Nothing New Under the Sun: Fun Research Consult

I had my first research consultation in awhile today. My former Bosslady of Reference and Instruction sent a wayward English major wrestling with an advanced-level political science paper my way. The student's paper was a comparison of rhetorical techniques used by women candidates during campaigns. An interesting topic, and my old polisci-nerd self was excited.


In the course of helping the student wrestle her topic into a shape she wanted, while keeping to the recommended direction given by the course professor, I recommended that she try to stick to female candidates who ran at the same level, with similar stakes. The student noted that out of her initial list of female politicians, Condoleeza Rice hadn't had to run for anything, and so didn't have similar speeches as Palin and Clinton, and that O'Donnell was running at a completely different level.


Older librarians may well laugh, but I prodded the student. "You know, Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin were not the only women to vie for presidential/vice-presidential honors." I got a confused look in return. "Her name escapes me, but there was a female VP candidate way back in the 80s when I was wee." (Give me a break, I was five for that election, and my polisci chops are in international relations *grin*.) Seconds later, Geraldine Ferraro on the monitor, her speech transcripts beside those of Clinton and Palin, footage of her speeches and commercials during the campaign on YouTube along with the other womens'. The student's eyes went wide as we listened to Ferraro accept the VP nomination. They grew even wider at this really fantastic doomsday commercial from the 80s campaign. And her face as Ferraro snapped back at Bush Senior during a debate for sounding patronizing...priceless.


Oh, yes, good stuff. Living in the future is awesome.


Even better was seeing a very young woman's mind churning at top speed, the surprise on her face at the knowledge that yes, this had all happened before. A woman had reached for the Vice Presidency before. The commercials all addressed the concerns of the elderly about the inadequacy of social security, the concerns of parents about health care and education, and protecting jobs. And really, not much in politics at all had changed since 1984.


Some of us take this for granted, this feeling that there is nothing new under the sun, knowing that much of what we see today is more of the same pulled forward from former threads of history. At 31, I'm young enough that it doesn't happen to me often, but when it does -- wow.


It was fun to put my reference librarian hat back on and help a student out with an interesting topic. It was thrilling to see a new young voter doing some hard thinking and connecting dots on her own.

Comments

Mary Jo Finch said…
Don't forget Shirley Chisholm who ran respectably for the Democratic nomination in 1972 "in spite of hopeless odds... to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo." She was a seven-term Congresswoman from NY.
12:42 AM
warmaiden said…
Mary Jo - thank you! Am looking up some information to send to the student on Chisholm. Much appreciated!
8:34 AM
Virginia L. Cairns said…
Bravo! This was exactly what I hoped would happen when I sent the consult your way. I love it when we have these moments where we can see clearly that librarianating is MUCH bigger than just helping find answers to research questions. :-)
11:11 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

First Impressions & Customer Service Failures

We all know how important first impressions are, right? It's sort of like how Anne McCaffrey's dragons "impress" on new dragonriders-to-be. (Yes, I'm feeling nostalgic with a new herd of freshmen on campus.) First impressions are essential, particularly when you're talking about freshmen, wet behind the ears, completely disoriented and overwhelmed by being at a state school for their first college experience, and stressed out by trying to find their classrooms and last-minute add/drops on their schedule. I usually don't think of them this way, because I'm not a fundraiser or in the alumni office, but the University at large should also think about the fact that these are the kids we hope will call this university 'home' even after they leave. (That could be my small liberal arts college experience shining through, though.) If nothing else, due to UTC's abysmal retention rates, you'd think the entire university would be bending over back
Read more

On the Great Myth of the Librarian Grays

Lately, there's been a lot of discussion (and bitching) about the promised graying/retirement within the library profession that was supposed to open up endless job opportunities for new librarians. The LITA-L email list, a recent American Libraries article , and a post by Peter Brantley calling for an overthrow by the young'uns have all been pretty popular topics of late. January 15, 2004, Rachel Singer Gordon published a piece in Library Journal titled "NextGen: Get Over the "Graying" Profession Hype" . I say again: this was 2004. It would appear no one took the advice, given that today - despite very obvious evidence to the contrary, American Libraries just printed an ill-advised article on recruiting undergrads to the profession , citing the graying of the profession as a reason for folks to sign up for library work. Jessamyn West, in her recent post "show us the numbers re: new librarian jobs" , calls for more than the ever-present empty a
Read more

Jobseeker Tip 1: CV/Resume Objectives, And A Contest!

**This blog post is first in a series about job search advice as discussed by my happy band of fellow library hiring managers, and is not related to any particular individual applicant from actual past, current, or future searches. All objectives included below are largely fictional, and any resemblance they may bear to actual CV objectives is the fault of the CV writer** Let's talk about the "Objective" section on your CV or resume. (Or, I'll write, you read.) Delete it. No, really. It's a waste of precious page real estate, and while it offers you the opportunity to shoot yourself in the foot, it doesn't offer a similar-sized boon if you get it right. If you make it library-department and library type specific: "Objective: To obtain a technical services position in an academic library setting" you'll look like a fool if you forget to then tailor that line when you start applying for reference jobs and public library positions. (Don't laugh
Read more