Historian Matthew Lockwood’s Explorers: A New History narrates lives filled with imagination and wonder, curiosity, connection, and exchange. Familiar icons of exploration like Pocahontas, Columbus, Sacagawea, and Captain Cook find new company in the untold stories of people usually denied the title “explorers,” including immigrants, indigenous interpreters, local guides, and fugitive slaves.
Once you are finished, check out the rest of our Popular Reading collection. Titles range from commentary, fiction, historical fiction, mystery, suspense, non-fiction, current affairs, science, social issues, and politics.
Hold your cursor over the Title to see a short description of the book, or click to view the catalog record. The status of the book is shown beside the call number.
In Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party, historian Edward Dolnick tells the fascinating tale of how paleontologists in the early 19th century analyzed the fossil record to create the story of dinosaurs we know today.
Once you are finished, check out the rest of our Popular Reading collection. Titles range from commentary, fiction, historical fiction, mystery, suspense, non-fiction, current affairs, science, social issues, and politics.
Hold your cursor over the Title to see a short description of the book, or click to view the catalog record. The status of the book is shown beside the call number.
Happy International Open Access Week! This year Open Access Week is from October 21st through the 27th. Open Access Week was created by the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) “to connect the global momentum toward the open sharing of knowledge with the advancement of policy changes and the importance of social issues affecting people around the world.” This year’s theme is “Community over Commercialization.” The theme Community over Commercialization looks to “prioritize approaches to open scholarship that serve the best interests of the public and the academic community” (Open Access Week).
What is Open Access?
Open access “is the free, immediate, online availability of the research articles coupled with the rights to use these articles fully in the digital environment” (SPARC). Why do researchers need open access resources? Researchers need open access resources because traditional publishers that have moved to the internet often create technical, legal, and financial barriers that prevent people from accessing them. Open access publishing removes these barriers. Open access publishers host their content on websites that any user with an internet connection can use, which helps facilitate easy access. Also, open access journals clearly state the licensing and copyright of materials so that users know what they can and cannot do with the materials. This prevents legal gray areas and users unknowingly using the materials in a manner not allowed by law. Lastly, open access materials are not locked behind a paywall. Being free, users can access it without having to pay for an individual article or a subscription to a journal which often costs hundreds of dollars for individual subscribers. All of these factors make it easier for researchers to access and use this information, which grows the knowledge and accelerates research within their communities. For more information about open access, check out this brief video.
“Community over Commercialization”
SPARC’s continuation of the theme Community over Commercialization for a second consecutive year for International Open Access Week highlights the need for scholarship to be more freely available and accessible to the public and academic communities. Publishing research in the Internet era needs to shift from traditional journal models where users or institutions pay a fee for access to open access journals that researchers do not have to pay to access. This shift will help improve research outcomes and make information more accessible to everyone. As the Public Library of Science (PLOS) notes, with “immediate and unrestricted access to the latest research, we can accelerate discovery and create a more equitable system of knowledge that is open to all.”
Danny Kingsley & Sarah Brown / Benefits of Open Access / CC BY 4.0 International
Fortunately, in recent years more organizations have been focusing on publishing and hosting open access materials. These publishers make it so researchers can publish and find up-to-date research in their respective fields which builds their knowledge, advances their research, and educates their community. To get started with using open access resources in your research, check out these organizations that publish or direct you to open access sources:
PLOS: PLOS is a non-profit open access publisher that publishes journals in the sciences and medicine.
Open Library Of Humanities: OHL is an open access publisher of humanities scholarship with over 33 journals.
MDPI:MDPI has 443 peer-reviewed journals in a wide variety of disciplines such as biology, business, and engineering.
The growing availability of open access resources provides more opportunities for research to be shared with the public and academic communities, but it can be challenging to get started with open access. Fortunately, many open access publishers, libraries, and other organizations have information about open access. To learn more, click on the resources listed below!
Benjamin Cushing is a Research and Instruction Librarian at The Catholic University of America Libraries.
Further Reading
Open Access at Catholic University: This guide explores what The Catholic University of America is doing with Open Access and digital scholarship.
SPARC: Provides an overview of open access and why it is beneficial.
Identifying and locating government documents can feel like navigating a maze. Happily, ProQuest Congressional, a database of congressional documents from 1789 to the present, makes the task much easier. If you are a student or researcher of history, political science, the social sciences, or someone who wants to analyze past and present U.S. political, economic, or social issues, this is a tool for you.
