It proved to be
more difficult than we thought. It is also disappointing. On many fronts it is
disappointing. Not least of which is my overall performance. The drive to excel
seemed to deflate midway through it all. And I am still scrambling to get back
into full shape.
One disappointment is the rampant plagiarism even in graduate
school. It is even commonplace in a profession that should be in the forefront
on the fight against it.
Another disappointment is the dearth of good thesis topics and
outputs. Somehow librarians become limited with what their own libraries need
or what is perceived to be needed by their libraries. I understand the concept
of progression in research, but it can be taken only so far.
Research should be about what is needed to be known or made known.
Regardless of whether our institution needs it or not, research should be about
the discovery of new things and knowledge and information. It should be about
discovery of new knowledge and information that may interest not just the
library profession but a good portion of society as well.
And my greatest disappointment is that my thesis might turn out to
be another thesis written in the spirit of “requirement”. It is not off to a
good start. It sucks right now.
