Hesburgh Libraries

Students receive University of Notre Dame Library Research Award

By Jenna Mrozinske | November 11, 2020

Students receive University of Notre Dame Library Research Award

Hesburgh Libraries is pleased to announce the winners of the 2020 University of Notre Dame Library Research Award.

This annual award is earned by undergraduate students who demonstrate excellence in research skills by using a breadth of library resources and services for their course assignments, research projects, and creative endeavors.

“Hesburgh Libraries is committed to Notre Dame’s mission of advancing undergraduate research and scholarship,” said Edward H. Arnold University Librarian Diane Parr Walker. “The 2020 Library Research Award winners have used library expertise, resources, services and spaces to build research skills for academic success that will also serve them well beyond graduation.”

Typically, the awards are presented in the spring during an in-person ceremony at Hesburgh Library, where students celebrate their accomplishments with their family, friends and mentors. This year, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the timing and nature of this annual event. Students were given a deadline extension and notified of this honor during the summer.

Congratulations to the 2020 Library Research Award winners.

Capstone Project or Senior Thesis Award Category

Kevin Angell, Economics

LRA-Angell-1-01 Kevin Angell’s essay won first prize in the Capstone Project or Senior Thesis category for his senior thesis, “Professional Innovation? An Analysis of Legislative Professionalism and Legislative Innovation.” Advised by Jeffrey Harden, Andrew J. McKenna Family Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, Angell evaluated legislative professionalism’s impact on how quickly legislatures innovate by quantitatively testing a theorized link between professionalism and innovation.

Angell used OneSearch, combined with other tools, to identify existing scholarship in the broader subfield of legislative politics. “Using the library’s print collection and Interlibrary Loan service, I was able to obtain copies of the needed material. This material helped me learn from existing scholarship to determine what areas of my thesis could contribute new understanding,” said Angell.

With help from the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship, Angell also took advantage of the many specialized software accessible through the Libraries, such as Stata, LaTex, and CurateND.

When students started distance learning due to COVID-19, Angell consulted librarian Mark Robison who introduced him to HathiTrust for emergency online access to digitized primary sources from the general collection. “With online access to [digitized] print material and continued remote access to journal articles provided by the library’s databases, I was able to properly analyze existing scholarship and draw from it to answer my research question.”

Lauren Jhin, Psychology

LRA-Jhin-01 Lauren Jhin earned second prize in the Capstone Project or Senior Thesis category for her senior thesis, “Collaborative Space Design in College Campus Libraries: Partnering with the University of Notre Dame’s Hesburgh Library to Evaluate Collaborative Spaces.” With guidance from her adviser, Kim Rollings, assistant professor in the School of Architecture, Jhin’s thesis assessed Hesburgh Library’s renovated spaces on the first and second floors and its effectiveness in promoting collaborative work.

When beginning her literature review process, Jhin consulted with Cheri Smith, psychology librarian and program director for Teaching, Research and User Services. She learned how to use library resources such as OneSearch, ND Catalog, and Google Scholar to identify relevant sources. “Additionally, Jennifer Parker, the architecture librarian, introduced me to RefWorks, a citation management software, that I used to quickly enter sources into RefWorks via links embedded in search databases and efficiently review the sources,” said Jhin. “I relied on the library’s large Mac computers and screens to view scholarly articles and my thesis simultaneously, expediting the review process.”

When collecting data, Jhin sought support from Hesburgh Library faculty and staff to coordinate user observation, distribute questionnaires, and conduct interviews. For the final formatting of her thesis, Jhin discovered resources in the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship to visualize her data. Media Corps coaches introduced her to tools for creating infographics, and Eric Morgan, digital initiatives librarian, taught her how to bind her thesis into a book. Jhin said, “All three phases of my project benefited from the library’s digital and print sources, software, physical equipment, spaces and renovation information, and library staff.”

Sophomore, Junior, or Senior Award Category

DeAndre Tomlinson, Science-Computing

LRA-Tomlinson-01 DeAndre Tomlinson, senior, won first prize in the Sophomore, Junior, or Senior category for his research paper, “Automated Text Categorization and Metabarcoding Reinforces Cryptococcus Neoformans–Woody Decomposition Association.” Tomlinson was advised by Michael Pfrender, professor and associate chair in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Cryptococcus Neoformans is a fungal pathogen that kills approximately 180,000 individuals each year. The goal of the research project was to learn more about the environmental patterns and location niches of C. neoformans by collecting and analyzing journal articles and identifying a theme.

