I was wondering what the class thought of having gone to visit Zimmerman library as a class yesterday! As for me, it was incredibly informative and really stunning to know that the rooms we were shown yesterday contain more hands-on material and information than I could imagine. It was a great chance to not only get to know the library, but to see truly how much it has to offer students, and how much information we can all get for our research on our papers. I also enjoyed the presentations by the three women, and getting to see each of them in their element, talking to us of all the opportunities the library and research present to us, as well as actual material from different authors was great.
So my question to everyone is what were your impressions? Was there anything you would've liked to see? Did anything disappoint you? What were your impressions on the presenters? Will you use the materials they presented in the future?
I was very grateful that we had a chance to learn about the library. The library is, unfortunately, a resource that I don't utilize nearly enough. After learning about all the materials they have, I will definitely be going back to look at some of their vertical files. Of course, I am doing Tony Hillerman for my research paper, so it would be a shame if I didn't at least take a look at their plethora of materials on him.
ReplyDeleteI liked the presenters, and I appreciated that they took the time to speak with us. They probably don't get very many people using their resources often enough, so I am sure they would be happy to see any of us in the library sometime soon.
I had no idea nay of that stuff was back there, which surprised me. I work on the 3rd floor of the library (with CAPS), so I am in the library almost every day. I also spent the spring 2012 semester basically living in the library. It is open all night during the week, and I would stay until 3 or 4 am multiple times a week. (That was a rough semester). I thought I knew the library pretty well, but I had never had a reason to go onto the west wing, so I never did. I wish I had. I have done a few research type projects for other classes where I could have really used the archives. Now that I know they are there I will definitely be utilizing them! I also never understood what a the difference between a “primary source” and a “secondary source” was. In classes that asked for primary sources, It was always the textbook or a handout from the class and the secondary sources was the research I did, so it didn’t really make sense to me, but now that I am aware of the archives, I realized what a primary source actually is, and that I had just never knew that I had access to them!
ReplyDeleteThe presentation was highly informative. I am doing Rudolfo Anaya and like you said Anna, it would be a shame not to use their resources. I think we have a unique opportunity to look at their stuff. How amazing is it that we have the opportunity to touch the papers that they did! It is really exciting. I am definitely looking forward to spending a Saturday morning in the West Wing and looking through the archives and seeing the coffee stains.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many students on campus know we have this resource available to us. I bet there are a few students, including those that want to become movie producers or actors, that would like to look through screenplays and how that process unfolded between the author of the book and the director/ screen play writer. It is also really amazing how much you can learn from someone through their creative process in their writing and scribbles in manuscripts.
As far as the library itself goes, I am not a big library resource person, I guess you could say. I stay away from the library, especially Zimmerman, because I feel like there are too many people and I feel confused with the amount of rooms and resources available. However, my opinion of Zimmerman changed after Monday. I think I will be using Zimmerman library more than what I use to.
I really enjoyed our tour of Zimmerman library. I never knew that there was a whole other room back there. I had no idea of the extensive resources and materials we had on New Mexican writers. I never guessed that we would have original copies of rough drafts of screenplays. When she pulled out a first rough draft of Bless Me Ultima I got really excited and wanted to go to that cool study room and read the whole book that very day.
ReplyDeleteI thought the three women’s presentation were very informational. I had no idea where to start for my research and now I have several sources and vertical files I can look into for my author, and I think I have a thesis in mind for my research paper.
The presentation at the library was outstanding. As many people said there are so many resources there that I had no idea existed. I had never understood just how the library archives worked but now that I have had it explained to me I have an urge to go there and browse through them for hours on end. The room in which the archives are kept is a wonderful environment. The second floor in particular intrigued me. Not quite sure why but it just looked amazing.
ReplyDeleteIn the past I didn't realize how great Zimmerman Library is. Even the controversial art is drawing me in. Also the files that are kept in the archive draw me in. The fact that genuine first drafts and manuscripts for books, movies and plays are kept in there is a promise for adventure.