Help us celebrate Love Data Week, the international celebration of all things data related! Love data is a week dedicated to raising awareness and celebrating how data influences our world! 

This year’s theme is “Data: Agent of Change,” focusing on inspiring significant change through data, whether large or small, ranging from policy change, structural change, and social change! If you have not participated previously, now is the time! To help new and seasoned data users find data training and resources to move the needle on issues they care about, I have created a list of resources one could use to explore those issues. 

With February also being Black History Month, I wanted to bring attention to some of the research and data sources available covering issues with race, not only in the U.S. but worldwide.   

Check out these resources to learn more. 

U.S. Census Information on Race: https://www.census.gov/topics/population/race.html  

Race, Ethnicity and Marriage in the United States: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2018/07/interracial-marriages.html  

Pew Research Center Race and Ethnicity information: https://www.pewresearch.org/topic/race-ethnicity/ 

ICPSR is a data repository available to Villanova students, faculty, and staff. They host a variety of datasets that have been curated for ease of use, including many sets dealing with social issues. Two helpful features they offer are the Thematic Data Collections, which includes the Resource Center for Minority Data, and their Current Events in the Bib page, which shows publications dealing with current society issues and how data is being used in to broaden the scholarship. Explore ICPSR to find datasets available for secondary analysis to advance policy and social change. 

The International Association for Social Science Information Service and Technology, IASSIST, recently released a webinar titled “A Conversation About Data on Race & Ethnicity Around the World” By Bobray Bordelon, Barbara Levergood, Kevin Manuel, Nigel de Noronha, Anja Perry, and Anne Zald. The panel was moderated by Alexandra Cooper and Deborah Wiltshire.

Erica Hayes, Digital Scholarship Librarian, recommends the book, Data Feminism by Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren Klein. “The book touches on why data scientists need feminism and how data can perpetuate intersectional inequalities. The book also provides examples of different projects like Data for Black Lives: https://d4bl.org/.” 

It is important to also highlight some of the inherent issues that are prevalent in data science. Beaudry Allen, University Archivist, recommends Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism by Safiya Noble to learn more about the systematic racism found in data science. 

For more information about different data resources Falvey offers check out the Falvey library blog. There were different data related posts throughout the week! Make sure to join us again next year for Love Data Week 2024, which will run from Feb. 12-16.

Follow and spread the word about Love Data Week 2023: @lovedataweek on Twitter and Instagram #lovedata23 

This event is hosted by ICPSR, a data repository that is available on Falvey Library’s homepage, Databases A-Z list. 

Nicole Daly is Communication Librarian at Falvey Library.

By Nicole Daly 

Love Data Week 2023 is only four weeks away! 

February 13-17, 2023, marks the annual international celebration of Love Data Week! This year’s theme is “Data: Agent of Change,” focusing on inspiring significant change through data, whether large or small, ranging from policy change, structural change, and social change! If you have not participated previously, now is the time! Learn more at https://myumi.ch/ICPSRlovedata23. #LoveData23

Let’s help new and seasoned data users find data training and resources to move the needle on issues they care about. It is easy! 

Here are 10 simple ways to get involved.

1. Follow @lovedataweek on Twitter and Instagram.
2. Attend one (or more!) of the Love Data Week activities virtually from wherever you are. Check out the calendar of events. New events are still being added so check back soon!
3. Host your own event. Want it added to the calendar? Submit your events and we’ll add it! Event ideas include:

                    Data management and sharing workshop

                    Finding data demo with your favorite data archive(s)

                    Participate in ICPSR’s yearly Adopt a Dataset Program 

                    Highlight impacts of recent local data-driven research

                    Share an activity or project for teaching with data

                    Host a data-thon where teams combine, analyze or visualize datasets on a key topic

                    Pick a crowdsourced project at a site like Zooniverse and host a data contribution party 

