Weinberg Memorial Library Announces 2013 Research Prize Winners

Ise Kannebecker, a student in the Family Nurse Practitioner Program, and Christine Ferrari, a senior Nursing major, were selected as this year’s Library Research Prize winners. The Weinberg Memorial Library inaugurated the prize in 2011 to recognize excellence in research projects that show evidence of significant knowledge of the methods of research and the information gathering process, and use of library resources, tools, and services.

 

This year’s submissions were received from students across the University in courses as varied as Biology, Nursing, Statistics, History, English Literature, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Management Information Systems.  Three of the undergraduate students submitted projects for Honors courses. This was the first year that a group submitted a research project.

 

Kannebecker, winner in the graduate category, submitted a research proposal that she completed for N594: Theory and Research Application titled, “Exploring the Effects of a Longer Music Listening Session on Reducing Postoperative Pain.” She has been a registered nurse for 12 years in addition to having a background in classical piano and harp. As a certified music practitioner, she provides music at the bedside as a therapeutic intervention. Her application essay states, “Collecting the research used to build the proposal required many hours of library utilization on site at the library and at home. It was exciting to realize the availability of resources and my gratitude to the library for their helpfulness is overwhelming.”

 

Ferrari, winner in the undergraduate category, submitted her Honors Thesis, “Pláticas de la presiόn arterial: Hypertension Education in the Hispanic Community.” She has volunteered in the Edward R. Leahy, Jr. Clinic for the Uninsured as a translator and has participated in the International Service program in El Salvador. After graduation, she hopes to work in a hospital as a registered nurse and to eventually become a nurse practitioner to serve the Hispanic community. In her application essay, Christine wrote, “The resources from the Weinberg Memorial Library … allowed me to design and implement a nursing intervention that taught Hispanic individuals about hypertension and provided them with the tools to reduce their risk for a detrimental disease."

 

The selection committee, all members of the Library Advisory Committee, represented all three colleges. One judge commented, “… most of these are original research projects—either reporting on original research done by our students, or proposing original research to be done…I was impressed with how aware these researchers are of the important role that secondary sources play in contextualizing and setting up the original investigation they plan to undertake. These applications are proof that original research projects, if done well with responsible methodologies, can't be done in a vacuum."

 

The judges awarded honorable mentions to three students in the graduate category-- Kristin Leccese and Christina Tripodi, Occupational Therapy majors, and Jessica Palmeri, a Marketing major; and to three seniors in the undergraduate category--Bernadetta Bernatowicz, a Biology major, William Reddington, a History major, and Joseph Seemiller, a Neuroscience major.

 

Prize winners were honored at a reception on May 9 in the Heritage Room of the Weinberg Memorial Library.