Titles

Today we started our Research Week. Our professor is making sure we're all up to speed on our research skills. We had a quick project where each team was given a historic question. My group was asked to track the problems of prison systems and the changes that were enacted in the 19th Century. Our job was to find a primary source for each member of the group, six of us, to develop a thesis that would lead to further research, and to present our findings to the class. My particular source was the second annual report of the New York Prison Association, which was formed in 1845 to help bring about needed reforms in the state's prison systems. Our group's winning source went to Maria, who found an Ohio tour book put together by a prison warden to advertise how well kept his particular prison was.

Our other excercise, and one which was extremely interesting, was wandering through the stacks to pick out remarkable titles. There were some pretty awesome ones; mine was something like Zohlan on Sculpture, by William Zohlan. The last name is probably incorrect there, but you get the point. Our professors goal with this exercise was to talk about the importance of picking a good title. For someone just browsing the stacks, that's all they'll see, and if it isn't interesting enough there is no reason for them to pick up your book. I highly recommend the idea of browsing through the sections of your library now to check out some of the horribly wonderful titles. You'll know what I mean if you do.

The biggest shocks today were that, first, the library already has space on its shelves for our theses. How terrifying is that? Secondly, we are both encourage and almost expected to submit some of the papers we will write over the next two years for publication. They kept telling us today that we are professionals now, something which it seems I had never processed before. I promise though that I will do my best to place my work here for you to read it, and to help me critique it first! Soon to come, a list of ideas for my thesis.