primary sources

Pellissippi State Community College Librarian Shares Why Gale Resources are Successful

|  By Jennifer Mezick, Acquisitions and Collection Development Librarian Pellissippi State Community College |

At Pellissippi State Community College (PSCC), our users have access to many Gale resources through the Tennessee Electronic Library (TEL). Through our TEL setup we are able to track only statistics for PSCC users. From our statistics, we know that Gale resources are heavily used by PSCC patrons and there are a few reasons behind this success:

In Class Instruction
Our students primarily use the resources shown to them during class. PSCC librarians provided research instruction to 137 classes this past fall semester. PSCC librarians and teaching faculty find that students who receive in-class research instruction achieve higher grades on their research assignments. One of the lessons we present to students is the importance of finding background information before searching for journal articles. Opposing Viewpoints In Context is our go-to database for demonstrating background research. All the “In Context” databases contain Topic Pages for select topics, which provide histories and explain the different viewpoints of those topics or issues.

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Faculty Outreach
Because not all of our faculty can find the time in a 5 to 16 week semester to have us in their classes, educating our faculty about our resources is the next best way to reach our students. Our faculty learn about Gale databases at our New Faculty Academy, where we introduce library resources, and at Faculty In-Service, where we demonstrate new databases or changes and new features to current databases. Librarians at PSCC are faculty and serve as subject liaisons. With this designation comes the responsibility to serve on campus academic committees and attend academic department meetings (and sometimes share after-work beers). Relationships with faculty are formed through these committees. I find that these relationships make faculty more comfortable talking with librarians about research assignments and available resources, which provides us the opportunity to recommend the most appropriate resources for their upcoming assignments (or their own research).

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Irish Short Fiction: A Saint Patrick’s Day Review

| By Eric Bargeron, Layman Poupard Publishing |

This Saint Patrick’s day, readers of Literature Criticism Online can distinguish themselves from the masses by eschewing green beer and shamrock kitsch, and contemplating instead the many contributions of Ireland to the world of literature. As critic Terence Brown notes in Short Story Criticism, volume 226, “it is scarcely a disputable fact of literary history that Irish prose fiction writers have been drawn to the short story form and have indeed excelled in it.” That volume, which is devoted entirely to Irish writers, includes a lengthy entry on James Joyce. His stories, all of which are contained in the collection Dubliners, are widely considered to be among the best in the English language. Joyce himself was fairly convinced of the importance of the book, even before its publication, as Morris Beja writes in his essay “One Good Look at Themselves”:

During their dispute over the problems in bringing out an edition of Dubliners, James Joyce wrote the publisher Grant Richards that ‘I seriously believe that you will retard the course of civilization in Ireland by preventing the Irish people from having one good look at themselves in my nicely polished looking-glass.’

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Cornell Professor and Librarian Collaborate to Contribute to Gale Researcher

Gale has partnered with Cornell College Professor of English Katy Stavreva to curate introductory British Literature content for Gale Researcher. In an article Cornell College’s News Center Stavreva describes the challenge of mapping out foundational content for the British Literature module, “This is no small challenge because the field is not only dynamic, but there are numerous ideologies and theories involved in deciding who and what may be foundational in it.” 

Stavreva also collaborated with her Cornell colleagues to create content for Gale Researcher. Cornell Interim Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning and Consulting Librarian Jennifer Rouse contributed to the collection with the essay “The Literary Research Process.” A recent article on the Cornell College News Center goes into more detail about Gale Researcher and Stavreva’s contributions.

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A Look Back at International Women’s Day Celebrations

Today is International Women’s Day, a day to celebrate and recognize the achievements of bold and inspirational women who have enacted positive change in the world. Through the study of primary sources we can shed light on stories of powerful women who may have previously been largely ignored in public discourse.

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American Civil Liberties Union Papers, 1912-1990 is “Rich” and “Absorbing”

In recent years, decades-long movements in civil liberties have been at the forefront of the news. The struggle for civil rights and liberties defines our past and affects our present. Students and researchers can immerse themselves in civil rights history like never before with our new archive American Civil Liberties Union Papers, 1912-1990, part of the Making of Modern Law collection. Drawing from the records of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), it focuses on civil rights, race, gender, and issues relating to the U.S. Supreme Court—topics intensely relevant to today’s curriculum and debates at both national and local levels.

See what Henrietta Verma, Senior Editorial Communications Specialist at Library Journal, thinks of this groundbreaking archive:

Read moreAmerican Civil Liberties Union Papers, 1912-1990 is “Rich” and “Absorbing”

The Woman Behind National Women’s History Month

Our understanding of history shapes the way we see the world and helps us define who we are as individuals. When Molly Murphy MacGregor was asked to define the women’s movement by one of her high school students in 1972 her search for an answer not only redefined her view of the world but helped redefine the … Read more

Female Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement

During Black History Month, we celebrate African Americans who made impactful contributions to American history. One of the most important developments of the twentieth century was the civil rights movement. Many Americans, both black and white, fought for equality in access to voting, education, housing, and public spaces for African Americans. Most of the best-known civil rights leaders of this period were male, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and John Lewis. However, many women also made significant contributions, including Fannie Lou Hamer, Pauli Murray, and Dorothy Height. Because of their efforts, black Americans, especially in the South, gained new legal rights and freedoms.

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Archives of Sexuality & Gender: “An Excellent Addition”

Students, educators, and researchers can now engage with a vast resource that connects them to this history, and enables them to delve deeper and make new connections with the largest program of digital primary source materials available in support of these and many other related areas of research. With approximately 1.5 million pages of primary sources content on social, political, health, and legal issues, Archives of Sexuality & Gender is your one-stop source for all topics impacting LGBTQ communities around the world. Covering subjects such as the gay rights movement, activism, the HIV/Aids crisis, and more, the Archives of Sexuality & Gender: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940, Part I is an “excellent addition for academic and public libraries.”

See what Christina Hennessey, a Cataloging Librarian at Loyola Marymount University, thinks of this milestone digital program:

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The ACLU’s role in Brown v. Board of Education

During Black History Month, we remember monumental events that have profoundly changed the United States and impacted the lives of many Americans. One key event in American history is the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954. In this Supreme Court case, public schools were ordered desegregated in a unanimous verdict. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) played an important role in Brown v. Board of Education, ensuring that “separate but equal” would no longer apply to educational facilities. Though public education was not fully desegregated by the decision, it began a series of legal victories for the burgeoning civil rights movement and defined constitutional support for racial equality.

Read moreThe ACLU’s role in Brown v. Board of Education