“Screwing around” in the archives and museum
Read The Hermeneutics of Screwing Around by Steven Ramsay. The author discusses the constant problem of too much information and the dream of finding a way to master it. He addresses the question of what to learn and how to do it. Another thing he considers is the role of library in general as well as the archive and museum in Yager. Each of these spaces holds material that could potentially interest you, but how do you find it? You can run a few searches but you do not know what to look for. Ramsay suggests that the library (and the archive and museum) are places to explore in order to find something you were not looking for, at least initially.
For this blog entry, write at least 250 words where you do all of the following:
- Do you know what you want to learn in college? How do you know that's what you want to know? Will you ever be able to learn things you did not think you would want to know? What can you do to change your mind if you are focused on searching for information instead of browsing for interesting stuff (however you define that)?
- Describe how you "screwed around" once in a library, museum, archive or other physical location that contained interesting objects you did not anticipate but that you found interesting. Did the experience motivate you to search for more information about what you had just discovered from browsing?
- Compare the browsing you described above with what you do using the Internet. How do you discover new things online? Do you depend on people you know through social media to "feed" you interesting things? Do you ever get distracted while searching for something online and end up browsing for things you had not anticipated? Do you ever feel like you waste time online? Do you try to avoid distractions and focus on clear objectives while using the web?
You must post a complete blog entry by 9:00 PM September 19 (this gives me and the rest of the class time to read it). Please see the Grading Rubrics for an explanation of how I will evaluate this and all your blog posts. You must also post comments on two of your classmates' posts before coming to class. You should be able to do this after 9:00 PM September 12 (if not sooner). You will be able to find your classmates' blogs in the Blogroll on this website.
I will record grades here.