4. Recognize colleagues for their participation in Love Data Week activities and events with a Love Data Week-specific Certificate of Participation.
5. Post your own Love Data Week activities on social media with the hashtag #lovedataweek23.
6. Use a cool Love Data Week background graphic as your Zoom background or screensaver.
7. Download, print, and share Love Data Week stickers with friends, students, and colleagues. |
8. Have a data trivia contest with your team, office, staff, classroom, students, or family – and tell us what happened. (If you’re following us on social media, you’ll be able to see our daily trivia questions during Love Data Week.)
9. Spread the word about Love Data Week 2023 to maximize participation and creative events.
10. Sign up to receive Love Data Week update emails to get the latest news on activities and posts!  

This event is hosted by ICPSR, a data repository that is available from the Falvey Library homepage, Databases A-Z list.

Nicole Daly is Communication Librarian at Falvey Memorial Library.

Fans of James Joyce and his novel, Ulysses, commemorate the Irish author and that novel on June 16: Bloomsday. Named for Leopold Bloom, the main character in Ulysses, Bloomsday is celebrated on that date because Ulysses spans a single day—June 16—in Dublin.

Why June 16?—So that’s the reason Bloomsday celebrations occur on June 16. But why did Joyce set his story in June 16? The date, when Joyce chose it, did not coincide with the anniversary of a major world event. Nor does it appear to carry significance to Joyce in his personal life.

Could Joyce have chosen June 16 to commemorate the beginning of his romance with Nora Barnacle? Or perhaps he selected that date because it would not be in competition with that of a significant anniversary or holiday. Could Joyce have imagined that setting the actions for Ulysses on a neutral date would result in his novel receiving its own commemoration every June 16?

Answers could be found at the following Free, Local Event—

The Rosenbach Museum & Library, which has a manuscript of Ulysses— handwritten by Joyce—in its collection, hosts a Bloomsday celebration every June 16. This event includes a reading of Ulysses. Beginning at 9:30 a.m., Philadelphia area dignitaries, librarians and celebrities will each read a passage of Joyce’s novel. This year’s roster features longtime Philadelphia radio personality, David Dye and Jane Golden, executive director of the Philadelphia Mural Arts program, who appeared at Falvey in 2014.

To Dig Deeper, explore the following links, prepared by Sarah Wingo, team leader: Humanities II and also subject librarian for English, literature and theatre:

Free Downloadable audiobook of Ulysses
The Cambridge companion to James Joyce
Joyce Reading from Ulysses
Our Special Collections holdings for Joyce
The James Joyce Centre website

Sarah Wingo
Team Leader: Humanities II
Falvey Memorial Library
Villanova University
610-519-5183

Article by Gerald Dierkes and Alice Bampton.

A brief history of the Memorial Day holiday

Memorial Day or, more accurately, Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial beginning of summer. Memorial Day itself is now celebrated on the last Monday of May. However, this was not always true, so below is a bit of the history of this holiday.

A number of locations claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, Boalsburg, Pa., among them. Often called Decoration Day, it was established as a day to decorate with flowers the graves of those who lost their lives in the Civil War. Approximately 620,000 men lost their lives in the war so most families, North and South, had some personal relationship with the dead or injured.

On May 5, 1868, Major General John Alexander Logan (1826-1886) and an organization of Union veterans, declared that May 30 should be the day on which the graves of the war dead should be decorated with flowers. That year a large ceremony, presided over by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and various Washington, D.C., officials, was held at Arlington National Cemetery. Congressman James Garfield of Ohio was one of the speakers. At the conclusion of the speeches, members of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and children from a nearby orphanage for children of Union veterans placed flowers on the graves of more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers while singing hymns and reciting prayers.

The back story for this: an anonymous writer had sent a letter to the GAR adjutant general, a letter in which the author told the adjutant general that in his native Germany it was a custom to place flowers on graves in the spring. The adjutant general, Norton P. Chipman, sent this information to Logan. Logan then expanded upon the idea and sent an order to all GAR posts to observe May 30 as a day to honor the Civil War dead. This date, May 30, became the first nationally observed commemoration held in more than 200 locations, mostly in the North.

