in several different universities throughout the northwest. Then, if it is available in one of those libraries, you can request to have it sent to you. It arrives in about two to three days and you get to keep it for about a month. I requested about eight books from Summit last week and they have all arrived!

Besides offering the amazing service of Summit, the UO library also understands a student's need for late night inspiration. The Knight Library is open 24 hours. This past week, I spent many days in the library until somewhere between the hours of 1:00am and 3:00am. Some of my best work came from those wee hours of the morning.

Research can be quite tedious and is definitely time consuming. However, it kind of pays off when you realize that you're sitting there in the library reading the actual manuscript of a housing conference held in Chicago in 1939. So cool! The library houses amazing things.

I have most of the research done, so now comes the writing of the two papers, both due the Monday of finals week. Week 10 is going to be exhausting...