The Library Research Contest Reinvented

Darby Orcutt, Collection ManagementCindy Levine, Research and Information Services

Markus Wust, Digital Library Initiatives

North Carolina State University Libraries

Goals

● Incentivizing students to learn and use

library collections and technologies,

● Increased student participation in new, high-

tech library spaces, and● Student research outputs that would provide

strong, ready-made programming content (e.g., for MicroTile displays).

Criteria● Originality of research

● Appropriate use of digital formats

● Creative presentation

Short of Time, From the Beginning ...

Planning on Multiple Fronts● Establishing the structure

for the contest

● Publicity/encouraging participation

● Interacting with potential participants (helping them, and learning from them)

Logo● Public domain images are good● A good logo goes a long way

Conversations with Faculty

18th century instructors

special programs (honors)

faculty with multimedia interests

Cool 18th Century Information Sources

Old Bailey Demonstrator API

Locating London’s Past

Consulting with Students● Had interest from:

○ grad and undergrad○ groups and individuals○ class-related and class-independent

Technology Support

● Asked students to use technology in projects

● How to address need for technology support?

Technology Support

● Not enough time to teach technologies, but point to resources and strategies

● Librarians participated in two class sessions

In-Class SupportSession 1:

●Overview of library tech lending program

●Available support through technology consultations

In-Class SupportSession 2:

●Available technologies for multimedia creation, timelines and mapping

●Strategies for acquiring technology skills

●Available library support

●Project organization

Technology Support● Final class project

presentation (Fall 2014) and competition project demo (Spring 2015) in D.H. Hill Visualization Studio

● Helped with setting up room

Technology Support: Lesson● Keep things simple:

● Students may not have the level of technical knowledge you expect.

● Introduce them to simple, user-friendly technologies that they can use to build their projects.

Other Competition Goals● Gaining experience with competitions

● Code+Art competition ran simultaneously

● Providing technology support for classes● How can it be done in a scalable manner?

Grand Prize Winnerhttp://philome.la/MKaturday/philologists-who-chase/play

Honorable Mentionhttp://definitions-of-personhood.weebly.com/

Next Competition● Topic: Food, Clothing and Shelter

● Interdisciplinary:● Food Science, History of Food, Agriculture● Design, Textiles● Architecture, Engineering

Thank You!Darby Orcutt: dcorcutt@ncsu.eduCindy Levine: crlevine@ncsu.eduMarkus Wust: mgwust@ncsu.edu