Weinberg Memorial Library Announces Research Prize Winners

University of Scranton students recognized for the Weinberg Memorial Library Research Prize are, seated in front row, from left: Rachel Conniff, Kaitlin Mulroy, Christina Nowack and Alannah Caisey, all honorable mention in the undergraduate category; and April Francia, winner in the undergraduate category. Standing are: Lauren Krasucki, honorable mention in the undergraduate category; Charles E. Kratz, dean of the library and information fluency; Paula Annunziato, winner in the graduate category; Dennis Cho, Alexandra Crowley and Erik Meyer, all honorable mention in the undergraduate category.

Absent from photo were: Christine Panzitta, honorable mention in the undergraduate category; and Antonietta Bruno, Meghan Durney, Carol Mastrosante and Caitlin Thompson, all honorable mention in the graduate category.

April Francia, a senior political science and philosophy double major and a member of both the Honors Program and Special Jesuit Liberal Arts Honors Program, and Paula Annunziato, an occupational therapy graduate student, were selected as The University of Scranton’s 2015 Library Research Prize winners.

The University’s Weinberg Memorial Library inaugurated the prize in 2011 to recognize excellence in research projects that show evidence of significant knowledge of research methods and the information gathering process, as well as the use of library resources, tools and services.

Charles E. Kratz, dean of the library and information fluency, announced the 2015 Library Research Prize winners and honorable mention recipients at a reception held this month in the Heritage Room of the Weinberg Memorial Library.

Francia of Albrightsville was the winner in the undergraduate category. She submitted the thesis written for her Honors Program tutorial, “Differential Impacts in the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 and Beyond.” In her application essay, Francia who also has aminor in history and is a work-study student in the library, says that inventorying scrapbooks in the library was the “inspiration” for her honors thesis. She mentions how using library resources such as the University Archives Collection, online databases and Interlibrary Loan, as well as the technological tools available in the Reilly Learning Commons, not only helped her to complete her thesis, but also provided her with the research skills she will need in law school. Francia is assistant editor of the Windhover, the University’s yearbook, vice-president of the Pre-Law Society, a Royal Ambassador and a student facilitator for Scranton Emerging Leaders. She will attend Temple University Beasley School of Law after graduation.

Honorable Mentions awarded in the undergraduate category were presented to Christine Panzitta, a senior from Hamilton Square, New Jersey, and Alannah Caisey, a senior from Scranton, who wrote about how they used the library to complete their honors theses; as well as to a group of University seniors consisting of Dennis Cho of Rivervale, New Jersey, Rachel Conniff of Roaring Brook Township, Alexandra Crowley of East Northport, New York, Lauren Krasucki of Wilkes-Barre, Erik Meyer of Clarks Summit, Kaitlin Mulroy of Ridgewood, New Jersey, and Christina Nowack of Middletown, Connecticut. They detailed how they used library resources to complete a research proposal for a research methods course in Exercise Science.

The winner in the graduate category, Annunziato of Manalapan, New Jersey, who also has a minor in counseling and human services, submitted a project titled, “A Historical Review on Traumatic Brain Injury in Occupational Therapy,” which she completed for the Leadership in Occupational Therapy course. In her essay, she mentions that she thinks that she would not have been able to complete this paper without the “staff and the resources of the Weinberg Memorial Library.” This paper involved finding references on her topic from as early as 1917 along with each succeeding decade up to the present. Annunziato is a graduate assistant in the Occupational Therapy Department and a work-study student in the Math Department. After graduation, she will complete her clinical with Fox Rehabilitation in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

An Honorable Mention in the graduate category was awarded to a group of Physical Therapy graduate students: Antonietta Bruno of Teaneck, New Jersey; Meghan Durney of Rockville Centre, New York; Carol Mastrosante of Philadelphia; and Caitlin Thompson of Wantagh, New York, for a project that they completed for Scientific Inquiry II course.