About

What am I doing here?

My name is Margaret Heller. I talk about a lot of things, many of which are related to my professional interests. I’m a librarian, and currently work at Dominican University in the Chicago suburbs. My job title is Web Services Librarian. This means I get to do fun things like redesign the library’s website.

I also teach in the Liberal Arts and Sciences Seminar program.

My non-professional interests are various, and they include languages, gardening, and baking.

What’s a glorious generalist?

The term “glorious generalist” is from The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn (pp. 178-182 of the second edition).

The glorious generalist sees the world whole.

Because he sees the world whole, the glorious generalist can communicate thoroughly with people with every profession, religion, or background. He can pick up any book or magazine and find in it a connection to his own interests. If he is an all-the-way-there glorious generalist, maybe he can do mystical/scientific things like read the meaning of the galaxies in a fistful of sand. (p. 178)

I’m not yet an all-the-way-there glorious generalist, but I’m working on it every day. Being a librarian is good for this, because I’m expected to know a little about a lot, and always want to know more.

Even if you’re technically a grown up person, I would highly recommend that you look for The Teenage Liberation Handbook (that link will lead you to excerpts). Not everything is relevant to everyone, but Grace Llewellyn is a joyful thinker who will definitely open you up to some new possibilities.