There are other claimants for the establishment of Memorial Day. In Richmond, Virginia, women formed the Hollywood Memorial Association of the Ladies of Richmond and they helped to establish the Oakwood Memorial Association; the purpose of these two groups was to decorate the graves, both those of Union and Confederate soldiers, in the Hollywood and Oakwood Cemeteries. The same year, 1865, Confederate veterans organized, but the decoration of graves remained women’s work.

From the 1870s on some observed the holiday as commemoration and others chose to enjoy themselves. By the 1890s May 30 had become more a popular holiday, less a memorial to the Civil War dead who had been forgotten by many. Congress declared Memorial Day a federal holiday in 1889.

Recent history

President Lyndon Johnson and Congress declared in 1966 that Waterloo, N.Y., was the birthplace of Memorial Day, based upon a ceremony held there on May 5, 1866, honoring area veterans of the Civil War. Other claimants are Boalsburg, Pa.; Macon and Columbus, Ga.; Carbondale, Ill; Columbus, Miss.; and others.In 1968 Congress changed the date of Memorial Day from May 30 to the last Monday of May. This change was strongly encouraged by the travel and resort industries; a three day weekend was an invitation to travel for many.

Since the late 1960s Memorial Day has become a major commercial activity. Originally many businesses closed, but this is no longer true. Now there are numerous Memorial Day sales – my email is filled with advertisements for these as are newspapers.

Congress passed a law, signed by the president, in December 2000 to honor the fallen of all wars: “The National Moment of Remembrance Act.” There are also Confederate Memorial Days still observed in many Southern States: Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Each of these states set its own date to honor its Confederate dead.

Picnics and memories

On a personal level, I grew up hearing Memorial Day referred to as Decoration Day, perhaps a regional or generational custom. I lived in western Maryland, south of the Mason Dixon Line, but an area more Northern than Southern in its history. I remember going with my family – grandparents, parents and younger sister – to visit a small, very rural hilltop cemetery where the adults spent the day clearing weeds and other debris from the graves and, when lunch time came, we had a picnic right there (Mom’s homemade meatloaf, kept warm by wrapping it in multiple layers of newspaper, and potato salad). Flowers, cut from my grandmother’s flowerbed, were placed in front of the tombstones. I knew an older widow who cut peonies from her garden to take to the cemetery to place on her husband’s grave. None of the graves in that old family cemetery belonged to Civil War soldiers, nor was the widow’s husband a Civil War veteran. Even today I know family members who visit cemeteries to leave flowers on Memorial Day. Is this a local custom?

Many communities do have Memorial Day events with speeches honoring those who fell serving the United States, parades, picnics and other activities. How will you spend your Memorial Day?

Dig Deeper: Falvey resources

The National Memorial Day: A Record of Ceremonies Over the Graves of the Union Soldiers, May 29 and 30, 1869. 1870. E. F. M. Faehtz.
Memorial Lessons: A Sermon Preached at King’s Chapel, Boston, on Sunday, May 29, 1870, with a List of the Sons of the Church Who Entered the Service of the Country. 1870. Henry Wilder Foote.
Memorial Day, May 30, 1870, Oration by Gen. I. F. Shepard (Adjutant General of Missouri) at Jefferson Barracks, St. Louis, Mo. 1870. I. F. Shepard.
 A History of Memorial Day: Unity, Discord and the Pursuit of Happiness. 2002. Richard P. Harmond.
Honoring the Civil War Dead: Commemoration and the Problem of Reconciliation. 2005. John R. Neff.
Celebrating America’s Freedoms. (Online) 2009. United States Dept of Veterans Affairs.

Cemetery photos and story by Alice Bampton. Waterloo, NY photo credit: Joseph Sohm/Visions of America/Corbis.