Where to start? If you are looking for a specific document or event, choose Searching; if you want to get an overview of the available information on a topic, opt for Browsing.
Searching
Here is an example of what searching looks like, using the timely example of “voting rights”:
From the main database page [Advanced Search Legislative & Executive Publications], enter “voting rights” in the search bar at the top of the page.
This basic search returns over 3,000 results! Fortunately, these results are organized into helpful categories, such as content types, topic pages, hearings, and more.
Try selecting Voting Rights Act, which appears under the Topic Pages header, to learn what it is and how it came to be.
In addition to the usual Basic and Advanced searches, that most databases have, ProQuest Congressional includes additional searches, highlighted in blue. Want to stay in-the know about what your representatives are doing in D.C.? Try this example:
In the Bill Sponsor search box type “Ruppersberger”, and select his name (Charles Albert Ruppersberger III) to autofill the box. Now click search. Dutch Ruppersberger has represented Maryland’s 2nd congressional district since 2003.
This simple search returns 181 results split between bill text, which has title information and the full text of the bill, and bill profile, which summarizes the bill and highlights key information. Most recently Congressman Ruppersberger sponsored the Fairness for Victims of SNAP Skimming Act of 2023, which aimed to amend the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, to increase the replacement of stolen EBT benefits under the supplemental nutrition assistance program. This is only one of Congressman Ruppersberger’s bill sponsors, so you can find out more about his legislative work by using the Bill Sponsor search filter.
These two searches show the wealth of information you can find using ProQuest Congressional, but there are so many ways to search. More information on advanced searches and filtering searches can be found here. Additionally, Legislative and Executive Publications is not the only place you can search. ProQuest Congressional allows users to search Members and Committees, Regulations, and News & Social Media. To learn more about the different search forms, check out the ProQuest Congressional Search Forms tab.
Browsing
Browsing is another way to find information and two of the most useful browses are by Topic and by Congress in Context. Try these examples:
Select the Browse Topics Header and click on Electoral College. This guide includes a background on the electoral college, congressional research reports on issues related to the electoral college, congressional hearings, in the news, and links to other useful information, such as the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution. The topic pages provide both overviews of important subjects as well as sources to jumpstart your research.
Select the Congress in Context Header. This section provides background on each of the congresses, highlights and provides a summary of major events that occurred during that congress, and has a timeline of events that happened throughout that congress’ session. The most recent congress, 118th Congress (2023-2025), highlights the Israel/Gaza Conflict, economic trends and conditions including the persistent inflation starting in 2021, and Supreme Court decisions. The Congress in Context page’s historical profiles highlight the setting, personnel, and events that may have impacted the legislation crafted during that session of congress.
Next Steps
Want to learn more about using ProQuest Congressional? Check out the ProQuest Congressional Research Guide. This guide has learning modules, webinars, PowerPoints, and more to help you master the database. Also, you can contact the liaison librarian to history, Ben Cushing, or the liaison to political science, Taras Zvir, with any questions you may have. When searching for information on the United States Congress, use ProQuest Congressional to propel your research further!
The Pulitzer Prize finalist Tommy Tomlinson’s Dogland is a riveting, inside account of the Westminster Dog Show that follows one dog on his quest to become a champion.
Once you are finished, check out the rest of our Popular Reading collection. Titles range from commentary, fiction, historical fiction, mystery, suspense, non-fiction, current affairs, science, social issues, and politics.
Hold your cursor over the Title to see a short description of the book, or click to view the catalog record. The status of the book is shown beside the call number.
Have you ever searched for a Youtube video you saw a few years ago that was no longer there? Or try to open an old photo on your computer only to get an error message? This is a frustrating experience that we all have gone through when looking for older digital materials. Unfortunately, many of these items may be gone forever! While these situations are common, many libraries have programs focused on digital preservation. Digital preservation refers to the strategies and processes used to keep digital materials accessible. Many of these materials are born digital. Born-digital materials are records that were created digitally, and do not include records that were initially physical then digitally scanned. Having strategies and procedures in place ensure that born digital materials will be available in the future for users.
