My Human Information Interactions class has assigned a paper. I have to write about a time when I had an information need, how I went about trying to resolve it, and how that played out. (This need must not be a simple factual question that can be answered easily.)
Writing has provided me with an unthinkable number of choices for this paper. Ye gods, I made acorn cakes from scratch to resolve an incredibly minor point. I am a research fiend. I’ve decided, though, to do my paper on my extensive research on albinism, which I started for the purpose of writing The Dogwatchers.
It’s funny how many bizarre things I have, at some time, dedicated myself to researching. None of these searches is ever totally over. I may be satisfied, but if I happen to run across new information or a new possible source, I’ll jump on it. Witness my searching UNC Chapel Hill’s library for information on albinism when The Dogwatchers was nearly finished, after years of harassing doctor friends, the Internet, etc. on the subject.
(The real question is, will I have the faith in my own tact to ask my dad’s new coworker, who has albinism – I think it’s even the same type as the character in The Dogwatchers – to read it? “Ahem, so, [Adorable Young Music Professor], your position is tenure-track, is it not? Remind me, is that one of those committees my father is on? It is? Oh, no reason. By the way, I’ve written this book . . .”)
(Okay, I could probably be more tactful than that.)