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FW: What do you say? esp for C&U archivists



Okay, so it is a quiet afternoon here in the Archives, as most of the staff
is gone on Spring Break.  Soon after I came here four years ago, the
Archives got an email request from a patron that wanted to find out more
information on their great-grandfather who was an early graduate of our law
school.  Well, Oregon State University does not have, nor has it ever had a
law school here; it has always been at the University of Oregon at Eugene.
So I referred the message on to my colleague at the U of O, and she later
told me there was no record of him there either.  I wonder what other fibs
this guy told his family over the years! :-)

Then there was the case of the patron who said his father had scored the
winning touchdown in an important football game.  I looked for him and
finally found that he did play on the team, barely mentioned anywhere, and
definitely did NOT score a winning touchdown.  I had to tactfully tell the
family that unfortunately our sources did not record that glorious moment.

And one more:  a family member wanted information on their ancestor that
"started our English Department."  I finally found the ancestor's name
listed in a history of the English Department.  He had been an instructor
for a term or two, but that's about all.  Oh, how we all embellish on our
lives.  :-)

Janet Wendt
Janet M. Wendt, C.A.
Staff Archivist
Oregon State University Archives
94 Kerr Administration Building
Corvallis OR 97331-2103
E-mail: Janet.Wendt@orst.edu
Phone: 541-737-2165
Direct Phone line: 541-737-4050
Fax line: 541-737-0541

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