This is Preservation Week (April 29 – May 4), and the theme is Preserving Identities. To celebrate this occasion, we will first consider some of the challenges in preserving digital materials. Next we will examine different libraries and archives’ approaches to digital preservation. Finally we will explore digital collections that are preserving identities for future generations.
Challenges
The rapid advancement of digital technology has allowed us to create a massive amount of born digital materials. As time progresses and new technologies emerge, born-digital items risk becoming obsolete. Here are some challenges that the Smithsonian Institution Archives highlighted:
Accessibility. Every digital item needs hardware and software in order for it to work. Older file formats may need to be migrated to different file formats in order for them to operate on newer software. Hardware that was used to operate older software in the past may not work anymore, or easily be used by new users. In some cases emulators–hardware or software that is made to perform like a different computer system–may be utilized to run older software.
Storage. Today there are plenty of options for cheap online storage, for example, iCloud and Google storage. However, the companies and institutions providing this storage must pay for the infrastructure, such as servers, as well as the energy cost to keep it running. This cost may become an issue for users in the future. Additionally, while one can store many items through these services, you need to be thoughtful with which items you choose to store and how you store these items. For example, how many copies of a paper you wrote do you store and which versions do you keep? Also, how do you name the file so that you or someone else can find it in the future? These research data management questions need to be considered when storing an item.
Software, Hardware, and Operating Systems Obsolescence. As technology ages, it is phased out for newer models. These systems may not be compatible with older technology. In recent years, laptops have phased out disc drives. So, any digital materials that are stored on a CD-ROM cannot be used without additional hardware, in this case an external CD-Drive.
Libraries and Archives Approach Digital Preservation
Jørgen Stamp, CC BY 2.5 DK , via Wikimedia Commons
While there are hurdles to digital preservation, many academic libraries are implementing projects for the long term digital preservation of materials. Here are two institutions with different approaches to digital preservation:
Harvard Library
Since the late 1990s, Harvard Library has been implementing various digital preservation strategies. One important project carried out in recent years were format migrations for RealAudio audio files, SMIL playlists, and Kodak PhotoCD images items in their Digital Repository. These file formats were not being supported on newer software, making them unusable for some users. Harvard Library recognized this and began a migration project to a new format for these files.
National Archives
The National Archives developed a plan for digital preservation from 2022 to 2026. This plan outlines key strategies, such as documenting standards and procedures, prioritization, file management, and staff training, which are highlighted to ensure that best practices are being used to preserve digital materials. Activities include developing infrastructure, maintaining data integrity, sustaining formats and media, and ensuring information security. These activities ensure that digital materials will remain accessible as the items age and the technology to access and use materials changes.
Collections for Preserving Identities
Since the focus of this year’s preservation week is preserving identities, here are some digital collections that preserve the collections of particular groups and Indigenous Peoples:
University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina Digital Collections Repository is one of many academic library repositories that maintain and provide access to born digital materials. These materials often provide a glimpse into a region’s historical identity. A collection that highlights southern identity is the Southern Folklife Collection, which has items on American folk music and popular culture. Of particular interest are the various audio files. There are over 4,000 audio files that are songs by a variety of artists in the digital collection. The traditions of southern music are kept alive through preserving and accessing the collections.
Doris Duke Native American Oral History Revitalization Project
Native Americans are a vital part of the fabric of the United States’ identity. However, due to the treatment of Native Americans in the past by colonization and American government policies, many Native American identities have been lost. Oral history is one method of preserving their identities. A number of libraries provide first-person narratives from Native people through the Doris Duke Native American Oral History Revitalization Project, including the University of Arizona, University of Florida, University of Illinois, University of New Mexico, University of Oklahoma, University of South Dakota, and University of Utah. These libraries provide access to archival recordings including an interview with an Arapaho woman as well as song recordings. Digital recordings keep alive the history, tradition, and culture of different Native American groups.
Pixabay
Conclusion
The loss of access to digital materials, such as digital family photos, online videos, and recordings, is a threat that constantly needs to be monitored. Employing digital preservation allows for materials to be safe and accessible for current and future generations. This includes migrating old file formats to newer formats and maintaining digital storage space. As we have seen, libraries are using these preservation strategies and are implementing long term preservation plans to keep these digital items accessible. By engaging in digital preservation not only will digital materials be available for future users to view and use, but also the materials preserved will help to highlight and keep alive the identities of its creators.
