first interview: student worker.

I asked a friend of mine that works in the library if she would do an interview to help me out for my project.  She helped to point me in the right direction, as someone who spends several hours a week there.  A couple things that she said were interesting and helpful:

MC: Do you ever get distracted by noise from people upstairs?

My Friend:  Sometimes, so… you might have experienced this, but the library has those couches that are, like--I don’t know what material they are made out of--but when you sit on them, they make this noise, and it sounds like you’re farting.  And they have those couches upstairs, and so literally like all day long it’ll be that noise and then people start laughing.

MC: Are there ever large groups of people that might get louder at times?

My Friend:  Umm…  Sometimes... [she goes on.]

MC: Are there specific times that you’ve noticed that are more busy than others?

My Friend:  Well, yeah.  Thursday mornings there’s always a lot of people.  A lot of that I think comes from the café. People get coffee in the mornings and so the lobby is always like super packed on Thursday mornings.  The weekends, its usually pretty quiet: Friday and Saturday afternoon.  But then Sunday night is usually fairly busy because everybody tries to get their homework done for the next week.

MC: Were you surprised by anything when you started?

My Friend:  I had to take a little test about like call numbers and stuff to make sure I knew how to put all the books in order.  So that was kinda funny.  

We talked for about 10 minutes, so this is only a part of it.  It'll definitely be helpful as I move forward.  There are a couple themes that I had already begun thinking about that she touched on, so I was glad to talk to her.

artifact: keyboards.

For my cultural artifact, I thought I'd write about something always present in the library, though rarely examined.  My thoughts about the keyboards in the library started when I began to simply sit and listen.  One sound that never stops in the first floor of the library is the keystrokes all across the room.  How many students have used those keyboards? How many late-night papers typed?  How many are used to surf Facebook between classes, or to quickly print out an assignment, thanks to the lack of printer ink at home?

These keyboards have had a lot of use, and that use isn't slowing down.  While few people walk into the library expecting to hear the clicking of keys throughout the room, that sound definitely characterizes the space more than the sound of a page turn.  Funny isn't it, that a library, known for its books, would be more utilized for its computers?

spacial map.

I sketched out the first floor of the Bunch library as I sat, taking field notes.  It's amazing to see the concentration of people in the room.  In my map, X's are where people are sitting.  This obviously changed during my time spent in the library, but I marked locations at one time.  While I was there, I saw no one venture past a bookshelf.  It's like only half of the room is used: the half with computers and no books.  People were clustered around the tables with computers, though a few (including me) sat at tables in the middle of the room.  Most of these (again, including me) were on laptops.  The round tables marked 'iMacs' have no people at them, likely because, according to the blue papers taped to each, they are "Not in Use...yet! But set up is almost complete!"  It will be interesting to see if these are as popular as the older PC's, once they are up and running.

Once I draw out the physical location of people in the room, I see that the actual use of the room may not match the intended use of the room.  Yes, students are present.  But they are rarely even physically near the books that are present.  I remember one girl sitting at the table in the back of the room (top left circle on my map), but it was almost as if she was using the bookshelves as a barrier between her and the outside world.  Her defense: no one would dare get too close, for fear of touching a book when a keyboard would suffice.

My map is by no means to scale, but I did the best I could from my vantage point in the middle of the room.

ethnographic account: concert production

My major is Audio Engineering Technology, and I've always enjoyed live concert production.  So as soon as I heard about this assignment I knew I wanted to take the chance to describe what I would see at the Christian Showcase this weekend.  I am taking Belmont's Advanced Sound Reinforcement class, so I was required to be there to help out with load-in, load-out, and everything in between.  I thought I knew what I would find: a very distinct set of behavior, clothing, and speech.  That's the way all shows are.

That's not what happened.  I was surprised.  There were a few things of note, that I will get to soon, but overall, most of the audio crew was not acting noticeably different than what I would consider normal.  There were no crude jokes, superfluous fowl language, or even the expected arrogance towards those who don't know as much.  It was weird.  I think because the showcase is supposed to be a learning experience for all those involved, the arrogance must be thrown out the window.  Also, most of the students that showed up to help had never done anything like it before.  They didn't know what to expect.

What did I find, though?  Everyone was wearing black.  This is easily explained: on a dark stage in a dark room, stagehands aren't seen as easily if they wear black.  A yellow t-shirt wouldn't work very well.  This is such common practice that my professor even remarked that he would be present at the show wearing neon green.  We all laughed, and the next day he was wearing black.  A few of the new students hadn't figured this out yet, so the first day there was a little variety in color, but by the second day, everyone working audio had on black.

I definitely didn't experience what I thought would happen, but it's still interesting to see how something as simple as shirt color can give someone away as inexperienced or "illiterate."

fieldworking: frothy monkey.

I went to Frothy Monkey to do some practice note-taking.  I really enjoy coffeeshops, so it was nice to spend some time there actually paying attention for once.  I saw some interesting things...  There was a couple that showed up that looked like they belonged (they were dressed like Nashvillian hipsters, if I can use the term), but they had two kids with them.  I don't think I had ever seen that before.  I wrote: "Hipster meets parenthood?"

A little later, a family came it.  Mom and Dad were in their 50's, with a daughter about 15 years old.  They came in, proceeded to the cash register, ordered drinks (Dad got plain coffee to go, Mom ordered an iced fruit tea, and their daughter got hot chocolate), and then left.  The longest part of their experience was waiting for their drinks.  And those 45 seconds were very awkward for them.  Why didn't they just go through the drive-thru at Starbucks?

I wouldn't say that anything disturbed me while I was there.  After all, I'm as much a part of the culture as any.  I was a little taken aback by the guy that walked in with a 2-3 ft. long beard.  But he didn't seem out of place.  Any other day, I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it.  It's interesting how your perspective changes just because you're paying attention.

ethnography idea:

In the last several years, I have become what some might call a "reader." As such, I really enjoy spending time in libraries, so I have thought that I may study the competing Discourses within and between a few libraries in Nashville. I know that there is a strong secondary Discourse associated with presence in a library, and I think it would be interesting to study how these norms vary from library to library.  I hypothesize that Belmont's library would have a vastly different culture than the downtown public library.  Knowing that Belmont's library is open 24 hours during the week, I would enjoy seeing how the culture changes throughout the day.

I know this idea needs some refining: there is no specific question I have in mind to answer.  But I think it will turn out to be an interesting project.

Competing Discourses: O Brother Where Art Thou

In this clip, taken from the movie O Brother Where Art Thou, I see two distinct Discourses showing up.  The three men share one Discourse: having broken out of a chain gang, they try to get away.  Their language is rough and improper, and they seem to share the unassuming southern drawl with which they speak.  However, the main character, Everett, displays two Discourses, switching between them.  His tone of voice seems to change as he switches to a more proper and educated Discourse.  Watch again from 0:33 to 0:47: he begins in a distinct southern drawl, saying, "Say, any o' you boys smithies?"  But then he continues: "Or if not smithies, per se, were you otherwise trained in the metallurgic arts before straitened circumstances forced you into a life of aimless wandering?"  And again, at 2:13, the southern speech of the blind man is starkly contrasted with Everett: "Well, that right there may be the reason you've had difficulty finding gainful employment.  You see, in the market of competitive commerce..."

The movie is full of such comments, contrasting rural speech with Everett's more sophisticated mannerisms.  This is used for humor throughout.  If you haven't seen the movie, make time to watch it all.  It'll be worth it.