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The Editor
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Jim Parrott, the Editor of the
Scholarly Societies Project, worked as a librarian from 1970 to 2007 at the
University of Waterloo Library in
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. In May of 2007, he retired from gainful employment at the age of 63.
Further information is given below, in the following categories:
Academic Curriculum Vitae, and
Personal Interests.
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Academic Curriculum Vitae
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Time Period |
Activity |
| 1965
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B.Sc (Physics) from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario,
Canada
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| 1966 |
M.Sc. (Theoretical Physics) from University of Toronto,
Ontario, Canada
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| 1969 |
B.L.S. (Library Science) from University of Toronto,
Ontario, Canada
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| 1970 - present |
I worked from 1970 to 2007 as a reference and collections librarian
at the University of Waterloo Library in
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Over this time, I gained various skills
beyond those I had acquired in the process of obtaining my university
degrees:
- In general, I strengthened my skill in tracking down obscure
information.
- In particular, I learned a great deal about the
bibliography of the 17th and 18th century scholarly
literature;
specifically, I made extensive use of the monumental
Reuss
Repertorium.
- In addition to the French, Latin and Russian courses I had taken
before becoming a librarian, I took additional language courses:
Russian (a refresher), Latin (a
refresher),
Italian, German, and Dutch.
- I also did some informal study of the Spanish language.
- The result of this effort is that I have a reading knowledge of English, French, Italian, German, Dutch and Spanish. I can also translate from Latin to English, with the aid of a couple of comprehensive academic dictionaries.
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| 1985 - 1990 |
I did research on and wrote
several articles exploring issues in the foundations and
implementation of expert systems to aid in
reference work in libraries (the process of finding
information of various types).
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| 1993 - present |
I worked on various Internet-based projects at the University of
Waterloo Library, including:
- the initial gopher area that we set up beginning inFremed 1993
- various phases of development of the
University of Waterloo Library website
that we launched in 1994
- the
Scholarly Societies Project that I suggested in the Fall of 1993, and
that we unveiled in early 1994
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Personal Interests
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Category |
Specifics |
| Music
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I enjoy a broad range of music, most of it composed between 1200 and 1940.
In addition to listening to music from this time period, I also perform on keyboard and traditional harp.
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| Art & Architecture
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I tend to enjoy representational, or semi-representational art (such as
Surrealism).
My special passions are the gentle, magical Surrealism of the
Spanish-Mexican artist
Remedios Varo (1908-1963)
and the Symbolism of the Pre-Raphaelites, especially
Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898).
My favourite architect is Antonio Gaudi (1852 - 1926), best
known for his
Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona.
One might reasonably conclude from my interests in art and architecture
that I am fond of detail.
A fascination with detail is also a feature of
parts of this Project.
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| Sprituality
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Although I was born a Christian (Anglican), and still see much to admire
in that faith, I long ago left behind any commitment to an organized
religion.
My spritual feelings are probably most closely allied with those of
various neo-pagan movements, particularly those that
emphasize the relationship between humans and the other creatures with
whom we share this planet.
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| Cuisine
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I've been vegetarian since 1989.
Within that constraint, I tend to enjoy
food from South Asia and Southeast East Asia -
especially that from India and Thailand .
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| Continuing Education
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In the five decades since I completed my university degrees, I
have continued to take courses.
To date, these have been in
mathematics, philosophy, and
various languages.
The most recent courses were a couple of courses in Dutch, taken partly to
help in my research on the Scholarly Societies Project, and
partly because it is the first language of
my partner (and husband as of 2003, June 14), William Pensaert, who grew
up in East Flanders in Belgium.
The work I did in the Summer of 2001 in
encoding various non-Latin scripts
using the
Unicode Standard has increased my interest in studying more
languages, especially those employing non-Latin scripts.
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| Community Work
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The communities with which I identify most strongly are the
gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered
communities in the Kitchener-Waterloo area of
Southern Ontario. I've lived in this area since 1970. I've been active in
2SLGBTQ+ community work here from 1971 to about 1981, and from 1991 to the
present.
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First published 2001, September 22
Last amended 2024, August 17
Jim Parrott, Editor
Scholarly Societies Project
Sending Email to the Project
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