For data collection, Tomlinson and his labmates used the Hesburgh Libraries website to access the vast array of academic subscription services such as Wiley, Oxford, JSTOR, and Elsevier. With the help of E-Research Librarian Natalie Meyers, they were introduced to Zotero — a citation management software designed to help you save, organize, and format your citations.

In addition to the organizational and technical resources, Tomlinson took advantage of Hesburgh Library’s physical spaces. “On multiple occasions, I reserved a multimedia room so the lab or group members could meet and discuss the project with the TV screens and private sound resistant rooms,” said Tomlinson. “I am grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow as not only a student but also a driven researcher with the help of Hesburgh Library services during my time at the University of Notre Dame.”

Emee Marjorie Dy, Marketing

LRA-Dy-01 Emee Marjorie Dy, sophomore, won second prize in the Sophomore, Junior, or Senior category for her paper, “Marketing Strategy Memo: Rebranding Opportunities.”

Dy’s adviser, Jennifer Cronin, assistant teaching professor in the College of Business, asked her Business Writing class to choose a company and offer recommendations on how to respond to a current trend in a business memo format. “My work for this task would not have been successful without the resources and support provided by the library,” said Dy. Her class met with Business Librarian Pete Pietraszewski, who introduced them to online resources and helpful tools on how to format a business memo and cite their sources.

Dy collected data using several Market Research and Industry Databases made available by the Hesburgh Libraries, such as Mintel, Statista, and Factiva. She then headed to the Reading Room on the 2nd Floor of Hesburgh Library, “As an individual who focuses best in quiet environments, it was the ideal place to be,” said Dy.

Once realizing her memo needed improvement, she consulted with the Business Library once more. They offered advice on how to expand some ideas and cut down on others. After finalizing her memo, Dy made an appointment with the Writing Center, which provides tutoring sessions on the 1st Floor of Hesburgh Library. “I felt confident in my work and knew that it was my best, due to the help of the librarians and other resources made available to students,” said Dy.

First Year Student Award Category

David Hale, Chemical Engineering Pre-Med

LRA-Hale-01 David Hale won first prize in the First Year Student category for his research paper, “A New Era of College Admissions.” Hale was advised by graduate student Joshua Wright, Department of English.

For his Multimedia Writing and Rhetoric class final research project, Hale’s assignment was to write a research essay and create an accompanying multimedia presentation. Hale chose to explore how online applications have affected the college admissions process.

Unsure how to begin his research process, Hale turned to the Online Chat feature on the Hesburgh Libraries website. “I explained my topic and asked for guidance to get acquainted with the site and find research materials,” said Hale. He learned how to narrow his search terms and more efficiently use OneSearch and ND Catalog. After realizing that little research has been done on his topic, Hale decided to interview first-year students as his primary source. Throughout the semester, he reserved consultation rooms in Hesburgh Library to conduct his interviews.

For his multimedia presentation, Hale decided to create a narrated video to present his research. He checked out equipment through the Library’s technology lending service. Hale said, “The microphones turned a simple project into a professional-quality one. On top of that, I used the far superior library monitors to help create the presentation.”

Hale says he gained a better understanding of the research process and “I realized that I could not have executed a single step in my research without the library.”

Corrinne Carlson, Program of Liberal Studies

LRA-Carlson-01 Corinne Carlson won second prize in the First Year Student category for her paper, “Talking Vegetables and Family Conflict: How VeggieTales Adapts the Joseph Story.”

Carlson’s adviser, Katie Bugyis, assistant professor in the program of liberal studies, assigned her theology class a research paper on any adaptation of a biblical story. “Having grown up watching VeggieTales, I chose to explore the series’ interpretation of the Joseph story from Genesis,” said Carlson.

During a class visit to the Medieval Institute Library, Carlson was introduced to Julia Schneider, Scholarly Resource Assessment Librarian and subject specialist for Medieval Studies. Schneider showed the class the immense amount of resources provided by the Hesburgh Libraries. She offered guidance on narrowing down search terms and tips for enhancing their search process. “Especially helpful to me was Dr. Schneider’s introduction to the library’s databases, which make it significantly easier to find relevant but reliable sources,” said Carlson.