Interested in learning more about digital resources and preservation? Check out our Digital Scholarship page. Here you can get assistance in developing digital projects, determine the preservation needs of a project, and more!
Benjamin Cushing is Research and Instruction Librarian at the Catholic University of America Libraries.
Have you ever searched for a Youtube video you saw a few years ago that was no longer there? Or try to open an old photo on your computer only to get an error message? This is a frustrating experience that we all have gone through when looking for older digital materials. Unfortunately, many of these items may be gone forever! While these situations are common, many libraries have programs focused on digital preservation. Digital preservation refers to the strategies and processes used to keep digital materials accessible. Many of these materials are born digital. Born-digital materials are records that were created digitally, and do not include records that were initially physical then digitally scanned. Having strategies and procedures in place ensure that born digital materials will be available in the future for users.
This is Preservation Week (April 29 – May 4), and the theme is Preserving Identities. To celebrate this occasion, we will first consider some of the challenges in preserving digital materials. Next we will examine different libraries and archives’ approaches to digital preservation. Finally we will explore digital collections that are preserving identities for future generations.
Challenges
The rapid advancement of digital technology has allowed us to create a massive amount of born digital materials. As time progresses and new technologies emerge, born-digital items risk becoming obsolete. Here are some challenges that the Smithsonian Institution Archives highlighted:
Accessibility. Every digital item needs hardware and software in order for it to work. Older file formats may need to be migrated to different file formats in order for them to operate on newer software. Hardware that was used to operate older software in the past may not work anymore, or easily be used by new users. In some cases emulators–hardware or software that is made to perform like a different computer system–may be utilized to run older software.
Storage. Today there are plenty of options for cheap online storage, for example, iCloud and Google storage. However, the companies and institutions providing this storage must pay for the infrastructure, such as servers, as well as the energy cost to keep it running. This cost may become an issue for users in the future. Additionally, while one can store many items through these services, you need to be thoughtful with which items you choose to store and how you store these items. For example, how many copies of a paper you wrote do you store and which versions do you keep? Also, how do you name the file so that you or someone else can find it in the future? These research data management questions need to be considered when storing an item.
Software, Hardware, and Operating Systems Obsolescence. As technology ages, it is phased out for newer models. These systems may not be compatible with older technology. In recent years, laptops have phased out disc drives. So, any digital materials that are stored on a CD-ROM cannot be used without additional hardware, in this case an external CD-Drive.
Libraries and Archives Approach Digital Preservation
Jørgen Stamp, CC BY 2.5 DK , via Wikimedia Commons
While there are hurdles to digital preservation, many academic libraries are implementing projects for the long term digital preservation of materials. Here are two institutions with different approaches to digital preservation:
Harvard Library
Since the late 1990s, Harvard Library has been implementing various digital preservation strategies. One important project carried out in recent years were format migrations for RealAudio audio files, SMIL playlists, and Kodak PhotoCD images items in their Digital Repository. These file formats were not being supported on newer software, making them unusable for some users. Harvard Library recognized this and began a migration project to a new format for these files.
National Archives
The National Archives developed a plan for digital preservation from 2022 to 2026. This plan outlines key strategies, such as documenting standards and procedures, prioritization, file management, and staff training, which are highlighted to ensure that best practices are being used to preserve digital materials. Activities include developing infrastructure, maintaining data integrity, sustaining formats and media, and ensuring information security. These activities ensure that digital materials will remain accessible as the items age and the technology to access and use materials changes.
Collections for Preserving Identities
Since the focus of this year’s preservation week is preserving identities, here are some digital collections that preserve the collections of particular groups and Indigenous Peoples:
University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina Digital Collections Repository is one of many academic library repositories that maintain and provide access to born digital materials. These materials often provide a glimpse into a region’s historical identity. A collection that highlights southern identity is the Southern Folklife Collection, which has items on American folk music and popular culture. Of particular interest are the various audio files. There are over 4,000 audio files that are songs by a variety of artists in the digital collection. The traditions of southern music are kept alive through preserving and accessing the collections.
