Following on from Eva Hornung and Mary Delaney, Brid McGrath shares her thoughts on doing a Ph.D. If you are a librarian interested in sharing your experiences of doing a Ph.D or doctorate please e-mail me.
My Experience of Doing a Ph.D by Dr. Brid McGrath.
I strongly recommend undertaking research,
not merely because of the intellectual benefits it brings, but also for the
additional advantages of being part of different communities, the new roles it
opens up and the personal satisfaction of publishing your research.
I had not intended to write a Ph.D., but I
had such fun writing my M.Litt. that I simply wanted to go on doing research
and felt, probably wrongly, that I still needed guidance, especially since I
had an absolutely wonderful supervisor.
In fact, anything that I had needed to learn about historical research,
I had actually learnt doing my M.Litt. An
M.Litt. is a masters degree, conducted solely by research – there is no taught
element and you write a 60,000 word thesis on your own, under supervision. Research masters are rather out of fashion,
but I am a big enthusiast for them, as they teach you so much and more quickly
than a Ph.D.
I wanted to do research in history, as it
and librarianship are my two passions and I chose the 17th. century
because I was working full-time as a librarian in the then National
Rehabilitation Board (now the National Disability Authority) while I was
writing it and that is the period for which sufficient published resources were
available after hours; you can be a librarian nine to 5 and an historian after
5 pm., but not the other way round. Immediately
after submitting my M.Litt.;, I went to work as Humanities Librarian in the
then National Institute of Higher Education, Limerick, now the University of
Limerick. I loved my time in Limerick,
but it had then no resources for early modern historians (unlike now) and I was
offered a grant by Trinity College to undertake a Ph.D. So I gave up the day job but started looking
for consultancy work both to bridge the gap between the grant (scholarship was
really poorly funded in those days) and also to keep doing library work. Within a year, I had a viable consultancy
business and have never had a job since, but have worked for 28 years as a
library and information consultant. That
would certainly not have happened had I not been writing my doctorate and I
have thoroughly enjoyed the variety and range of work that consultancy has involved.
Work and having children lengthened the
time it took to complete my doctorate, but I have never regretted taking 8
years to write my thesis; nor was it a problem either for my supervisor or for
my university. Nowadays doctoral theses
are supposed to be submitted within three years and this often means that
people choose discrete subjects which can be done in that time and do very
little wider reading; I am privileged to have been able to take the time to
read widely and deeply around my subject.
In addition, when I was writing my theses, there was no taught element,
classes, courses, modules or other assistance, no instructions on methodology
or technology. People express surprise
at this now, but these are recent innovations and an undergraduate history
degree (which I had) teaches you how to do historical research. I know that my skills as a librarian helped
enormously in my research. One
additional thing I had to learn was palaeography – how to read the 17th.
century hand. My supervisor gave me a
one hour session on this (few supervisors do this for their students, so I
really was blessed) and I worked the rest out for myself.
So what did my research experience give
me? In the first place, enormous
satisfaction; I’m still absolutely entranced by early 17th. century
Irish parliaments and local government structures. In my son Oisín’s great phrase “you know
mammy, most people would pay not to do what you do.” I’m sure he’s right.
Secondly, I got really terrific skills in
research and writing; I learnt not to write anything I cannot stand over and to
write very clearly to make a case. These
are genuinely valuable work skills and clients frequently comment on the
clarity of my writing . I publish at
least one article, paper, report or book every year.
Thirdly, I get to do work I would not
otherwise be offered; for more than 20 years I have taught information literacy
as part of research methodology at masters and Ph.D. level in the School of
Social Work and Social Policy in Trinity College. The combination of research skills, a strong
publications record and a background as a librarian in the health and social
services areas (I was the first health board librarian in Ireland, and also set
up libraries in many social organisations, including the Combat Poverty Agency)
gives me great credibility with my academic colleagues. I also conduct social research and for that I
had to learn a completely new set of research skills, including ethical
approval, survey design, and a different style of writing. I bring my skills as I librarian to
everything I do, including the dissemination of my and my clients’
publications.
Two years ago I was asked to teach
palaeography (mediaeval and early modern handwriting) at masters and Ph.D.
level in Trinity; I have learnt an enormous amount from this teaching.
Fourthly, as a scholar, I have been
fortunate to be awarded research fellowships in research libraries in Ireland, Paris and I am writing this
in California, where I have a two-month visiting research fellowship at the Huntington Library.
Last December I received funding to attend an Advanced Early English
Palaeography Workshop at the Folger
Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C.
Finally, research means that I am part of
both a library community and two other scholarly communities, in the social
work and social policy areas, and history.
I love the contact with my colleagues in all these areas and my supervisor has
become a wonderful friend, with whom I published a book.
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