American Economic Association

The website for the American Economic Association (AEA) is a great resource for all levels of individuals involved in Economics. The portion to which Dr. Roland directed us, What is Economics? provides a clear and concise definition of Economics.  A quick Google search indicated that 414 other sites have linked to the url, http://www.aeaweb.org/.  There were 51 related sites that include such as the Royal Economics Society, The Econometric Society (An International Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory in its Relation to Statistics and Mathematics, and the Social Science Research Network, to name a few.  

I like the simplified explanations for students (and for other novices like me) as well as the faceted searching on the side designed to help undergraduate and graduate students.  This section was designed for students but the entire site could be used as a resource for students or faculty.   Finding Facts was interesting as it acts as a Libguide for the Economics student. It did not provide solid information to ascertain the authority of the resources accessed.  As we read in the Information Overload article for this week, accuracy may not be the first priority for Economics students.  Developing Skills provides valuable information for the Economics student but still stops short of helping students determine the authority and accuracy of the material researched.  

As I reviewed these resources for Economics students, I could not help but think back to the Political Science Research Competency Guidelines and the ALA Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education in general.  It seems that as a librarian working with those in the Economics field,  that it would be helpful to utilize the standards and develop a strategy for developing information literacy.  As the speed of retrieval was listed as slightly more important than subject accuracy in the study by  Melgoza, Mennel, and Gyezly (2002, 35), it is important to address Standard Two and help students develop the proper research strategy to produce the most efficient, accurate results.  Table II in the Melgoza, Mennel and Gyezly article indicates that accuracy was ranked lower than Accessibility, Convenience and Ease of use (2002, 35). It is important to understand the information needs and seeking habits of the field. However, with accuracy ranked so low, a librarian working with faculty, graduate and undergraduate students in this field, a concerted effort to address ALA Information Literacy Competency Standard 3.2 to help information seekers recognize the reliability, accuracy, authority, bias, etc.  

I think that there is a great deal of room for improvement in the information seeking habits of those within the field of Economics and librarians could work with faculty and students to better develop information literacy skills.

URI - Economics

The University of Rhode Island (URI) is just up the street from me (well, everything in RI is just up the street from me :-))  I decided to take a look at the Libguide for Economics created by the URI Librarian.  The Libguide gives the first initial and last name of the two people responsible for creating the Libguide. I am not sure if they are librarians at URI but assume that they are.  The Libguide was last updated in August of this year. In this ever changing era of economic change, I thought it would have been updated more frequently but when I viewed the sources listed, most of them seem to be timeless resources.

I really like the 5 ways to get research help.  Many students access the library virtually rather than in person. It is nice to provide alternate methods of contacting a librarian.  If URI has subject librarians, it would be nice to have a personal contact for which the students to associate with the Libguide.

The Book and General Sources is a collection of print materials, which are listed "...encyclopiedias, dictionaries, and handbooks which provide basic, accepted information about economics.  These resources provide a good starting place for students researching a new topic or looking for well estabished information." (University of Rhode Island, 2013).  I like that it links directly to the HELIN catalog. Students can readily determine if the book is available.

The URI Economics Libguide also provides links to the databases with Economics articles, as well as statistical information and additional online resources.  There are not a lot of bells and whistles on this LibGuide but it provides valuable information to students seeking information on Economics.  It is easy to use; which is an important factor for those working in the Economics field.

The Status of Women in Rhode Island

Institute for Women’s Policy Research (2002).  The Status of Women in Rhode Island.  Providence, RI: Institute for Women’s Policy Research

Though not solely a resource on Economics, The Status of Women in Rhode Island written and published by the Institute of Women’s Policy (IWPR) is still relevant for Economics students, especially those interested in the role of women in our economic structure.  With women making up almost 46% of the workforce (it is imperative to understand the contributions of women to the economy - based on the figures from the US department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2001 (IWPR, 2002, 34).

Initially I reviewed this source because it has shown up on my three catalog searches for the past three modules.  I finally decided that it was destiny that I review the source. I realized that it was available digitally so I ignored it each time.  However, after the third time, I decided to look at the book from the shelf.  I viewed the book while in the library. It is a non-circulating reference book.  At home, I reviewed the electronic version, which is available by free download. I could find no difference between the two sources, except that the free download is available in PDF format. The new Adobe Reader allows readers to highlight and make notations.  In this week’s reading, Information Overload, the study showed that “…an overwhelming number of participants choose free Internet resources, (545, 94%).” (Melgoza, Mennel, and Gyeszly, 2002, 35).  This report was written in 2002, I assume that the availability of economics resources has grown in the eleven years since this article was published).  

