My Semester in Review

My search topic was about the effect of gun control on the amount of gun violence. I wanted to know if there was a correlation between the two. All you have to do is turn on the TV to hear both sides of the argument, but neither side was all that convincing. I wanted to find out for myself.

Newtown

Credit: Newtown Bee/ ZUMA Press

This topic is very personal. Last fall, I was interning for NBC News in Washington DC. On the day of the Newtown shootings, it was my job to find out as much as I could. When I started hearing reports that Ryan Lanza was the shooter, (turns out it was his brother, Adam) I tried finding family members. Eventually I came across an old school directory. I found the name under Lanza and picked up the phone. Keep in mind, nobody knew at this point that Adam Lanza had killed his mother in his home.

The phone rang. And rang. Voicemail. It sounded so normal, much like the Gile's voicemail when I was growing up. Knowing I had a job to do, I left a voicemail telling anyone to give me a call back. In perhaps the most insensitive moment in human history, I asked the mother of a killer questions about what had happened.

Of course the voicemail never got to her.

When the police found that she had been shot, I realized the full weight of what I had done. The intrusion bothers me to this day. It was that day I realized what it meant to be a human first and a journalist second.

What I Learned in the Class

Before taking Use of the Library, I think I had a cursory knowledge of how to use search engines. I could usually find what I was looking for, but many times I had to sift through a lot of information that I didn't need. Now I don't have to waste time looking through things I don't need.

My job involves a lot of research and I believe this class will be a huge help to me in the future. I have already reaped some of the rewards, finding information that other could not.

I was suprised to learn about all the databases that a UCO student has at their disposal. The wealth of knowledge is almost worth the price of tuition alone. Almost.

Quite honestly, this might be my favorite assignment of the semester. This was my first online course ever. It may have not been a great idea in my final semester, but I guess old dogs can learn new tricks.

The drawback to these kind of classes is that there is very little human interaction, which is a big problem for me. I tend to learn by talking through things, and online courses present a unique challenge.