“Back to the Stacks” as sung to the tune of “Back to the Shack,” by Weezer Sorry guys I didn’t realize you researched so much I thought I’d get new the audit done, I forget that admin sucks I ended up staring at spreadsheets feeling numb Maybe I should staff the desk and get some…
While reading author Lev Grossman’s 2004 book Codex I came across a brilliant scene where the protagonist Edward Wozny, a “hotshot young banker” bizarrely drafted to catalog a client’s un-described, crated library, makes a number of common first time researcher mistakes. Before processing the books Wozney’s employers warned him to watch for a particular book…
Originally posted on A (Budding) Sociologist's Commonplace Book:
As some readers of this blog may know, there’s been a debate over the past few years about what to do with a large collection of archival material held by the American Sociological Association. Specifically at issue are the editorial records of the ASA journals (ASR,…
These selected episodes of This American Life emphasize the soft sciences and humanities as explored through oral history, texts, and primary sources. See below for a more detailed explanation of what I mean. If you regularly partake of This American Life via airwave radio or streaming telephonics-based radio, I encourage you to donate so that…
The Library of Congress classification for anarchism is HX 821-970.9 and Dewey is 335. I know these because the clicks of a keyboard once made me a representative of the Society of American Anarchists–Student Chapter. I was mistaken as an anarchist following a meeting run by a Madison, Wisconsin bank. In the spring of 2011…
Like many people of my generation I read Lois Lowry’s 1993 dystopian children’s novel The Giver for school. Without the Internet or a cabal of busybodies I was ignorant of any controversy surrounding its inclusion in middle school reading lists; to this day it continues to be among a small but pathologically challenged collection of…
The Queen-inspired musical We Will Rock You is conducting its 10th anniversary tour throughout 2013 and into 2014. I had the pleasure of seeing it opening night at the Hippodrome in Baltimore on October 15. Although some of the writing and themes did not sit right with me, on the whole I enjoyed myself but…
The 2013 restoration of the meeting hall for the Annapolis City Council Chambers, as part of a $521,000 renovation and restoration of City Hall attracted a fair bit of coverage this past year as Aldermen and private citizens gave their two cents. In a historic city such as Annapolis where the character and provenance of…
Every so often I escape the bubble of my life and am reminded that my experiences and interests, both personally and professionally, may not be understood by those around me. The latest occurrence was the last Saturday before the 2013 Academy of Certified Archivists test as I returned a University of Maryland Libraries book, Kate…
I spent much of the last week trying to understand what will probably be my last case study for the Legacy of Slavery in Maryland project. Following a review of my techniques in the Schweninger Collection reappraisal I found a handful of potential case studies for myself and one for a colleague. I re-examined a…
This past week was more eventful than usual inasmuch as I was involved with two events–a radio interview on the Eastern Shore and a presentation in Annapolis. On Thursday the 16th, senior Legacy of Slavery in Maryland employee Maya Davis and I traveled to Cambridge, MD in Dorchester County to be interviewed by Dr. Kay…
Even though my fellowship at the Maryland State Archives is wrapping up I still feel the crunch of demands. On April 27, I served as a judge for the state-wide competition of National History Day and for the last several weeks I’ve revised and improved my documents in the classroom exercise. Arranging a ride to…
Just checking in. I have no clever title nor unifying theme to share with everyone. I judged for Maryland History Day on April 27 but I’d prefer to let my thoughts simmer before I publish them. I spent much of my last two weeks performing test queries for the new mdlandrec website. The current website,…
This past week I had the pleasure of hosting my mother, Fran, during her visit to Maryland. Although the purpose of this visit was naturally to see me, I made sure that we saw everything that central and southern Maryland had to offer. We visited: The Baltimore Inner Harbor/Camden Yards (the Twins won the series…
Since August 26, 2012, I have happily lived in Maryland. Technically I was supposed to get a new driver license within 60 days but since I mainly used it to buy drinks I figured the state wasn’t going to come after me. As a state long admired from afar, Maryland always held a special place…
Counterfactual Archivist 