Scope: This report from 2002 measures the status of women in the state of Rhode Island in five categories, “political participation, employment and earnings, social and economic autonomy, reproductive rights and health and well being.” ( 2002, iii).  While not strictly an economic resource, like politics and history, economics does not exist solely on its own. It is a composite of all the other social sciences.  This book addresses the status of women in the state of Rhode Island.  It compare the women within RI to the women within the other New England States and nationally. 

The Status of Women in Rhode Island states that the publication of these state reports every ten years (in 2002, nine other states received similar reports, with each state receiving a report within the decade) have three main goals:

1.     To analyze and disseminate information about women’s progress in achieving rights and opportunities.

2.     To identify and measure the remaining barriers to equality

3.     To provide baseline measures and a continuing monitor of women’s progress throughout the country (2002, 1).

Audience: Written to be understood by the public, the audience of The Status of Women in Rhode Island is chiefly those who are involved in Women’s Policies. This includes politicians, historians, economists, educators, as well as those who work within government agencies such as the Department of Labor, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health.  It is also of interesting note to those

Timeliness:  This is the most recent report for the state of Rhode Island. Each state is reviewed once within the decade.  The reports started in 1996.  There is additional information reviewed annually by different organizations to which this information can be compared.

Authority:  The president of the IWPR is Heidi Hartman, Ph.D.; she has an Economics degree from Swarthmore and her Ph. D. is from Yale.  (IWPR, b) and is a recipient of the McArthur award. (IWPR, a).    Cynthia Garcia Coll, Ph.D. is the chair of the Rhode Island Advisory Committee and is the Mittleman Family Director of Human Development at Brown (IWPR, 2002, iv).  Other members of the board are involved in higher education in RI as well as State departments, such as Human Services, Corrections) and other social services in the state of RI (IWPR, 2002, iv).

Documentation:  There are eleven pages of references at the end of the report; referencing such agencies as the National Center for Health Statistics, National Committee on Pay Equity, Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance, The US Bureau of Economic Analysis, The US Department of Commerce,

Secondary Source:  It is a secondary source comprising many reports from different departments that collect information on women. 

Relevance:  On page 34 of the report, there is a table that indicates that according to a report by the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2001 a., there are 64,855,000 females in the United States workforce.  There are 74, 512, 000 males in the work force. In RI, there are 240,00 females in the workforce and 263,00 men.  67.9% of the female workforce in RI is employed full time.  These statistics tell the story that women are a driving force in the economy of our country and yet they do not receive equal pay and face different obstacles than do men.    It is important to consider women in the study of economics and until there is equity between the genders, one must always consider the female aspect separately to gather a fuller understanding.  Aspects of education, politics, employment of women affect the economics of all members of the State of Rhode Island. Comparing the data from each state helps to determine where states and departments need to make improvements and allows each state and department to look to other states/departments for additional information for improvement.  It is also a valuable resource for those studying economics that would like to factor in or separate the role of women in economics.

This resource is also available online: http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/the-status-of-in-rhode-island.

References:

Institute for Women’s Policy Research. (n.d.a).  About us—IWPR.  Retrieved from http://www.iwpr.org/about.

Institute for Women’s Policy Research. (n.d.b).  Heidi Hartmann, Ph.D., President—IWPR.  Retrieved from http://www.iwpr.org/about/staff-and-board/heidi-hartmann.

Institute for Women’s Policy Research (2002).  The Status of Women in Rhode Island.  Providence, RI: Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

Melgoza, P., Mennel, P.A., and Gyeszly, S.D. (2002).  Information overload.  Collection Building, 21(1), 32-42.  Retrieved from http://lis60621-09f.iwiki.kent.edu/file/view/Econ%20Module%20article%20Information%20Overload.pdf/356238258/Econ%20Module%20article%20Information%20Overload.pdf.

Women's Letters

Grunwald, L.  & Adler, S.L. (Eds.).  (2005).  Women’s Letters America from the Revolutionary War to the Present.  (2005) New York: The Dial Press.

Scope: As the name suggests, Women’s Letters, America from the Revolutionary War to the Present is a collection of letters written by women.  Spanning the history of the United States from the American Revolutionary War to 2004, this anthology provides an insight into the lives of Americans ranging from the daily tasks of raising a family to the experiences of war.  It captures moments of love and hope between friends and lovers and also adulation of celebrities.    Much has happened in the years covered by this collection of letters and not every event is chronicled but this compilation provides a wide range of events through the eyes of the women who lived through them.  These letters present a collection of primary sources and first hand accounts of historical events seen through the eyes of the contemporaries of the events.

