While working on the scavenger hunt, I realized just how many resources my library has to offer and just how underutilized they truly are by students such as myself. The librarian workers and archivist were incredibly kind and show a big interest in the project Hannah and I will be working on—they were nice enough to show us around and later label things we will be needing for our research.
I was honestly very shocked by how much the library archives had to offer—we have hand drawn maps that cannot be found anywhere else but here, how cool! I was expecting there to be only a few things to use and a disinterest from the staff in our project, but I was pleasantly surprised. The archivist Liz was bursting at the seams with excitement for our project, eager to assist us with out research and looking forward to all the new finds we will produce through our project.
If anything, the scavenger hunt got me excited to actually begin doing independent research (well not solely independent because Hannah will be helping me, along with Liz). Because of our project, Liz said she could probably gain a collection of letters from the Wadsworth family that the library was originally pursuing but recently stopped pushing for the letters.
The resources the library has to offer is tremendous and Hannah and I are so grateful for all the assistance the library has offered to us, making us feel truly welcomed.
The scavenger hunt while difficult and daunting at first, has certainly allowed me to become excited for the research that needs to be done, but also has encouraged me to get out of my comfort zone and use resources offered to me as frequently as they are needed.
Link to scavenger hunt sheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rZ6jt9w_xyIyC8IY072qIgpCdtyIBN9Qx9lQxxqmj9o/edit