In a new series for Durham University Library and Collections, we introduce members of the team who you might meet at our sites or across the University. Starting us off, #DULibIntroducing welcomes Naomi Baguley, who you may meet on our Help and Information desk in Bill Bryson Library, or leading UX (User Experience) activities at library, museums and other sites across the university. Do say hello!
Please state your name, full job title, and a brief description of what that entails:
Naomi Baguley, Library Intern. I work with the Metadata team, which means I’m learning a lot of cataloguing and organising old records. It’s fun but requires a lot of concentration!
[Ed – “Metadata” – ‘Data about Data’; a set of data which describes and provides information about other data – e.g. a record in our Library catalogue]
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So, how long have you worked in the Library?
I started at the beginning of September, so not long at all.
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What’s the most interesting/enjoyable aspect of your job?
I really enjoy taking a challenging or unusual book and making sense of it in the catalogue. Also sometimes I’ve found really old postcards or notes hidden inside books!
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What are you reading at the moment?
Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante, and also Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (which might take me the entire year).
[Continues after photo… ]
What was the last film you saw, and what would you rate it out of 10?
Embarrassingly, I recently watched It’s Complicated starring Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin on my own on a Saturday night. It was better than I expected: 7/10 purely for Meryl.
[Ed – Durham staff and students can watch this (classic?) via our Box of Broadcasts subscription]
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If you could invite one person from history for a cuppa at Small Island Coffee in Bill Bryson Library, who would it be?
Virginia Woolf, but I’d be too terrified to speak in case she didn’t like me.
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Have you got any hidden talents?
I’m eerily good at cartwheels for a person who hasn’t done any exercise since year 11 P.E.
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Level 2 of the Library is lava. How do you get to the returns booth from the main entrance?
Jump onto the desk, make a raft out of books in short loans and miscellaneous stationary items, and sail to freedom.
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Tell me a secret about Durham/the Library:
The best view in Durham is from the top of Observatory Hill, and rabbits live up there too!
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What’s the best piece of advice you could give to new Library users?
Don’t just use materials from your reading list or specific searches: go and browse the shelves of your subject and you might find something you didn’t even know you had an interest in.
[Ed – See our post on serendipity and libraries!]
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