Audience: The intended audience is the general public.  While it may appeal to those interested in women’s studies and histories, it also provides a wide range of experiences that are of interest to all historians and to many armchair historians.  By providing letters surrounding a wide range of events written by women of all different backgrounds, this book also provides an appeal to a wide audience.   This book provides an index allowing information seekers to look specifically for particular events or people

Timeliness: The title claims to present letters to the present, which at the time of publishing was 2005.  The letters from 1980 through 2005 are quite sparse, though there are some letters written at the time of September 11, 2001 that are touching and relevant.   Likely due to the fact that contemporaries may be less likely to reveal the intimate details of their lives by sharing personal letters, or perhaps because almost everything is available online, the present is a bit of a stretch.  However, this provides a wonderful history of the United States since the Revolutionary War.  This is not the history written and rewritten by the textbooks; these are glimpses into the lives of the women who lived through these events that we now see as history.

Authority: The editors, Lisa Grunwald and Stephen Adler have both worked as magazine editors; most recently Steven Adler is the Editor-in Chief of Reuters (Thomson Reuters, 2011).  According to her linked in profile, Lisa Grunwald is a former editor at Esquire Magazine and a novelist.  Each of these editors lends credibility to these collections but it is truly the women writing the letters that present the authority.  These women write letters of their own lives and the events surrounding.  The women who wrote these letters are every day women but they are also notable women, including first ladies, suffragettes, Supreme Court Justices, presidential mistresses, slaves, writers, wives, mothers, lovers, wives of celebrities, fans of celebrities, family members of murderers and of murder victims.  There is a letter from Grace Brown, a murder victim at the turn of the twentieth century (2005, 441).  It was the words of Grace that helped convict her murderer.  Each of these women was an authority in the life she lived; each letter simply presents the world as she sees it. 

Objectivity:  One could not claim that any of these letters were objective.  The letters were not necessary intended to be an objective vision of contemporary events. They were conversations between friends, confidantes, lovers - letters providing personal reflections and opinions.  Yet, this frankness and lack of objectivity is the appeal of this collection. Any book of history presents a history with a bias and it is likely that the letters presented represent ideals and preferences of the editors. In spite of this, Women’s Letters is a wonderful collection of letters from women throughout the history of the United States of America.

References:

Grunwald, Lisa.  (n.d.).  In LinkedIn Profile.   Retrieved October 17, 2013, from http://www.linkedin.com/pub/lisa-grunwald/21/577/4a9.

Thomson Reuters. (2011, Feb 7).  Stephen J. Adler named Editor-in Chief of Reuter News; David A. Schlesinger to take Senior Role in China.  Retrieved from: http://thomsonreuters.com/press-releases/022011/391499.

Historians- Humanists & Social Scientists

• Humanists tend to work alone
• Humanists need to browse
• Humanists use a variety of approaches to their materials, often borrowing methods associated with disciplines other than their own
• Humanists need a wide range of primary materials, but books and journals are the most frequently used formats (Dalton & Charnigo, 2004, 404)

I thought that Sue Stone's assessment from 1982 as cited by Dalton & Charnigo, was exactly how I recall research from my undergraduate days in art history.  It makes sense that historians, and humanists in general, would borrow from other disciplines as history is not the history of itself but rather the history of other disciplines.  It is important to understand the processes of other disciplines to have a well rounded approach to historical research.

I was really struck by the idea of serendipity in the searching process. The idea that one just happens upon the key piece of information.  This would explain the importance of browsing by the historian in the information seeking process. It also reminds me of Bates' theory of berrypicking.  The approach to information seeking is not often linear. The search can lead one down different paths as one follows the spark of interest in browsing.  After all, during the information seeking process, one may realize that a particular question must be answered before one can move on in the original search. That answer may redirect the search in a new direction or return it to the original path.  This idea of serendipity is quite appealing and while Dalton and Charnigo state, "Serendipity may not happen often, but when it does, it is likely to turn up something of major importance."  (2004, 410).  I would love to know how often serendipity is just interpreted as part of the information seeking process and not recognized as a pivotal, unsought moment.

References:

Bates, M.  (1989).  The design of browsing and berry picking techniques for the online search interface.  Retrieved from http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/~tefko/Courses/e530/Readings/Bates_Berrypicking.pdf.

