mdilwort | Library Blog - Indiana University East

Author Archives: mdilwort

The Fight Against Fake News Begins with Me

critical thinking, fake news, good information, KT Lowe March 31, 2020 outreach mdilwort

A first person account of the battle for accuracy from a rather unattractive couch I have tried very hard to be a Nerd of Trust. To me, accurate and timely information is a critical need for daily life function, and since 2016 I have worked tirelessly to promote good information literacy while combating fake news. As someone who has built a reputation of trustworthiness among colleagues, family and friends through fact-checks, online posts about false information and a relentless attack on fake news stories, I’ve earned my Nerd of Trust credentials. The COVID-19 pandemic was an ideal situation for fake news purveyors. Through the rise of social media, many Americans have fallen prey to medically-oriented misinfodemics – floods of false … Continued

Educational Resources – Free Online (ERFO)

e-resources, free resources, good information, online information March 30, 2020 Frances Yates, Jesse Whitton, Library Resources, Library Services, Research, Website mdilwort

Providing reliable and useful resources is a large part of the mission of our Campus Library. This includes numerous databases, e-books, and media that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars that are paid to aggregate vendors, producers and publishers. More and more resources are becoming “open access,” meaning they are publicly accessible and free to use. However, much content needed by academic library users still comes with a cost. That situation is changing, in an interim response to the coronavirus pandemic. Many formerly subscription-only resources are temporarily open access, some through April, some until June and some open-ended. To help our users discover newly-free resources, we have created a resource guide with access information: https://iue.libguides.com/ERFO/College. We will continue to update … Continued

Women and Online Connectivity

holidays, women March 23, 2020 Library Resources, Matt Dilworth mdilwort

This March, with IU East (as well as almost every other college in the country) switching to online-only classes, the celebration of Women’s History Month has been curtailed, with many events and activities cancelled. But the very act of e-learning offers an avenue to honor a particular way that women’s innovation and accomplishment have improved our world, in the form of the computer technology that is now so vital to maintaining any semblance of higher education in this country today. Women have always been instrumental to the development of computing technology. The world recently lost mathematician and innovative computer programmer Katherine Johnson, whose life and contributions to early computer development are well known thanks to having been recently dramatized in … Continued

Awareness and Celebration of LGBTQ+ Community

books, children's books, conferences, Elizabeth South, holidays, lgbtqs March 16, 2020 Library Resources, outreach mdilwort

International Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) is March 31st, 2020. It is a day to celebrate transgender people, their contributions to society, as well as raise awareness of the discrimination they face worldwide. The Indiana University East Campus Library is a dedicated Safe Space and our librarians and staff participate in regular training and professional development, such as Safe Zone, to better serve those members of the community who identify as LGBTQ+. This past month, IU East librarians Beth South and KT Lowe had the opportunity to attend the National Association of Social Workers 3rd Annual Conference on Serving Sexual & Gender Minority (GSM) populations. This conference was hosted by NASW’s Indiana Chapter Committee on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. … Continued

(Some of) the curious cultural history of women in chocolate

chocolate, KT Lowe, Programs, women March 9, 2020 Programs, Research mdilwort

Chocolate is one of the most widely beloved foods in the world today, used in a variety of dishes from chocolate pasta to mole sauces to, of course, decadent brownies. However, much of what we know about chocolate is fairly recent and limited in context. Let’s open up a bit of that history and take a look at chocolate through the lens of women. For much of the 20th century, women have been closely associated with chocolate – mostly by craving it. While this is a stereotype, it is rooted in a small bit of truth. Chocolate is in fact the most desired food in the US, and while there is little consensus as to whether or not that desire … Continued