Fall 2016 Semester

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

LIS 640

LIS 640 | Organizing Library Collections

This course led me to think about how library collections are organized, arranged, and described in order to enhance access to resources. Augmentation of access depends on clear, standardized methods of organization and this course allowed me to comprehend how various classification systems are incorporated into discovery tools.

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

LIS 688

Special Collections

LIS 688

Special Collections

LIS 688 | Special Collections

The readings, projects, and concepts that I completed/reflected on throughout the course expanded my understanding of how special collections serve a critical function as information centers in many different communities. The class lead me to question the ethics behind the ownership and preservation of particular items and how heritage centers and large special collections repositories can collaborate to serve patrons with diverse needs. Visits to many different repositories led me to examine the administrative and managerial functions necessary in special collections sites.

LIS 691

Bibliotherapy

LIS 691

Bibliotherapy

To play, press and hold the enter key. To stop, release the enter key.

LIS 691 | Independent Study: Writing Bibliotherapy for the Sexually Abused Body

This course allowed me to merge my academic, personal, and research interests into a project that pertained to the fields of library studies, women's and gender studies, psychology, literature, eating disorders, and sexual abuse recovery. I grew as a researcher as I reached out to advocacy organizations and conducted surveys (even personal interviews) with survivors of sexual trauma to inquire as to what literary resources have proven beneficial to their recoveries. The research involved collecting titles that have aided individuals in their transition from victim to survivor, but the survivor's own words and stories deepened my understanding of why/how certain works of literature have bibliotherapeutic value. As a creative application of the research data, I continued writing my own bibliotherapeutic novel. The novel relays a young male's recovery from incest and his efforts in developing artistic autonomy and an identity separate from the abuse. The research data I collected from the bibliotherapy study informed my editing of the novel, the crafting of the novel's ending, and my depiction of the perpetrator.

All images on this site are of my own original paintings and digital media.