CTRL Newsletter

New Resources

As we get into the groove of the new semester, we wanted to take a moment to highlight these new Library resources.

• Election Disinformation & Misinformation: A Critical Resource (Research Guide)
  • The purpose of this guide aims to equip readers with the knowledge and tools necessary to identify, understand, and counteract false information, particularly during election cycles. The focus of the guide is on disinformation—deliberately false information spread to deceive— and misinformation—false of misleading information spread without malicious intent, which can distort the democratic process, undermine trust, and spread confusion. It includes information on how to verify information, as well as voter resources.
• Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Ethics, and Accessibility (IDEEA) (Research Guide)
  • This guide was created in partnership with Sara Oliver-Carter, Chief Diversity, Equity, Ethics, & Inclusion Officer at Carlow University. IDEEA refers to a set of practices intended to ensure people from a broad set of sociodemographic backgrounds are represented and able to thrive in a workforce, as well as referring to an organization's actions and services to the public that consider the needs and desired outcomes for all its stakeholders. This resource includes definitions for commonly used terms and selected resources on a range of subjects.
• Qualitative Research Learning Module and Quantitative Research Learning Module on Niche Academy
  • These learning modules go over the differences between qualitative and quantitative research, as well as how to collect, analyze, and use data collected by the two types of research. Modules on Niche Academy can be integrated into Brightspace.

Instruction & Reference

In-person and virtual Reference and Library Instruction services are available by booking an appointment with Richard Brzustowicz, the Library's Instruction & Outreach Librarian. Richard is available for the following services:

• Library & Information Literacy Instruction: Work with Richard to schedule a customized in-person/virtual class visit or to create digital content that can be integrated directly into Brightspace (Research Guides and digital modules).
• Research Appointments: Book an appointment with a librarian to help guide or fine-tune your research process using the library's online catalog. Available to students (graduate and undergraduate) and faculty/staff.

In conjunction with Carlow's 95th birthday celebration, we have launched our new iteration of Digital Collections at Carlow! 

The new site is hosted on Hyku Commons, an open source, collaborative institutional repository system funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and made accessible by the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI) and the Partnership for Academic Library Collaboration & Innovation (PALCI). The move to Hyku increases our storage capacity to 1TB, increasing our ability to create and share digital collections.

To celebrate our 95-year history, we have curated small historical collections, which we will continue to add to throughout the month and as we work through the Archives. These collections are:

• Digital Archives: Carlow's Presidents
  • Photographs of all of Carlow's presidents, from our beginnings through today.
• Digital Archives: Campus Photographs
  • A tour of our Oakland campus, as told through a historical lens. These images show us what has changed throughout the years and—more importantly—what has stayed the same.
• Digital Archives: Historical Documents
  • Documents pertaining to our early history. As of this time, includes an overview of our incorporation with Duquesne University (1929–1933), our original charter from 1933 (granted just in time for MMC's first graduation), sketches of the original MMC seal, the first academic course catalog, and "The Collected Memoirs of the Class of 1933."

All of these collections can be accessed by accessing the Digital Archives: Carlow History link on the Digital Collections at Carlow website. We encourage everyone to look through these photos, read through the documents, and take a moment to appreciate the hard work of the Sisters who had a vision and brought it to life. 

Other collections that will be hosted on the site include:

• Faculty and Staff Scholarship Repository
  • We are working with the Marketing & Communications Department to build out a repository that highlights the research and scholarship being conducted by Carlow's faculty and staff. We will use CVs and resumes collected by Marketing to generate information for the repository. For an example of what this will entail, we encourage you to check out the pages created for Alexis Smith Macklin and Richard Brzustowicz under "Staff Scholarship."
• Carlow University Scholars' Day
  • We are preparing to move materials from the CONTENTdm Digital Collections instance to Hyku. Materials from the 2022 and 2023 CSD events will be uploaded by the end of the fall semester, after which we will work on materials from 2024.
• The International Poetry Forum 
  • This collection currently includes historical recordings from the International Poetry Forum, spanning from 1966 to 2009.

We look forward to sharing our progress with you as the new repository and digital archives platform grows!