After a diligent search for a new location, I have established my office for the semester in the Periodicals Room of the Mack Library. This new office has several advantages that recommend it.

  • My chosen carrel is less than ten yards from the nearest microfiche reader and only fifteen yards or so from the American Antiquarian Society’s Early American Imprints. Proximity to my sources will be very helpful.
  • This carrel is the only one in the entire periodicals room that is within the distance of a power cord to an electrical outlet.
  • This particular group of carrels is right next to a group of armchairs, useful for long stints of reading.

In short, to modify the words of the Bard:

This [carrel] hath a pleasant seat; the air
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
Unto our gentle senses.

Along with the new office, I have added a new category: “Researching.” Here I’ll put everything that has anything to do with the process of putting a paper together. Thus I begin the senior history paper, which is due in three months, thirteen days, six hours, and change.