Matt Dilworth

Matt Dilworth

Firsthand Information

Firsthand Information

, Library Resources, Matt Dilworth
In research, it is always a good idea to examine the primary sources, and not trust another author to act as an intermediary.  Firsthand, contemporaneous accounts of anything that happens – a historic event, a scientific experiment, the minutia of day-to-day life – are irreplaceable for historians decades or even centuries later.  Their existence allows later researchers to strip away the layers of exaggeration, dimming memory, hagiography, or demonization that can build up on stories told and retold over time.  Primary sources are those created by the participants in the events that are described.  These can be diaries and journals, letters and legal contracts, even blogs and emails. The library offers numerous databases focused on primary source material from a … Continued
Slavery Still in the Shadows

Slavery Still in the Shadows

, , , Library Resources, Matt Dilworth, outreach
Juneteenth is a momentous day, commemorating American slave emancipation in 1865.  It was made a national holiday in 2021, although many states observed it before that.  As a ‘second Independence day’, Juneteenth is often celebrated with food and festivals, rodeos and reenactments, and voter registration drives. In the century and a half since the first Juneteenth, slavery has become illegal in every country of the world.  Many countries are part of international treaties dedicated to criminalizing and ferreting out slavery wherever it appears.  But despite all that, it still happens in the shadows.  Estimates vary widely, but there are tens of millions of people enslaved around the globe today. Modern slavery can take many forms, and is not always about … Continued
New Interface for a Major Research Tool

New Interface for a Major Research Tool

, Library Resources, Matt Dilworth, Website
The easiest way to begin searching for research materials at IU East is to start typing in the blank labelled “Search EBSCO (Articles)” on the library’s home page.  This search blank is a meta-search, which means that it looks through many of the library’s databases simultaneously.  Most research at IU East starts here. The software behind this is called the EBSCO Discovery Service, and it is getting a facelift.  The search interface will change, and some of the features and buttons are moving around.  Some new features are being added.  The clean-looking search blank continues to put some of the most popular filters right there with it (for example, restricting just to things that have full text immediately available, or … Continued
Brain Awareness Week

Brain Awareness Week

, , Library Resources, Matt Dilworth
March 13th-19th is Brain Awareness Week, an opportunity to learn more about the human brain – its biology, its development and function, health and disorders, and current research into this incredible organ.  It is also a time for compassion and understanding for people who have suffered problems like Parkinson’s disease, stroke, epilepsy, and traumatic injury to the brain.  Ongoing research into brain health has pushed back the boundaries of insight into neurological disease and impairment, improving treatment options and lifelong health.  In partnership with the Dana Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and over forty countries work to promote brain education.  The official Brain Awareness Week website includes numerous resources – from games to information sheets to K-12 lesson plans … Continued
Advances in Surgery

Advances in Surgery

, , Library Resources, Matt Dilworth
On December 25, 1809 surgery took a pioneering step forward.  In December of that year, forty-seven-year-old Jane Crawford of Motley Glenn, Kentucky seemed to be pregnant, although she thought she was too old to have more children.  Her stomach grew and grew – and kept growing, beyond nine months.  At the recommendation of her local doctors, she called upon a physician named Ephraim McDowell, who lived sixty miles away, in Danville.  He came – a two or three day journey by horse – and diagnosed her as having an ovarian tumor rather than a baby.  Realizing that if it were left to grow, she faced a certain, slow, and agonizing death, she asked for it to be removed, and was … Continued