Lightning Talk #2 (5 min): Undergraduate Research with Queer Collection Material: The John Hay Library Undergraduate Fellowship Program

Abstract We’ve all seen it happen: an undergraduate, in a special collections class session, who perhaps has never interacted with rare books or manuscripts before, discovers an object, an annotation, a connection with a person who lived and died hundreds of years ago -and for a moment understands the possibility those materials hold. But once the class session ends, the student forgets that experience, or dismisses it as unrelated to their academic interests. I created the Undergraduate Fellowship Program at Brown’s John Hay Library to encourage undergraduate self-directed exploration of special collections. Now in its third year, the program serves as a primary source research bootcamp, allowing students to develop traditional research or creative projects over ten weeks in the summer. The students produce inspiring original research and artwork. Past projects have included an artist’s book on sexuality and immigration inspired by research in the Hay’s LGBTQ collections; a video game exploring the personal ads in the archive of lesbian periodical On our Backs, and an examination of the pioneering work on intersex identities in the papers of scholar Anne Fausto-Sterling. This lightning talk will explore the ways that working with these original materials have enriched students’ experiences and made them more successful researchers and critical thinkers. Speaker bio Heather Cole (she/her) is the Head of Special Collections Instruction and Curator for Literary and Popular Culture Collections at Brown University\u27s John Hay Library, where she stewards, among other things, Brown\u27s Global Lavender Voices collection, which includes zines, pulp novels, rare ephemera, a large collection of Japanese periodicals, and the papers of queer artists, activists, writers, and academics

The Mass. Memories Road Show: a State-Wide Scanning Project

Running a state-wide digital history project on a shoestring budget and staffed primarily by volunteers is not only possible, but brings immeasurable rewards for the contributors, volunteers, organizers and staff while gathering priceless documentation of their communal heritage. The Mass. Memories Road Show (http://www.MassMemories.net) is a public scanning project based at the University of Massachusetts Boston which partners with local communities to digitize family photographs and stories at public events with the goal of creating a digital portrait of all the 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. This article describes how the project works to ensure broad participation in the planning and execution of the project, as well as a detailed description of the logistics of a Road Show event, which could be replicated in other communities

Alien Babies and Angelina Jolie: Evaluating Sources Using Tabloids with a Taste of News Literacy

This lesson plan/activity is meant to demonstrate the concepts of authorship and authority to first-year writing students. Students will use their prior knowledge and everyday experiences with subpar information and/or misinformation to draw parallels between evaluating academic, news, and popular sources

The Mass. Memories Road Show: a State-Wide Scanning Project

The Mass. Memories Road Show (http://blogs.umb.edu/massmemories) is a public scanning project based at the University of Massachusetts Boston which partners with local communities to digitize family photographs and stories at public events with the goal of creating a digital portrait of all the 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. This article describes how the project works to ensure broad participation in the planning and execution of the project, as well as a detailed description of the logistics of a Road Show event, which could be replicated in other communities

Rewriting the History of the Native Mounted Police in Queensland

The Archaeology of the Native Mounted Police in Queensland project, jointly led by Nulungu research fellow Dr Lynley Wallis, is a long-overdue exploration into the nature of frontier invasion. Several of our team members have worked in Queensland for many decades and, in every Aboriginal community in which we’ve worked, stories are told about the ‘killing times’ or the ‘war’, as community members call the period when the Native Mounted Police (NMP, also referred to as the ‘Native Police’) were operating. Many community members have asked us over the years to record their stories about the massacres that took place, or have shown us places associated with the police camps or the massacre sites, and often told us that they would like to know more about what happened. These requests eventually led to the archaeologists on this project coming together, talking with key Aboriginal people and communities, and developing a research project to address their interests — the project described in this paper is the result.https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/nulungu_insights/1000/thumbnail.jp

The Role of Architecture and Tissue Properties in the Structural Integrity of Human Vertebral Cancellous Bone

Age-related disorders of bone metabolism like osteoporosis may compromise structural integrity of bone and result in fragility fractures, particularly at cancellous bone sites. Several factors contribute to cancellous bone strength, including bone density, architecture, and material properties. Clinical assessment of bone density using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), which is somewhat distorted by the fan-shaped X-ray beam, does not fully account for fracture incidence and only partially correlates with bone strength. Spatial variations in trabecular architecture captured by micro-computed tomography (microCT) have been related to structural behavior using microstructure-based models. However, the impact of material variations is not well understood and should be investigated. DXA fan-beam magnification was quantified by scanning aluminum rods at several distances above the X-ray source. Projected area and bone mineral content decreased by 1.6-1.8% per centimeter distance above the source, indicating that changes in girth over time would artificially reduce DXA measurements and obscure actual gains associated with growth or interventions. The ability of DXA to predict bone architecture and material properties was assessed in thoracolumbar specimens from 21 cadavers. T11-L4 was scanned using DXA, and cancellous bone cores drilled from the center of T12 and L2 were scanned at 17 microns using microCT and then compressed uniaxially to failure. DXA and microCT bone mass correlated similarly with cancellous bone stiffness and strength in females but not males. DXA could not account for variations in architecture detected by microCT, particularly in the thoracic spine, for either males or females. MicroCT scans may better assess bone strength in the thoracic spine and could replace DXA scans altogether if measurements could be made non-invasively, accurately, and affordably. Spatial variations in architecture and material properties were examined with architecture- and material-based finite element (FE) models developed from microCT scans. Homogeneous and heterogeneous material models were examined. FE models were improved by heterogeneity, whether between subjects using specimen-specific uniform properties or within subjects using spatially varying properties. Apparent stiffness was the same for specimen-specific models, regardless of variations in tissue modulus. The mean tissue modulus, rather than its distribution, appears to drive the overall mechanical behavior for vertebral cancellous bone

