Malcolm Gorrill
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Aug 18/00) - A desire to solve problems has led an Inuvik resident to the library.

Harmeet Jagpal has been spending the summer at the Inuvik Centennial Library as a computer technical assistant. This fall he will enter his third year of computer science at the University of Saskatchewan.

Jagpal said his interest in computers dates back to high school.

"I really had fun," he explained, "'cause I liked a lot of the problems, solving problems, that sort of thing. There's a lot of that in programming, so I took that field.

"So that's basically it. I like having a little problem and figuring out and learning, it's basically learning whole languages and just putting things together. That's what I enjoyed from the beginning."

Jagpal said he's enjoyed his job at the library in part because it has allowed him to put into practice much of the theory he's studied in class.

"The main part of the job here is, basically, I'm teaching people who've never used the Internet or never used the computer, basically teaching them how to get familiar with the computer, how to use the Internet, set up an e-mail account, just so they can get used to the whole computer environment."

Jagpal said about 10 people have set up personal appointments so they can learn from him.

"It's been fun, actually. I've enjoyed it a lot because I like helping people. I like teaching people. I got to do a lot of that, which is fine. I'm glad I got the opportunity to do that this year," he said.

"I've fixed any computer problems we've had here, just to make sure all the computers work and the Internet works, and help clear any technical glitches," Jagpal explained.

"Sometimes when the library gets a little too busy, I help the library people out, like, if people need to find books."

The job has provided another unexpected benefit.

"I looked into some of the networking, that sort of thing here, and that's built my interest for something I want to do in university," Jagpal said.

"I hadn't decided yet which field I wanted to take, if I wanted to take database, a certain field in computer science.

"I've had a lot of fun with networking stuff here, so I'm kind of edging towards networking now."