Author Archives: mdilwort

Author Archives: mdilwort

Stats! Stat!

Stats! Stat!

Statistics.  You’ve probably had a project that required them.  Maybe you just needed a single number – what percentage of the population corresponds to what characteristic.  Or maybe you needed to show a trend, how a statistic changed over time.  Regardless, it’s a special type of information that can sometimes be difficult to search for. Lots of organizations collect statistics.  Some of these organizations are more reliable than others.  The United States government is one of the major statistics-collecting groups, and it gathers data on a staggering variety of topics.  You’re probably familiar with some of them – the Census Bureau gathers population statistics, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics collects information about employment – including economic data, types of … Continued
Hispanic Culture Resources

Hispanic Culture Resources

With the Hispanic Culture Fair this Saturday, February 22, we’d like to highlight a few of the many resources that are available about Hispanic and Latino culture.  Whether you’re writing a paper for a class, preparing a lesson plan, or just personally interested in the subject, there’s information for you. Scholarly databases like Informe Revistas en Espanol, Latin American Women Writers, Latino Literature: Poetry, Drama, and Fiction, and Sabin Americana, 1500-1926 can satisfy in-depth academic needs.  Prefer books?  We have titles like Comparative cultural studies and Latin America by Sophia McClennen, Sociedad: Guardians of Hispanic Culture along the Rio Grande by José Rivera, Riddle of Cantinflas: Essays on Hispanic Popular Culture by Ilan Stavans, or Invisible Border: Latinos in America … Continued
On-the-go learning: your digital life

On-the-go learning: your digital life

This last week featured Digital Learning Day, a time to learn about and use technology effectively to improve education at all levels – from grade school to college to your career.  Technology is all around us – so ubiquitous, in fact, that sometimes we don’t even notice it, or take full advantage of it. At IU East, smart classrooms let our professors link us to all kinds of multimedia.  Computer labs reside in every building, some with specialized programs for math or art or video design.  You can connect to the wireless network anywhere on campus.  And IU offers you thousands of dollars worth of free software for your home computer. Chances are you use the web and Wikipedia and … Continued
Up From Bondage

Up From Bondage

We work hard today to combat discrimination, promote equality, and protect human dignity.  It’s a task that is never truly done, and requires constant diligence.  But it is a task that has seen great successes, and our world has been strengthened and improved.  So, from our own experiences, it can be hard to comprehend a time in which the law of the land declared African Americans as only three fifths of a person, and a black person could be beaten or killed with impunity for disobedience. At that time, an attempt at escape represented a risk almost unimaginable in our modern world.  Stories of the bravery of slaves risking their lives, and law-breaking abolitionists sheltering them on the ‘Underground Railroad’, … Continued
Art Resources

Art Resources

This month, IU East has opened a brand new art center, Room 912, in downtown Richmond.  It’s a place for study, practice, and display – Room 912 includes classroom and studio space, as well as a gallery, for IU East and the local community.  It’s a great way to expand IU East’s rapidly growing fine arts program, and our presence in the community. Of course the library stands ready to support this expanded art program!  We have plenty of online resources that can be fully explored on campus, at Room 912, or at home – books, articles, guides, and more.  Some of our databases include ProQuest Arts, Oxford Art Online, Humanities International Index, Design and Applied Arts Index (DAAI), Wiley … Continued