As I mentioned in my weekly post yesterday, I’m working on putting together a couple of presentations on the skills, tools, and tasks of an embedded librarian. This afternoon I’ve been searching through databases, videos, the interwebs, and more, looking for some good examples and/or helpful advice for how to interview researchers (or anyone you hope to help). In doing so, I stumbled across this bit of advice from Anna Deavere Smith, one of our very best character actors (embody-ers) and brightest minds in the arts. Listen to what she says in this snippet of an interview from Big Think and then tell me if you agree or not:
A Librarian by Any Other Name 
One of the caveats would be self-knowledge. You may be asked to do something that you are not comfortable with. You might feel compelled to do it so that you can get your foot in the door and be part of something. This urge is tricky, because there are times when it is worthwhile to step outside your comfort zone and make a mistake or two. But this needs to be balanced by some listening to your gut. Why are you uncomfortable?
Nicely put, Margot.