The Librarians’ Guide to the Information Literacy Galaxy: Leading Campus Conversations

Sarah Richardson (Business Library Team Leader), Heather Beirne (Reference and Instruction Librarian), Ashley Cole (Reference and Instruction Librarian) and Trenia Napier (Associate Director, Programs & Outreach - Noel Studio for Academic Creativity) @ Eastern Kentucky University Situating librarians as information literacy experts and leaders in pedagogical best practices, presenters led a professional learning community (PLC) to create purposeful campus-wide conversations centered around the ACRL Framework and its place in teaching and learning. PLC faculty participants from across campus partnered with liaison librarians to create new and innovative approaches to developing discipline-specific information literacy skills. This presentation will share the format, unexpected outcomes, and anticipated changes for future iterations of the PLC. Participants will engage in group discussions about the opportunities and obstacles in leading similar campus information literacy initiatives and utilize Padlet to brainstorm take-aways. Participants will: identify opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborations within the context of the ACRL Framework develop strategies for situating librarians as pedagogical leaders in campus-wide information literacy conversations utilize established formats and mediums, such as teaching and learning centers or existing professional development venues, to reach facult

The Role of University-Required Fitness Courses in Students\u27 Health and Exercise Practices

Lifetime fitness (LF) classes include exercise, sport, and recreational activity courses. The main purposes of LF classes are to give health education that elicits mental, social, and physical preparation for a lifelong experience of fitness. However, previous research has not extensively investigated the role of LF classes on students’ motivations to exercise during and after completing the course. PURPOSE: To determine whether or not taking an LF class contributes to a student’s motivation to exercise, to determine a motivation for signing up for an LF course, to determine why they chose that specific class, and to determine the degree to which an LF class effectively changes a student’s view on exercise. METHODS: Male and female college students (n=183) were recruited from LF classes, including aerobic walking, aerobic running, volleyball, softball, strength training, golf, bowling, and fitness theory. At the beginning of the semester, a survey was given via Qualtrics that asked four open-ended questions about the students’ views of LF classes. RESULTS: In response to the first question, “Why did you choose this LF course?”, 30% of the students responded it was to play a fun sport. Other responses included to maintain a healthy lifestyle (15%), to continue to play a sport they played before the LF class (17%), or to learn how to play a new sport (17%). The second question asked, “Why are you taking an LF course?”, and 87% of the students responded it was required. The other 13% responded they took it for fun, or they wanted to take it with a friend. The third question asked, “Why do you think Baylor requires you to take an LF class?”. 86% of the students felt that Baylor requires LF classes for the well-being of students, while 14% were not sure why or believed it was for monetary purposes. The final question asked, “What is your motivation for exercising, both in an LF and outside of class?” To this question, 98% of participants responded saying their motivation was to maintain health or for fun, social reasons. The other 2% responded saying their motivation was a GPA boost. CONCLUSIONS: When asked why students are taking an LF class, the majority of students indicated they did so for reasons from a negative approach. However, when asked about exercise motivation as a whole, the majority of the students indicated reasons for wanting to exercise from a positive approach. The disparity between answers given for these two questions may indicate a motivational distinction between LF classes and exercise in general. Therefore, further research exploring the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations between exercise and LF classes is warranted

Online Social Networking for the Humanities: the Massachusetts Studies Network Prototype

The Massachusetts Studies Project (MSP) aims to create an online social network specifically for those who are involved in local studies in Massachusetts. This first, Level I phase of the project will allow us to assess a promising open source development platform called "Ning," which offers powerful new tools for building customized social networks. Building a test network on Ning, and planning and prototyping the code to add functionality tailored to humanities practitioners, will position us to take the next steps in building a full-fledged, model social network to meet the collaborative needs of educators, scholars, librarians, and local studies practitioners

Using Cluster Analysis to Explore Associations between Cardiovascular Risk and Lifestyle Factors in a Workplace Wellness Program

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one cause of death in the United States with risk factors including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, obesity, smoking, physical inactivity, age, genetics, and unhealthy diets. A university-based workplace wellness program (WWP) consisting of an annual biometric screening assessment with targeted, individualized health coaching was implemented in an effort to reduce these risk factors while encouraging and nurturing ideal cardiovascular health.Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine and describe the prevalence of single and combined, or multiple, CVD risk factors within a workplace wellness dataset.Methods: Cluster analysis was used to determine CVD risk factors within biometric screening data (BMI, waist circumference, LDL, total cholesterol, HDL, triglycerides, blood glucose age, ethnicity, and gender) collected during WWP interventions.Results: The cluster analysis provided visualizations of the distributions of participants having specific CVD risk factors. Of the 8,802 participants, 1,967 (22.4%) had no CVD risk factor, 1,497 (17%) had a single risk factor, and 5,529 (60.5%) had two or more risk factors. The majority of sample members are described as having more than one CVD risk factor with 78% having multiple.Conclusion: Cluster analysis demonstrated utility and efficacy in categorizing participant data based on their CVD risk factors. A baseline analysis of data was captured and provided understanding and awareness into employee health and CVD risk. This process and analysis facilitated WWP planning to target and focus on education to promote ideal cardiovascular health