Dalton, M.S. and Charnigo, L.  (2004, Sept).  Historians and their information sources.  Retrieved from http://lis60621-09f.iwiki.kent.edu/file/view/Historians%20and%20their%20information%20resources.pdf/356238370/Historians%20and%20their%20information%20resources.pdf.

UW History Libguide

Theresa Mudrock has done an AMAZING job with the UW History Libguide.  I love that it has tabbed searching at the top and it also provides a list of hyperlinks. This appeals to different ways that people navigate websites.  This libguide is so easy to use. I love that you can start your search of the databases or the catalog directly from the libguide.  I also like how the new books by faculty are listed with the books; I just wish that the cover art images did not show up as ?.

The explanation of primary sources is a nice touch as is the history by region and history by topic.  Dalton and Charnigo expressed that most historians "...tended to check book reviews than any other alternative" (2004, 408).  Mudrock and UW seem to understand that and provide a tab entitled Book Reviews which provides helpful hints on locating reviews  of recently published books and older books.

It is also very interesting that there is a tab for teaching history.  As a university with an education program, resources for teachers could prove to be quite helpful.  It also could be a resource for professors teaching history; after all history of professors are experts in history they are not required to be experts in teaching.  And while the libguide was updated October 9, the first link to AHA resources for teachers is a broken link.  And unfortunately as a sign of our current political times, the National Archives site is not currently being maintained due to the shutdown. It is still accessible as a resource.

In spite of a few hiccups, this was a really well done libguide.  I am bookmarking this one both for style inspiration in the future and for resources.  It is really well done!

University of Leicester Staff Blogs

University of Leicester Staff Blogs is such a great premise but it did not really hold too much promise to me.  Perhaps I am too ethnocentric in that I am not as well-versed in politics that do not involve the Democrats and Republicans.  I know, I need to be more global.  I wanted to see more full fledged opinion pieces than information about new postings on YouTube or a link to TED TV.

Governments and Facebook by Andrew Dunn offered so much promise and yet the blog post was quite unsubstantial.  I have heard the American side, both from the American people and our government.  I have heard reports on NPR regarding the reactions from European government officials; I wanted more than that, I wanted a scholarly assessment and an opinion. Sadly, I did not feel that the blogs measured up to my expectations. They were neither scholarly or opinionated...they were simply informative. And the information was not as interesting or as exciting as I would have hoped.

UMass Dartmouth Political Science LibGuide

I was pleasantly surprised to see my alma mater, UMass Dartmouth, listed on Lib Guides Community Site.  I was even more excited to see that it was updated on October 7, 2013.  The UMass Lib Guide for Political Science provided tabbed searching for easy access by users.  Under the books tab, there is a list of Oxford Handbooks.  I appreciate the Oxford Handbooks and will definitely take a closer look at them but there must be other, quality, authoritative books available at UMass for Political Science majors.  It would be nice to see a little variety of sources.  It would also be helpful to have information about looking for historical sources and primary vs. secondary sources.  This lib guide is definitely a good start and is better than some others I have viewed this week.

Political Science Research Competency

Lately I have been focusing on the ACRL Literacy Competency Standards for HIgher Education for two other classes this semester. I was truly intrigued by how the standards were adapted for Law and Political Science Research.  It was especially helpful with the delineations for faculty responsibility and library responsibility.  As librarians step out from behind the reference desk and each out to collaborate with faculty, such delineations are important.  

I envision faculty training sessions focusing on the standards and conversations such as "Dr. XYZ, you handle the initial information needed and I will assist the students in determining which information sources are available."  Librarians can provide guidance and instruction to assist faculty in their lesson planning, objective development, etc.  I also see librarians explaining to faculty what the role of the librarian and how the librarian can assist.  This will reduce duplications of efforts and allow faculty and library staff to better collaborate.

Working in conjunction, librarians and faculty can help students achieve information literacy.  As important as the ability to write a political science research paper is the ability to think critically. I would argue that critical thinking and information literacy are even more important than the political science research process.  After all, many political science majors work in fields other than law and politics; the information literacy skills will transcend into whatever their chosen field.  And if they continue to work in the political arena, critical thinking and information literacy skills can only be a bonus!

Democracy

In my undergraduate career, I took an English course entitled "Everything is an Argument."  Essentially we were instructed to outline our argument and juxtapose it against the opposing argument.  We were told to start with our weakest argument  and to conclude with our home run argument.  This philosophy seems to fit well within the field of political science.

