Brianne Alphonso is an English major at the University of Pennsylvania with an avid interest in print culture. During her time in END she focuses on the development of fiction as a genre from the seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries and what trends can be gathered by examining paratexts such as title pages and prefaces. When not studying early novels, Bri works as an editor on the Penn Review Literary Magazine on Penn's campus and in the Mediterranean section of the UPenn Museum.
Reflection: The Social Side of Cataloging A lot of the Early Novels Database project feels like common data entry. We see the paratexts, learn the various data fields, and plug and chug from one record to the next. Except for the very first week on the job (which was spent learning with our more experienced peers), the day to day protocols have little to do with social interactions. Looking at it this way, the act of cataloging itself seems like it... [Read more]