A panel of four elite Villanova University scholars participated in a discussion on “The Global and the Interdisciplinary: ‘Education and Privilege’” on Thursday, Oct. 1 at 4:30 p.m. in Falvey Memorial Library’s Speakers’ Corner. The panel, co-sponsored by The Global Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies and Falvey Memorial Library, determined the reasons why current issues of race and identity exist in society and also explored ways in which we can take action to challenge the status quo.

Panelists included Jerusha Conner, PhD, Department of Education and Counseling; Carol Anthony, MA, Center for Peace and Justice Education; Jill McCorkel, PhD, Department of Sociology and Criminology; and Bryan Crable, PhD, Department of Communication. Each panelist described their perspective on why issues of race and inequality persist and the steps we can take to make a difference.

Maghan Keita, PhD, professor of History and director of the Institute for Global Interdisciplinary Studies made opening remarks.

To kick-off the panel discussion, Dr. Jerusha Conner discussed her approach the problem of race integration by utilizing her background in the field of education. She stressed the need to educate and empower students to be activists in order to initiate social change. In addition, Conner cited that a group of current Villanova students participate in a service partnership with inner-city schools. By going to the core of the problem, she believes that the students are able to take action and promote change.

Dr. Jill McCorkel, who actively studies the inequalities that exist in the U.S. prison system, emphasized that a vicious cycle exists for students who come from lower-income families; they tend to go from school directly to prison. Dr. McCorkel called it a “school to prison pipeline.” She believes people from certain groups are considered scapegoats and are unfairly treated. The privileged don’t always recognize this inequality. In addition, Dr. McCorkel cited her belief that forms of punishment are connected with our racial history and recommends that we explore the ways that this connection resonates with other countries.

Examining the problem from a social justice perspective, Professor Carol Anthony discussed the need to question the ways we rationalize the morality of conditions in our society. She stressed reasons we should question our justification of violence and inequality as the norm.

Dr. Bryan Crable, an expert in the study of rhetorical theory, talked about race, identity, power and privilege, utilizing his background in the study of communication. He discussed his close examination of the relationship between Kenneth Burke and Ralph Ellison, two influential American writers. Dr. Crable views this relationship as a reflection of the racial divide that still clearly exists in society.

Jerusha Conner, Jill McCorkle, Carol Anthony and Bryan Crable participated in the panel discussion. (From left to right)

So, what steps can we take to successfully integrate all members of society? How do we avoid reinforcing the ever-present racial divide? The panelists agreed that we do a lot as a community, but that we are capable of doing much, much more. Some solutions include providing prison inmates with education, hiring more diverse students and faculty, and presenting more opportunities to students who come from lower-income families with more attention given to how racial diversity is presented in schools. It is also important to continue to be open to learning and make a conscious effort to self-educate. They believe that with knowledge we are better suited to tackle this problem.

On Tuesday, Oct. 27, several elite Villanova scholars presented on: “The Global and the Interdisciplinary ‘Gender and Imperialism’” as part of the Reading Villanova series. (Click here for a quick review about what was discussed at the first event in the series on “Education and Privilege.”) The second event in the series took place in Speakers’ Corner to a packed crowd of faculty, staff and students.

Amy Way, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Communication; Chiji Akoma, PhD, associate professor, Department of English; and Catherine Warrick, PhD, associate professor, Department of Political Science shared their thoughts at this second event in the Reading Villanova series. Yeoryios Stavris, a student of Maghan Keita, professor of History and director of the Institute for Global Interdisciplinary Studies, moderated the panel. Check out the video recording of the event here!

Pictured (from left to right) is student moderator, Yeoryio Stavris, Dr.Chiji Akoma, Dr. Catherine Warrick and Dr. Amy Way.

On Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 4:30 p.m. in Speakers’ Corner of Falvey Memorial Library, three prominent Villanova scholars presented: “The Global and the Interdisciplinary ‘Diversity’” as part of the Reading Villanova series. Camille Burge, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Political Science; Brighid Dwyer, PhD, director, Program on Intergroup Relations, Multicultural Affairs; Katina Sawyer, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Psychology shared their thoughts with us at this event, which was the final event in the Reading Villanova series of the fall semester.

