Growing up, librarians were the enemy. They were cold, harsh, and heartless and only wanted to ruin the lives of children.
As the years went by though, that opinion changed. They became crucial tools in the completion of my goal of earning a bachelor's degree.
Until just recently, however, I never knew how truly important a librarian would be in my schooling and in my future career.
As a journalist I aspire to do great things. Great things, however, can not be obtained without great people at your side.
No matter how much we want to think that we can make it in this world all alone, there will always be people that help us through from time to time.
Cheryl McCoy, Coordinator of Collection at the University of South Florida Library, is one of those helpers.
As sat down, during our recent excursion to the USF library, for McCoy's presentation, I fully expected to be bored to tears. In the end I left the room confident and ready to take on the world (of journalism).
In Public Affairs Reporting we have been taught numerous methods of obtaining public records. We have been bombarded with places from which to obtain these records. It has been enlightening, yet thoroughly overwhelming.
McCoy acted as a lifesaver that day. She had compiled all of the online sources available to use into one place.
"Sometimes you find everything, sometimes you find nothing," McCoy said.
Was she unaware of how much easier she had made it for us to find "everything"?
Until that day I had been struggling a big with my profile assignment that asks us to profile a public figure by researching and compiling public records about them. It has been a battle, but McCoy had just handed me the weapon that I needed to win.
We have heard a lot about people being difficult to deal with. McCoy re-instilled my faith in the human ability to go out of their way to help other. She didn't have to do this for us, but she did and we are now only a few clicks away from all of the information that has been tossed at us all semester.
She cited everything from hillsclerk.com, where we can locate documents on a person's civil transgressions, all the way to google newspaper archives which allows us to find old newspaper articles that can be used to generate leads and verify information.
So to sum it up, Cheryl McCoy, I salute you. Thank you sincerely!
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