Carlson was initially concerned that she would not find enough rich scholarly material to support her argument due to the subject matter. However, using OneSearch and exploring the library’s databases, Carlson was able to find numerous books and articles related to her topic. “Allowing my sources to guide my future research on the topic led me to other sources that significantly enriched my project.”

Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship Award Category

The Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship (NFCDS) award is a specialty submission category and a new addition to the Library Research Award. This award recognizes excellence in leveraging digital scholarship resources, tools, and methodologies in your project.

Dayonni Phillips, Anthropology

LRA-Phillips-01 Dayonni Phillips won a NFCDS award for her senior thesis and senior capstone project, “You Control the Media, You Control the Masses; The Implementation of a Ban on Isla Mujeres, Mexico: The Intersection of Norms, Law, and Economy.” Phillips was advised by Alex Chávez, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology.

Phillips took advantage of the Fall Thesis Camp — a research and writing camp offered by the Hesburgh Libraries during fall break — which taught her how to set goals, introduced citation management software, and helped her make progress on her projects.

Phillips also leveraged specialty software available through the Hesburgh Library, such as NVivo, Atlas.ti, and Zotero. “Julie Vecchio, assistant director for the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship, taught me how to use the transcript station in Hesburgh Library with the Express Scribe software to transcribe my transcripts for both projects,” said Phillips. Similarly, Eric Morgan, digital initiatives librarian, assisted with text analysis and introduced Distant Reader — a software that allows researchers to read and analyze large volumes of textual material quickly. Phillips said, “This software was essential in saving me time as I was able to study hundreds of files and documents in a timely manner that would have been impossible otherwise with my time constraint.”

Jacqueline Weinrich, Science-Business

LRA-Weinrich-01 Jacqueline Weinrich won a NFCDS award for her senior thesis, “I can’t take the devil’s pills, but I just need it for my health”: Women’s experiences under the University of Notre Dame contraceptive restriction policy.” Weinrich, who was advised by Elizabeth McClintock, associate professor in the Department of Sociology, was interested in what happened to women after the University implemented its contraception policies. She investigated questions such as, did the policies have any practical implications or were they purely political? What kind of challenges did these implications pose to women’s everyday lives and well-being? Were these challenges more difficult to overcome for women with fewer resources?

“The qualitative research guides provided by the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship made it easy to find and locate resources that would make my research more efficient and standardized,” said Weinrich.

In addition to many online databases, guides, subscription services, and physical library material, a large part of Weinrich’s data collection stemmed from in-person interviews. Originally she planned to transcribe her interviews by hand but was pleased to discover the Transcription Station, located in the NFCDS. Weinrich said, “the transcription station, equipped with Express Scribe Pro Transcription Software, was critical in helping me process all of my interview transcripts into usable text data.”

Caroline Colella, Architecture

Caroline Colella won a NFCDS award for her senior thesis, “The Immigration Station: Designing for Dignity at the U.S. Mexico Border” — a proposal for the design of an immigration station and immigrant services campus located on a strip of the United States and Mexico border in El Paso, Texas. Advised by Sean Patrick Nohelty, professor of the practice in the School of Architecture, Colella explored the use of architecture as a tool for promoting human dignity.

Colella consulted with Architecture Librarian Jennifer Parker, who helped her find architectural resources and introduced her to the library’s Interlibrary Loan service. After completing her research and a rough sketch of her design, Colella met with Adam Heet, the digital projects specialist in the NFCDS, and Morgan Wilson, architecture library specialist. “With their help, I gained knowledge in SketchUp and was able to build a computer model of my site as well as the buildings on the campus,” said Colella. Wilson then took her digital model and used the 3D printers in the library’s Makerspace to print a physical model of Colella’s design.

“I am grateful to our Architecture Library team for teaching me how to use our varied library resources at the very beginning of my education as they proved invaluable in the completion of this project – and more importantly, in helping me get the most out of my Notre Dame education.”

 

For more information on the University of Notre Dame Library Research Award, visit library.nd.edu/library-research-award.


Contact: Monica Moore, Scholarly Communications Librarian, mmoore18@nd.edu

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