Bridget Black, student moderator; Brighid Dwyer, PhD, director, Program on Intergroup Relations, Multicultural Affairs; Katrina Sawyer, PhD, assistant professor, Dept. of Psychology; and Camille Burge, PhD, assistant professor, Dept. of Political Science

Camille Burge, PhD

Katrina Sawyer, PhD

Photographs by Alice Bampton

Falvey held a reception on Dec. 2 to say farewell to Kristyna Carroll, a research support librarian. Jutta Seibert, team leader for Academic Integration, thanked Carroll for her five years of service to Falvey Memorial Library. Carroll, a 2007 graduate of Villanova, came to Falvey as a librarian in 2010 after graduating from Drexel University with a master’s degree in library and information science. She is leaving to spend more time with her family.

Kristyna Carroll’s cake

Kristyna Carroll cutting her cake

Librarians and staff enjoying the reception

Here’s your daily dose of library-oriented speed-reads to start your day!

Jedi Master Chris Hallberg
Technology Development Team

TODAY IN THE LIBRARY…

Stress Free Happy Healthy Hours. 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. in room 205 of Falvey Memorial Library. Take a break from studying and enjoy a variety of stress-relieving activities. Each hour will feature a different activity, including coloring books for grown-ups, making your own stress balls, board games and puzzles, a combined yoga mindfulness session, and, of course, plenty of snacks and drinks. Comfort Caring Canines will also be here with therapy dogs from 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Extended Hours

To provide students with additional late night study facilities, the main Library will have extended hours beginning Monday, Dec. 7th. We’ll be open most nights until 3:00 a.m.

As always, you can use your Wildcard to swipe into the 24/7 lounge, Falvey Hall lounge and Reading Room after hours. Take advantage of our cozy and inspirational spaces for quiet study. Check the Hours link on the library homepage for a full listing of extended hours.

From everyone at Falvey, good luck on your papers and final exams!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Today is International Mountain Day, and it couldn’t have come at  a better time – I’ll bet it feels like you’re climbing mountains today! This international holiday was established in 2003 by the U.N. General Assembly to promote recognition of mountains and their contribution and importance to life, and to encourage positive ecological steps in mountain regions. Check out our science-oriented mountain holdings today!

“If you drive to, say, Shenandoah National Park, or the Great Smoky Mountains, you’ll get some appreciation for the scale and beauty of the outdoors. When you walk into it, then you see it in a completely different way. You discover it in a much slower, more majestic sort of way.” – Bill Bryson

Photo via US National Park Service. Denali – Mt. McKinley.

SIGNING OFF FOR THE SEMESTER!

This has been the final 8:30 for the fall 2015 semester. We hope you have an excellent holiday and best of luck with final exams and papers! It has been a pleasure to serve your daily speed-reads.

Photo © Nevit Dilmen

Here’s your daily dose of library-oriented speed-reads to start your day!

Jedi Master Nicole B. Subik
Assistant Director, Learning Support Services
Learning Commons in Falvey, 212 C

TODAY IN THE LIBRARY…

Finals Stress Busting Open House. 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. in the first-floor lounge. Fight the dark side with free Philly soft pretzels, hot beverages, video games and other activities to unplug and unwind. Use the #falveyforce.

