Big Bend Community College William C. Bonaudi Library

William C. Bonaudi Library's Down the Research Rabbit Hole | Issue 21 | Keri Furman Student Services Credentials Evaluator | Be Careful What You Ask For

What is your mental space when it comes to research?  Do you have a plan? Are you random?  Is it a research rabbit hole or a carefully planned expedition?
I start with a plan to focus on a particular research topic/idea/question, but I let the information I find inform, redirect, and refine my research. This helps me be open to new ideas and to help mitigate the problem of “self-fulfilling prophesy”. Occasionally I go back and revisit my starting plan to confirm that I have not lost track of my original purpose.

To keep up with your profession, what are your go-to books, blogs, journals, social media follows, and/or people?

I guess I mostly learn by connecting with other people. I attend training or Q&A sessions for community and technical college staff offered by folks at the state level. I try to stay connected with people at other colleges and universities with similar roles to share best practices. We use listservs, Teams, Zoom or Webex meetings, and occasionally we just email someone we think has a good idea or advice to share. I search other college websites for ideas as well. Most importantly, I connect with my BBCC colleagues in various departments where we share ideas for how we can continue to improve the way we work and how we serve students.

What would people be surprised to know about you?

I used to be incredibly shy. I once had a bad mark on a performance review because I didn’t participate enough in team meetings. Be careful what you ask for, supervisors!

If you could spend the rest of your life free and supported to research one topic, what would it be?

With such a vast, diverse, and ever-changing world, I can’t imagine ever being satisfied focusing on a single topic. When asked the question about the one item I would want if stranded alone on an island, my answer is “a huge library”.

What book, poem, or study have you read that engaged you so deeply you were changed? 

That’s a difficult one to answer because there are a lot of books, poems and research studies that have shaped me along the way. My latest favorite read is a book on critical thinking skills: “The Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe: How to Know What’s Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake” by Dr. Steven Novella. I find myself doing a lot of healthy self-reflection on my journey through this book.