Riyush Thakur

IR 1/ English 10 GT
9/22/18
First Site Visit Turn in # 14

First Site Visit

On September 22, I embarked on my first site visit to the UMBC library because I

needed a broad place to start. I walked into a university library like I owned the place. However,

I had a plan to gather specific resources about antitrust laws. After reading through articles and

websites, I wanted to know why our nation had 2 extensive government bodies committed to

setting fair antitrust and competition policy. In other words, I knew the laws, but I didn’t know

why we needed them.

Walking into the vast library immediately blew me away. As I walked past the aisles, I

found heavy books covering every topic out there. I almost got distracted by exploring.

Eventually, I focused and immersed myself in books about the history of antitrust laws. A lot of

the books in the “Government and Law” section were huge encyclopedias and reference books

that were too broad. However, I did find a book called “Landmark Supreme Court Decisions”

which had an entire section dedicated to antitrust decisions in the Supreme Court. The book

had lists and summaries of different major Supreme court cases that set the basis for current

antitrust laws. Even though I wasn’t able to check out the book because it was a reference

book, I compiled a list of supreme court cases that could answer my question. I gained valuable

information that could drive my research from the UMBC library.

In addition to the actual site visit, the luckiest thing happened. I went to eat at a nearby

Ledo's Pizza, and I hear a woman, named “Okaru Bisant,” on the phone talking about business

laws. She wasn’t talking about my specific topic, but I still engaged a conversation where we

talked about business, politics, and books. Later on, I learned that she was also a professor of

competition law, and we even exchanged emails.

 Riyush Thakur
IR 1/ English 10 GT
9/22/18
First Site Visit Turn in # 14

Throughout that interesting day, I broadened the material that i could study in order to

answer my question. I benefited immensely from my site visit and my coincidence at Ledo’s

Pizza. The next steps for me are to thoroughly analyze the supreme court cases I found, and to

communicate more with professor Bisant. I think I’m going to learn more about the University

she works at for my next site visit. I made the right decision by starting a conversation with

Professor Bisant because I opened a new opportunity for myself to learn more about my topic

and I am excited to continue my research.