Author Archives: mdilwort

Author Archives: mdilwort

Harry Houdini: Fake news fighting pioneer

Harry Houdini: Fake news fighting pioneer

, , , Other
The immigrant born as Ehrich Weiss became more than a star.  Throughout his career, Harry Houdini continuously upended public perceptions of magic and reality with daring escapes, feats of mentalism and, toward the end of his life, debunking the claims of spiritualists.  As committed as he was to furthering magic, he was equally devoted to the pursuit of truth and spent much of his last years exposing fraudulent mediums, spirit photographers and others who claimed to communicate with the dead.  Spiritualism began as a religious awakening movement in 1848, when two sisters, Kate and Margaret Fox, stated that they had been able to contact the spirit of a deceased peddler, “Mr. Splitfoot”, and began to hold séances in their home … Continued
Ask the (IU East) Archivist 2020

Ask the (IU East) Archivist 2020

, , Library Resources, Library Services
October is American Archives Month and Wednesday, October 7th is #AskAnArchivist Day. To celebrate, here is a list of popular and common questions IU East Archivist Beth South is asked about the Indiana University East Archives. What is the IU East Archives? The mission of the Indiana University East Campus Archives is to collect, organize, preserve, and provide access to print and electronic resources that document the history and continuing activities of Indiana University East faculty, staff, students, alumni and benefactors. With our collecting focused specifically on the IU East organization, the IU East Campus Archives is known as an institutional repository. What is the oldest item in your collection? Not exactly our oldest collection (more on that later), but … Continued
Free Resources for Indiana Residents

Free Resources for Indiana Residents

, , , Jesse Whitton, Research, Website
Do you live in Indiana? If so, you have free access to INSPIRE, Indiana’s virtual online library. Indiana residents can explore images and multi-media, full-text magazines and journal articles, pamphlets, newspapers, and more. Selected resources are featured in this week’s blog. Ready to choose the next book you want to read? With the eBook Public Library Collections database, you have your choice of more than 48,000 titles. The eBook Public Library Collection has books for both adults and youth and covers a wide range of topics, from self-help, fitness, and cooking, to hobbies and games. Do you want access to more than 12,000 e-books of classic literary works, important historical documents, and general reference materials? The eBook High School Collection … Continued
Legal Research with Nexis Uni

Legal Research with Nexis Uni

, , Library Resources, Matt Dilworth, Research
With major cases coming in front of the Supreme Court, laws – and possible judicial changes to them – are often in the news.  How laws change or are reapplied in the court system is a significant point of scholarly interest, and an exceptional database for exploring the law is Nexis Uni (formerly called Lexis Nexis Academic). Nexis Uni contains a lot of different types of material – news articles, law reviews, even corporate information – but its main strength lies in legal studies.  It is not as valuable for ‘code’ law (statutes passed by a legislature, which are typically straightforward, albeit very lengthy and archaically worded – amounting to lists of ‘don’t do this, or you will be fined … Continued
Celebrating the Constitution and Your Right to Vote

Celebrating the Constitution and Your Right to Vote

, , Programs
September 17, 1787 – Thirty-nine of our founding fathers, delegates of the Constitutional Convention, signed and put into effect the United States Constitution. The Constitution outlines the “checks and balances” of our three branches of government: Judicial, Executive, and Legislative. That was 233 years ago, and we continue to celebrate that achievement with Constitution Day on September 17, 2020. The celebration first started in 1940, as the “I Am an American Day,” based on a resolution passed by Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It was observed on the third Sunday in May. In 1952, the name was changed to “Constitution Day” and moved to September 17th, to reflect the date it was originally signed back in 1787. In 2004, … Continued