Digital Commons Network^™

Codec Of Wv - West Virginia Academic Database Consortium, Heather A. Lauer, Kathleen Phillips, Heather Shock Campbell

West Virginia Library Association Conferences

The community and technical college institutions will be working with WVLC to create an academic library database consortium (CODEC) to provide common databases across academic institutions starting with the community colleges. This process will be administered through the West Virginia Library Commission, starting July 1, 2017. Year One will provide services to community and technical colleges. There will be efforts to include interested parties from four-year public and private institutions in subsequent years.

Partnering Literacy With Problem Solving, Audrey Pitonak-Goff

West Virginia Library Association Conferences

The development of reading comprehension and critical thinking skills are imperative for the foundation on which students can build a successful education. Let’s explore ways to partner literacy with math in community wide programming.

Employment Law And Human Resources: Best Practices, Dennis Taylor

West Virginia Library Association Conferences

This presentation will address various employment issues of which all libraries need to be aware; including discrimination, hiring practices, termination practices, employment manuals, privacy and workplace information access laws and wage and benefit laws.

Finding Mrs. Miller: How A Library Resurrected The Legacy Of A Forgotten Author, Belinda Anderson

West Virginia Library Association Conferences

Mrs. Alex. McVeigh Miller was one of the best paid literary women in the world in the 19^th century. Her income built the Cedars, an estate in Alderson, inGreenbrierCounty, that is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Once, it would have been nearly impossible to find a copy of Mrs. Miller’s work Then, in a twist of fate unlikely by even Mrs. