Weinberg Memorial Library 2012 Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize Winners

The Weinberg Memorial Library is pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 Bonnie W. Oldham Library Research Prize. In addition to the undergraduate category, a second category for graduate students was added this year resulting in the awarding of two prizes.

Stephanie A. Pisko, a senior double major in History and Women’s Studies, whose submission, “Murder and Turmoil: Honor and Crimes of Passion in Two Nineteenth-Century Murder Trials,” was selected as 2012 winner of the Undergraduate Library Research Prize. Describing her research, Stephanie wrote in her application essay, “Throughout the entire process, the library and the librarians helped me with all my questions, and there were many. [...] As an undergraduate I had never taken on extensive research like this before and their guidance was invaluable. From learning to use the microfilm machine to locating articles in a bound journal, the library was there every step of the way. The research skills I gained are as sophisticated and as numerous as those of a graduate student. I feel confident of how to research, how to evaluate scholarly sources, and how to integrate the sources. This research project would not have been of the same quality without the librarians’ extensive knowledge and constant assistance.” Stephanie’s supporting faculty member was Dr. Susan L. Poulson in the History Department.

The 2012 winner of the Graduate Library Research Prize was Colleen Achatz, an Occupational Therapy student. Her paper, Part I: “Evolution of Sensory Integration with Children” and Part II: “Jean Ayres’ Impact on the Past, Present, and Future of Sensory Integration” was submitted for Leadership in Occupational Therapy. In her application essay, Colleen states, “The resource in the library that most surprised me was the microfilm; I had no idea about it until I learned about it for this assignment. I did not know what the microfilm section of the library even was and I wound up using microfilm for a key portion of my research. The journals in the library were also very helpful. In the past I had only used the databases on the library website to retrieve articles from the American Journal of Occupational Therapy and other journals but it only goes so many years back. I was surprised to see how many years’ worth of journals were physically in the library. I never realized how extensive the resources, tools, and services the library had to offer until this assignment. [...] Through this assignment and the research process with the use of Weinberg Library’s resources and services, I learned a significant amount of knowledge in the methods and process of research as well as the importance of research in the profession of occupational therapy. This experience also helped me with my ability to more competently participate in my faculty mentored research course.” Colleen’s supporting faculty member was Dr. Rita Fleming-Castaldy in the Occupational Therapy Department.

In addition to our winners, two students were selected to receive Honorable Mentions in the Undergraduate category: Allison Carey for her submission, “Dynamics of Recent Trade Relationships with China,” and Ryan P. Pipan for his submission, “Much Ado about the Archer-Shee’s: Shakespearean Signatures in Terence Rattigan’s The Winslow Boy.”

Winners were honored at a reception and awards ceremony on Thursday, May 10, 2012 in the Library’s 5th floor Heritage Room.

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