By Chris Cochran
When I started thinking about what to call this blog, I gave myself an informal time limit. I’m notorious for thinking about things from all sides, all angles, weighing the pros and cons, trying to find just the right way to do or say something. There are times when that’s appropriate, but usually it just means hours, possibly days, deciding on something. It might mean I’m indecisive or can never make up my mind or that I overthink things. Maybe I’m a perfectionist.
I wanted to be thoughtful about a title for this blog but not waste too much time either. It’s more important to write the actual blog posts isn’t it? So, I set an informal, slightly open-ended time limit and asked myself some questions: What do I want the blog to represent? Who do I want to reach? What do I want to say?
Learning is one of my top five values, so I focused on that. I’m a lifelong learner. I’ve always had a natural curiosity about things: how they work, why they exist, what is the story behind something or someone (e.g., I love reading biographies). But mindful of the meaning behind certain words, and true to my nature, I wanted to find a word that best represented that learning value, and after getting out the online thesaurus and playing around a bit, I settled on “inquiring.” The Inquiring Mind.
As a researcher and librarian, it’s imperative to have an inquiring mind, even a somewhat skeptical mind, and to be flexible. When I’m trying to solve puzzles, it’s those characteristics that keep me going, keep me looking for answers, keep me looking at relationships and connections. This approach and attitude make my work fun, challenging, and interesting. You never know what a new or existing client is going to bring you — what their information need is going to be. My inquiring mind and flexibility have served me well in helping others with their information and research needs. Welcome to “An Inquiring Mind.” Let’s see where this journey goes.
An Inquiring Mind 