holidays

holidays

Media Literacy Week

Media Literacy Week

, Library Resources, Matt Dilworth
Media education is the discipline that teaches people how messages are created to influence and persuade others, and how to analyze and critique those claims dispassionately. It also empowers people how to craft their own messages to be best received by others, through any medium. Poor media literacy leaves a person vulnerable to manipulation, whether benign or malicious, from any organization trying to influence opinion through imagery, sloganeering, advertisement, or more subtle reinforcement. Media literacy frees a person from (or at least mitigates) this influence, encouraging thoughtful reflection and critique of the ideas and claims that might otherwise go unexamined. There are, of course, safeguards. Have you seen a pharmaceutical ad on television in the last few years? Drug companies … Continued
Independence Day

Independence Day

Library Resources, Matt Dilworth
This week we will celebrate the Fourth of July. John Adams advocated celebrating it with “pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other”. Whether any of these factor into your own festivities, or whether you have your own traditions, the day marks a major change in human events. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed by fifty-six men, putting our country on a path to freedom and self-determination that has since been copied by dozens of other nations. Before 1776, the evidence was scant that any people could successfully govern themselves without kings or aristocracy. Today, it is common knowledge. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were … Continued
LGBT Sources

LGBT Sources

, Library Resources, Matt Dilworth
June is National LGBT Pride Month in remembrance of the Stonewall riots in June 1969, the beginning of the modern gay liberation movement. IU East has always taken an interest in nurturing and empowering our gay students (and their straight allies) – the LGBTQS Alliance is one of our most popular organizations, and many university employees have Safe Zone training, offering a supportive and affirming place for LGBT students to discuss any issue that weighs on them. And the library has reliable resources to learn about LGBT history or the issues facing the homosexual community today. We have resources for any interest or age group. For scholarly needs, databases like LGBT Studies are great starting points, including sources like films, … Continued
Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month

Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month

, Library Resources, Matt Dilworth
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and a great opportunity to experience the accomplishments, culture, and impact of Asian and Pacific Islander influence on American life. May commemorates both the immigration of the first Japanese citizens to the United States on May 7, 1843, and also marks the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869 – a feat accomplished by thousands of Chinese immigrants. But it also celebrates immigrants from anywhere in Asia, Melanesia, Micronesia, or Polynesia. Fortunately, regardless of what culture you want to explore, the library has plenty of resources for any need. For scholarly databases, the Asian Studies eBook Collection is a great place to start, with coverage for subjects ranging … Continued
Women’s History Month

Women’s History Month

, Library Resources
March is Women’s History Month, and you can celebrate by informing yourself. Women’s History is an important topic in the history of the United States because women helped to shape parts of our history. During the Civil War, women played the important roles of nurses who brought our soldiers back to health. Women later took a stand for themselves during the Women’s Suffrage Movement, which lasted from around the 1840’s until the 19th amendment, which states that the United States cannot deny or abridge a citizen the right to vote based upon sex, was passed and ratified in 1920. The next task women faced was their liberation, which sparked the Women’s Liberation Movement. This developed in the late 1960’s when … Continued