Workin' at the car wash...
I wrote this post a week ago today, on my first day of research at the LOC. I'm posting it now because, well, internet access at our B&B? Not so good.
I'm at the Library of Congress this week, doing research for my dissertation. Right now I'm in the Jefferson building's Main Reading Room and it's both gorgeous and intimidating. I put in a request for a book over an hour ago and haven't seen it yet. So, I've developed a new strategy: rather than requesting books in drips and drabs, I've turned in an assload of requests all at once, and hopefully they'll be waiting for me when I get back from lunch. Luckily, the Main Reading Room is open until 9:30 at night, so I can stay late if need be. One unrelated observation: there's a gallery that looks down from above the huge Main Reading Room, and LOC docents bring tourists up to the gallery in small groups throughout the day. I'm sure it's fascinating to be a tourist looking down from that vantage point, but to be a researcher on the main floor, it feel sort of like you're being studied.