Photo credit Robert Abel.
Librarians seem to be making a name for themselves on Jeopardy! these days and here at UBC Library, we’re proud to count one of our own among them. Dr. Jennifer Abel, who is currently earning her MLIS and working as a student librarian in the Education Library, recently appeared on Jeopardy! on July 17. We caught up with Jennifer to learn about her Jeopardy! experience and what she values most about UBC Library.
What does the process of applying for Jeopardy! look like?
The first thing you have to do is do an online test. They host them a couple of times a year. It’s a 15-minute timed online test of 50 questions. They don’t tell you how you do. You only find out if you did okay on the test if you get called for an in-person audition. I did the online test twice, once in the fall of 2016 and once in the spring of 2017. I was called in for an in-person audition in February 2018.
At the in-person audition, you take another written test and then they hold some mock games where you practice with the signalling device and answering in the form of a question. They record a short interview as well to get a feel for your personability. Once that’s complete, you’re in the contest pool for 18 months. You may or may not get called and I was lucky enough to get called.
What was it like once you got to set?
All the filming is down in Culver City, California at the Sony Pictures Entertainment studios. They tape five shows in one day, so basically, a week of shows. Having watched the show basically my entire life, I was sort of used to seeing the sets and the big board. But it’s different when you’re actually there. You’re on the stage going “Wow, this is bigger than I thought!”
Photo credit: Jeopardy! Productions Inc.
What was meeting Alex Trebek like?
He seemed very much like his professional show persona. I think he’s the most gentlemanly game show host I’ve ever seen, which I think is part of being Canadian. In between the shows, he takes questions from the audience — he’s very quietly funny. Apparently, he’s also a handyman — not that he does that on the set, but he showed us a picture of himself up to his waist in his wife’s bathroom floor because he was renovating the bathroom. It made me think, you can take the boy out of Sudbury but you can’t take the Sudbury out of the boy!
Librarians and librarians-in-training seem to be doing very well on Jeopardy! recently. Why do you think that is?
I think librarians in particular are very curious — they’re interested in lots of different things. They generally have a good memory, because we have to remember where all the stuff is! One of the things we learn in library school is asking the right questions when we’re conducting reference interviews with faculty and researchers. I think that skill really comes in handy in Jeopardy!.
As a former PhD student in Linguistics and current MLIS student, what do you value the most about UBC Library?
I think the people are great and their expertise is so helpful. The librarians I worked with during grad school are the reason that I wanted to go to library school. I admire their willingness to try new things and their work to make the university a better place. I think of the work I got to do with the Research Commons and just how much of a difference that’s made in the lives of so many UBC grad students. That support wouldn’t exist if it hadn’t been for folks in the library.
Jennifer Abel worked as a Graduate Student Peer for Thesis and Dissertation Support at UBC Library’s Research Commons from July 2012 to April 2015 and September 2017 to August 2018, where she taught workshops and offered one-on-one consults.
She completed her PhD in Linguistics at UBC and is now working towards earning her MLIS.
