My Rare Books prof was a fountain of great quotes today as we discussed proper training and security measures for special collections departments of libraries. Also of note was "digital preservation is an oxymoron." That one can lead to quite a debate on my campus, one that I don't feel like getting in the middle of right now.
The odd thing about today was how slowly time seemed to move. For the past few weeks we've been meeting for an extra hour in order to make up for a session he had to miss because of a misunderstanding and a rare books festival in California. But today we were back to only 3 hours of class, yet it felt just as long as last week. For the first half of class I had trouble staying awake and focused, and after break I just had trouble staying focused. From my seat I could see out the window, and a series of white trolleys driving by stole my attention.
The other thing that distracts me in class is the presence of the interpreters for our deaf classmate. There are two women who sit in the front and translate everything our professor says into sign language so that she doesn't miss out on any class content. Well, the women who do this are incredibly expressive. Sometimes I catch myself watching them instead of the professor, just to see how they will communicate the tone of his sarcasm and jokes. I'm even picking up a few signs, including, today, the one for "invasion." It involves bringing the right hand down on the left with fingers splayed, kind of like an alligator action mixed with spirit fingers. I almost giggled out loud when I saw that one, and committed it to memory in case it should ever prove useful. You never know what the next story idea will develop from.
-Kim
Librarian, You're a grand old
12 years ago
