Matt Dilworth

Matt Dilworth

A Sense of Place and Time

A Sense of Place and Time

, , books, Matt Dilworth
Today, in the summer, the halls of IU East are unnaturally quiet without students.  Physical Plant has just waxed the floors, and the whole place seems to glow.  The grounds outside are lush and green and verdant.  In six months’ time, though, the weather will be cold and the trees bereft of leaves.  The floors will be scuffed and stained with salt.  In 1972, the land was a construction zone; with Whitewater Hall just beginning to be erected.  It was again in 2015, as work began on the Student Events and Activities Center.  A few centuries’ ago, Miami Indian explorers ranged north from the Whitewater River, seeking game here, surrounded only by trees and grass.  Things change, and a place … Continued
Exploring the History of Comics

Exploring the History of Comics

, Library Resources, Matt Dilworth
Comics, whether in strip or book form, have long been a mainstay of childhood and young adult reading.  The unique style of storytelling through sequential art, usually mixed with text, can facilitate any genre or idea, with an unlimited ‘special effects budget’ that would be unwieldy in any other medium.  Over the decades, they have grown from being a purely child-oriented type of entertainment to one that also caters to adults, with more literary stories including ‘graphic novels’.  Two days relevant to comics are coming up – Free Comic Book Day is on Saturday May 4th, where people can get a variety of free comic books.  Locally, Comic Relief Comics, located at 411 N. 8th Street, Unit#104 in the Depot … Continued
Space, The Final Frontier

Space, The Final Frontier

, , Library Resources, Matt Dilworth
Looking up at the vastness and seeming timelessness of space, people have always sought to understand what lies beyond the Earth.  Ancient people struggled to explain phenomena like moon phases, shooting stars, comets, blood moons, meteors, and even eclipses.  It was a source of interest, though – ancient megalithic structures and cave paintings are thought to show astronomical awareness. Lacking the development of scientific methods, myth was built by every culture to help explain the unexplainable structure of the universe.  The sun was rationalized as the Greek god Helios who rode a blazing chariot across the sky.  Lunar eclipses were seen as Dewi Ratih, a Hindu lunar goddess, who was devoured by the floating head Kala Rau but always safely … Continued
By Data and by Design

By Data and by Design

, , Contests, Matt Dilworth
The greatest business idea will struggle to find success without good marketing and design.  The converse is also true; no amount of pretty packaging will make a bad product better.  Over the last eight years, the IU East Business and Economic Research Center (BERC) has offered an incredible product – the East-Central Indiana Business Survey.  This survey draws data from experienced local businesses – over 100 of them – in Wayne, Fayette, Franklin, Henry, Randolph, Rush, and Union counties.  From this data, the local confidence in business prospects is measured, looking at factors like workforce size, capital investment, and profitability in addition to optimism or pessimism in the future.  This data in turn improves the community’s understanding of the local … Continued
Digging Into Research

Digging Into Research

, , Library Resources, Matt Dilworth, Research
Learning the principles of good research is a key component of digital fluency, and the freedom that comes with it.  This requires expertise beyond the skills obtained with commercial search engines like Google or Bing.  In conducting scholarly research, it is best to start with repositories of vetted information like academic databases and datasets.  Often these seem more complex to use than free search tools, but their robustness allows for more and richer information than a tool designed to help you find a time for a movie or sporting event, or a place on a map. The library offers a guide to research using these tools, describing what you can find and how you can best find it.  These techniques … Continued