Sliding to the Finish Line

    It's Thursday. Lots of bleary eyes today as the lack of sleep and the dryness of Salt Lake City catches up to people. And on top of that, our brains are pretty full.

   We have been fortunate, in the Beyond the Libraries class, to not have homework. We've been even more fortunate to have several great guest speakers who have energized the class and gotten us excited about expanding our research.

    Yesterday, Paula Stuart-Warren talked to us about NUCMC. Somehow, Paula manages to be excited about this topic and that excitement is infectious. I'd learned about NUCMC previously from Paula and I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't used it very much. But that is going to change.

    In the afternoon, we have an energetic and fun talk by Angela Packer McGhie and we not only learned a lot about tracking sources back to their records, but we learned about handcarts and the Mormon journey. I admit to having heard mention before about handcarts but never stopped to think about what that really meant. I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like to have pulled those handcarts across the west to Salt Lake City and it's definitely something I want to learn more about.
  
    This morning we were treated to two sessions by Pamela Boyer Sayre. I've never had the pleasure of hearing her speak but she is a great presenter - gave us wonderful information and did it in a way that was fun and interesting. I've found that most speakers here at SLIG have the knack of presenting things in a fun and interesting way!!

   And of course, all of these talks have been interspersed with learning from Dr. Coletta. He is definitely one of the best storytellers I've encountered and he can make even the driest of material come alive. It makes me definitely anxious to put to use many of the tools he's shared with us. 

    As SLIG starts to wind down, I'm already starting to formulate some plans for using what I've learned this week. Retirement gives me time to do that! I know that this week has made me a better researcher and I can't wait to hear what courses will be offered next year!