When reviewing resources the library, Democracy caught my eye.  It is a compilation of essays regarding democracy.  In a recent information literacy instruction ride-a-long for my Academic Library class, the librarian recommended the Opposing Viewpoint database to a student struggling to determine a research topic.  Democracy is part of the Opposing View point series and thus serves the same purpose though in a print format.

Scope:  Democracy is limited to the topic of Democracy, however it is not limited to democracy in any particular reason.  Democracy is one facet of political science, but it represents an issue of great global importance. It is also an important starting point for the novice Political Science student.

Audience:   The Library of Congress subject heading is Democracy-Juvenile.  The juvenile refers to young adult.  And while this resource is well suited for a high school student, it is equally well suited for a first year political science student or as a staring point for brainstorming an undergraduate assignment. 

Timeliness:  Printed in 2012, Democracy relevant to the current issues surrounding global democracy and is valuable information for a novice political science student.  It also provides a snapshot of democracy in 2012.  It discusses the struggles in Egypt, which were quasi-settled last year but have recently re-erupted.  There is limited information on Syria but information regarding Democracy in the Middle East pertains to Syria.

Authority:   Democracy is a collection of essays or papers written by many contributors. Some essays/articles were printed in popular magazines like The Economist.  Many, if not all the contributions are by experts on Democracy

Objectivity:  The individual essays may lack objectivity but as a whole Democracy presents a variety of viewpoints on such topics as "The State of Democracy Worldwide," "Democracy in the Middle East," Improving US Democracy" and "The US Fostering Democracy Worldwide."

Thinking back to my undergraduate days, I wish I had access to a book like this or to the Opposing Viewpoints database.  If it is true that Everything's an Argument, then this is a great place to start.  For a  novice political science student, it allows exploration of the multitude of sides to arguments regarding democracy.  

Reference:

Haugen, D.  and Musser, S. (Eds.). (2012).  Democracy. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press.

Institutional Repositories

After reading Green & Gutmann's Institutional Repositories, Building Partnerships Among Social Science Researchers, Institution-Based Repositories and Domain Specific Data Archives (2007), I started to think about how an institution might feel about its repository. It seems natural that an institution would feel proprietary about the information within its repository.  After all, they have paid for the research; it is their investment and surely they should reap all rewards and benefits.  Yet, this mindset truly limits the growth and expansion of knowledge.  The resources in one institution may inspire work at another institution.  Each institution can gain from the sharing.  This makes domain specific repositories, where those working in the field share knowledge, resources and information,   preferable to institution specific repositories.

The Twenty-first century has the appearances of being an age of collaboration.  Millenials are leading the way with their natural inclination to work together.  Perhaps institutional boundaries will be blurred and information can be freely shared inspiring new directions within a field and new insights in knowledge.  In fact, a Research Libraries UK 2012 report indicates "The increasingly competitive research environment demands greater collaboration (across disciplines, institutional and national boundaries)..." (Jaguszewski & Williams, 2013, 8).

Domain specific repositories are a step in the right direction, but education is becoming more interdisciplinary.  Trends in K-12 have thematic or integrated units can allow teachers and students to dive deeper within a subject. (Fiorella).  Higher education may also be moving in this direction. If it is not already, the students and faculty of the future may demand it.  Even as we establish domain specific repositories, we should ensure that there are universal guidelines and access that cross institutions and disciplines.  This allows greater collaboration among institutions and among disciplines.  There are differences across disciplines as to how information is accessed and assessed but we should work to find the commonalities for greater access going forward.

There is value in having domain specific repositories available to those working within a field. Yet there also seems that there needs to be collaboration within disciplines going forward.  After all, no field exists in a vacuum.  Institutional repositories are not domain specific therefore they allow cross-disciplinary access to the information.  Yet, these are not readily available to those outside the institution.  Domain Specific repositories are more available to those working in a field yet they are less readily available to those outside of the field.   As disciplines and their research intersect with other disciplines and their research, a third option should be available.  This does not have to be a new inter-discipline repository but it should be accessible to those within and outside a field.


References

Fiorella, P. (nd). K-12 lesson plans and thematic units.  Retrieved from http://drpfconsults.com/k-12-lesson-plans-and-thematic-units/

Green, A.G. & Gutman, M.P. (2007).  Institutional repositories, Building partnerships among social science researchers, institution-based repositories and domain specific data archives. OCLC Systems & Services: International Digital Library Perpectives. 23 (1), 35-53.

Jaguszewski, J.M. & Williams, K. (2013, August).  New roles for new times: Transforming liaison roles in research libraries.  Retrieved from http://www.arl.org/storage/documents/publications/NRNT-Liaison-Roles-final.pdf.