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The heartbreak of reference

This is one of those "What They Didn't Teach Me in Library School" entries.

My internship @ The AJC was wonderful. I learned so much, formally and informally. I was thrown into the fire, skill-wise, and I emerged the better for it. My co-workers were very helpful and very patient with me. 10 weeks of research does not an experienced reference librarian make, but I acquire a lot of skills and a lot of knowledge and a few new techniques.

And I was terrified.

When people ask me how I liked the internship, my answer is usually, "great/nerve-racking/fun/terrifying". Which sounds like hyperbole, but it wasn't. I was beyond frightened. I expected to learn a lot. I expected to make a lot of mistakes (including a few boneheaded ones). The idea of making a mistake that might be seen by over half a million readers was bad. The possibility of making a mistake that might keep a story from being seen by half a million readers was worse. There were times when being the person on phone duty made me almost queasy with dread. Mixed with homesickness, and for at least half of my time there, I had no idea whether or not I really liked the internship. Or the company. Or even the city.

This made it hard to blog about all three.

Eventually, my homesickness alleviated, I learned that I really liked some functions of the typical news library beyond research (more about that late), and I learned that I can do reference and that I still have a lot to learn.

To take someone as neophyte as I was (and continue to be) and put them in a position like that (with plenty of support, mind you) was a bold thing to do, and I thank the staff of the AJC news library for doing it.

But wow. Yeah. Nerve-wracking. No one ever told me that ...

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Comments

Wow. I envy you, and I don't. I don't envy the homesickness, and being three time zones away from your husband. But I do envy the chance you had to go through that rollercoaster before needing to look for a job, so you can apply to jobs and they'll know you've had a bit of that new grad edge taken off of you. And I identify (since that's what I'm doing, too) with the chance you've had to try the thing you wanted to do before actually throwing yourself into a paying job in the field.

In other words, now that you're not doing it anymore, it was a great experience. Right? :)

Glad to have you back on the Left Coast, hon!

Eli!
You are too hard on yourself. You did an exceptional job here at the AJC news library. In fact, you are a wealth of resource and reference knowledge. Your enthusiasm for the profession was quite refreshing and I thank you for it. Your friend, colleague, and SJSU alumn- Nisa