Doris Duke Native American Oral History Revitalization Project
Native Americans are a vital part of the fabric of the United States’ identity. However, due to the treatment of Native Americans in the past by colonization and American government policies, many Native American identities have been lost. Oral history is one method of preserving their identities. A number of libraries provide first-person narratives from Native people through the Doris Duke Native American Oral History Revitalization Project, including the University of Arizona, University of Florida, University of Illinois, University of New Mexico, University of Oklahoma, University of South Dakota, and University of Utah. These libraries provide access to archival recordings including an interview with an Arapaho woman as well as song recordings. Digital recordings keep alive the history, tradition, and culture of different Native American groups.
Pixabay
Conclusion
The loss of access to digital materials, such as digital family photos, online videos, and recordings, is a threat that constantly needs to be monitored. Employing digital preservation allows for materials to be safe and accessible for current and future generations. This includes migrating old file formats to newer formats and maintaining digital storage space. As we have seen, libraries are using these preservation strategies and are implementing long term preservation plans to keep these digital items accessible. By engaging in digital preservation not only will digital materials be available for future users to view and use, but also the materials preserved will help to highlight and keep alive the identities of its creators.
Interested in learning more about digital resources and preservation? Check out our Digital Scholarship page. Here you can get assistance in developing digital projects, determine the preservation needs of a project, and more!
Benjamin Cushing is Research and Instruction Librarian at the Catholic University of America Libraries.
I Cheerfully Refuse weaves the tale of a bereaved and pursued musician embarking under sail on a sentient Lake Superior in search of his departed, deeply beloved, bookselling wife.
Once you are finished, check out the rest of our Popular Reading collection. Titles range from commentary, fiction, historical fiction, mystery, suspense, non-fiction, current affairs, science, social issues, and politics.
Hold your cursor over the Title to see a short description of the book, or click to view the catalog record. The status of the book is shown beside the call number.
Benjamin Herold’s Disillusioned: Five Families and the Unraveling of America’s Suburbs tells the stories of five American families, providing a survey of how hope, history, and racial denial collide in the suburbs and their schools.
Once you are finished, check out the rest of our Popular Reading collection. Titles range from commentary, fiction, historical fiction, mystery, suspense, non-fiction, current affairs, science, social issues, and politics.
Hold your cursor over the Title to see a short description of the book, or click to view the catalog record. The status of the book is shown beside the call number.
Starting research on any new topic is difficult, as identifying resources and evaluating them can be overwhelming when you are faced with a seemingly endless amount of online possibilities. Case in point is my recent experience. I needed to find information on CBT or cognitive behavioral therapy, a topic with which I had little familiarity. I wondered where I could find trusted, peer-reviewed articles? A library resource I turned to is Oxford Bibliographies: Social Work.
Using this title, I was able to search for and find an annotated bibliography on my topic. The bibliography with commentary includes a general introduction to the topic and a list of authoritative books, textbooks, journal articles, workbooks, and videos. Because CBT is an expansive subject, the bibliography also outlines relevant subfields, such as clinical applications for diverse populations, different ages, groups or families, and trauma sufferers. In addition, it includes citations to publications that attest to the relationship of CBT to mindfulness cognitive therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy. What a wealth of information! With this single and singular resource, I was able to find enough information to answer all of my initial questions. Should I need to delve more deeply into my topic, I will return to this resource.
Four features are particularly noteworthy:
Each bibliography is selectively curated by practitioners and scholars. The cognitive behavioral therapy bibliography I consulted was created in part by A. Antonio González-Prendes, a social work practitioner with decades of experience.
The annotations provide sufficient information for the user to determine if the resource is worth exploring further.
Citations can be saved, exported, or shared.
Once you locate a source that you would like to access, you can quickly check to see if we have access to it. This is done by clicking on the “Find at CU” button underneath the “Find this Resource” tab underneath every annotated resource. If we do not have access to a book or an article, you can use interlibrary loan to get a copy of it.
Oxford Bibliographies: Social Work is part of a series published by Oxford University Press. Through our database subscriptions, the University Libraries has access to bibliographies in these broad categories:
Biblical Studies
Classics
Criminology
Islamic Studies
Medieval Studies
Psychology
Social Work
Sociology
Within these broad categories, one can find more specific subjects, such as canon law, feudalism, mass media, justice, and psychotic disorders, to name just a few of the more than 2,500 bibliographies.
Without a doubt, learning how to use a new resource can be a challenge, but do not worry! Oxford Bibliographies publishes helpful handouts and video tours to guide new users.
Oxford Bibliographies are listed among the University Libraries’ databases. Click here to get started (login with CU credentials).
