I wrote my undergraduate thesis on the impact of music videos on the viewer’s level of aggression. In order to collect my data, I needed to have some ungodly number (fortunately, I have since forgotten the specifics) of test subjects watch music videos and complete a pre and post survey for me. In order to encourage participation I offered cookies as a reward. All of my subjects were undergraduates themselves, so they pretty much said yes as soon I mentioned the cookies.
As soon as I decided on my experimental design, I knew I would owe a karmic debt to anyone in need of test subjects for the rest of my life. The good news for me is that I generally enjoy surveys and don’t mind participating in focus groups. I recently received a request from Multnomah County Library to participate in one of their focus groups and I saw it as yet another opportunity to repay my karmic debt.
But my decision to participate was not entirely based on the debt I incurred in my undergraduate days. In this case, I also owe a debt to the Multnomah County Library and the taxpayers (myself included) that support it. As a voracious reader of somewhat obscure nonfiction with no available bookshelf space, I would be miserable without our great library. This is not just conjecture. I learned this the hard way when I lived in Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia library system is underfunded and terribly outdated (or at least it was as of 2004 when I moved back to Portland). The cataloging system was difficult to navigate and multiple copies of the same books were often shelved in separate areas of the library. The publicly accessible catalog did not indicate whether the book was available, at a branch library or checked out. Finding a book often involved a scavenger hunt through the main library. If indeed the book was already checked out, the hold system was a paper-based laborious mess. I found this to be sadly ironic since Philadelphia was the home of this country’s first free library.
The Multnomah County Library is on the opposite end of the user-friendly continuum. Their catalog allows me to search, place holds, renew books and keep track of the books I’ve read (or at least checked out) both on the web and on my mobile device. I can also place holds and download e-books with the same ease. If I sound like I am shilling for the library, that’s because I am. Those of us living in Multnomah County are incredibly fortunate.
All of this is why I completed the library survey as soon as it landed in my inbox and volunteered to participate in a focus group. This is one karmic debt that I am more than happy to start repaying right now.