Remembering Allen Smith
Aug. 6th, 2008 11:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deborahAllen Smith, Associate Dean and Professor in the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science, died Saturday, August 2, 2008. Allen (always Allen or Mr. Smith, never Professor Smith) was my favorite professor in library school, as well as my advisor.
Here was how Allen's reference class went:
- September: Open top of head.
- Four months: Have information poured into head at high velocity.
- After December: Get job. Realise that most academic libraries do not have the killer print and electronic reference collection which Allen Smith personally protected and fostered at Simmons. Realise that, nevertheless, Allen gave you a flexible enough toolkit that you can answer reference questions without a Balay or a New Palgrave.
Here was how Allen's oral history class went:
- September: Hear tons of stories about Allen's time collecting dulcimer oral histories all over Appalachia and shoing horses all over New England.
- Four months: Collect oral histories, feeling like anything you collect will pale in comparison the awesomeness which is Allen's dulcimer stories.
- December: Realise he's taught you enough that your oral histories are pretty damned good.
When Allen gave a final, he took it at the same time as the rest of us, and if he got a question wrong, then on our tests he marked those questions as extra-credit instead of required. He accepted practical answers that showed we knew how to find the information: "The big blue book shelved after CQ". He wasn't perfect. He didn't suffer fools gladly, for one, and his patience with the less well-prepared could have been improved. But oh, is his death a loss for the students at Simmons.
You'll be missed, Allen. May you be in your favorite entry from The Death and Afterlife Book: The Encyclopedia of Death, Near Death, and Life After Death.
Here was how Allen's reference class went:
- September: Open top of head.
- Four months: Have information poured into head at high velocity.
- After December: Get job. Realise that most academic libraries do not have the killer print and electronic reference collection which Allen Smith personally protected and fostered at Simmons. Realise that, nevertheless, Allen gave you a flexible enough toolkit that you can answer reference questions without a Balay or a New Palgrave.
Here was how Allen's oral history class went:
- September: Hear tons of stories about Allen's time collecting dulcimer oral histories all over Appalachia and shoing horses all over New England.
- Four months: Collect oral histories, feeling like anything you collect will pale in comparison the awesomeness which is Allen's dulcimer stories.
- December: Realise he's taught you enough that your oral histories are pretty damned good.
When Allen gave a final, he took it at the same time as the rest of us, and if he got a question wrong, then on our tests he marked those questions as extra-credit instead of required. He accepted practical answers that showed we knew how to find the information: "The big blue book shelved after CQ". He wasn't perfect. He didn't suffer fools gladly, for one, and his patience with the less well-prepared could have been improved. But oh, is his death a loss for the students at Simmons.
You'll be missed, Allen. May you be in your favorite entry from The Death and Afterlife Book: The Encyclopedia of Death, Near Death, and Life After Death.