SAVE THE DATE…

Stress Free Happy Healthy Hours. Friday, December 11 at 10:00 a.m. in room 205 of Falvey Memorial Library. Take a break from studying and enjoy a variety of stress-relieving activities. Each hour will feature a different activity, including coloring books for grown-ups, making your own stress balls, board games and puzzles, a combined yoga mindfulness session, and, of course, plenty of snacks and drinks. Comfort Caring Canines will also be here with therapy dogs from 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

#TBT

Check out these #TBT pics from the 1975 yearbook.  These students are chillin’ out, maxin’, relaxin’ all cool. Make sure you get some stress relief this week, too, Wildcats!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

On this day in 1830, poet Emily Dickinson was born. While after her death Dickinson was discovered to have written well over a thousand poems, only a handful were published during her lifetime – and the ones that were had been manipulated by publishers to fit more conventional poetic practices of the time. It was Emily’s sister Lavinia who discovered Emily’s stockpile after her death, and it is thanks to her that Emily’s poetry gained public acknowledgment. Still, it took until 1955 for a mostly unaltered collection of Dickinson’s poetry to be compiled and released. Check out Dickinson’s poetry from our stacks today!

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.

– Emily Dickinson

image via poets.org

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

If you have ideas for inclusion in The 8:30 or to Library News in general, you’re invited to send them to joanne.quinn@villanova.edu.

Here’s your daily dose of library-oriented speed-reads to start your day!

Does writing papers make you want to pull out your hair buns? Jedi Master Mary Beth Simmons suggests you come to the event below!

TODAY IN THE LIBRARY…

To provide students with additional late night study facilities, the main Library will have extended hours beginning Monday, Dec. 7th. We’ll be open most nights until 3:00 a.m.

As always, you can use your Wildcard to swipe into the 24/7 lounge, Falvey Hall lounge and Reading Room after hours. Take advantage of our cozy and inspirational spaces for quiet study. Check the Hours link on the library homepage for a full listing of extended hours.

From everyone at Falvey, good luck on your papers and final exams!

SAVE THE DATE

DID YOU KNOW—Daily Advent reflections by our University community are posted on the Office for Mission and Ministry’s website.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Today in 1902, actress Margaret Hamilton was born. Hamilton is most famous for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz – a character recognized as one of the greatest film villains of all time (seriously, check out the internet lists!). A former schoolteacher, Hamilton went from teaching kindergarteners to scaring them. Did you know that the world of Oz has been the focus of much scholarly research – literary, sociological, and historical? You can learn more from our holdings.

“No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home.”  – L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

image via imdb.com

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

If you have ideas for inclusion in The 8:30 or to Library News in general, you’re invited to send them to joanne.quinn@villanova.edu.

Here’s your daily dose of library-oriented speed-reads to start your day!

Jedi Master Sarah Wingo
Liaison Librarian English & Theatre

TODAY IN THE LIBRARY…

To provide students with additional late night study facilities, the main Library will have extended hours beginning Monday, Dec. 7th. We’ll be open most nights until 3:00 a.m.

As always, you can use your Wildcard to swipe into the 24/7 lounge, Falvey Hall lounge and Reading Room after hours. Take advantage of our cozy and inspirational spaces for quiet study. Check the Hours link on the library homepage for a full listing of extended hours.

From everyone at Falvey, good luck on your papers and final exams!

SAVE THE DATE

NEW MEDIA NEWS

You get more than text in How to Make and Set Traps, the latest eBook release produced by Falvey’s collaboration with Distributed Proofreaders. There are trap illustrations and songs about rats & otters! According to a review by Demian Katz of Dime Novel fame, the book mixes “dense and convoluted details of trap-building with anecdotes about animal behavior, reflections on the definition of “vermin,” and a strong sense of the Victorian era.” Allow us to share a rather graphic quote that Katz highlighted in his review:

Emphatically I declare it—a weasel never relinquishes its quarry till the life’s blood has been sucked and the brain extracted and eaten.

Makes you want to download it and read it right now, doesn’t it? Uh huh. Thought so.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Today music fans remember John Lennon, half of the songwriting team that made The Beatles, well, The Beatles. As most people know, John Lennon was assassinated this day in 1980.

“If someone thinks that love and peace is a cliche that must have been left behind in the Sixties, that’s his problem. Love and peace are eternal.” – John Lennon

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

If you have ideas for inclusion in The 8:30 or to Library News in general, you’re invited to send them to joanne.quinn@villanova.edu.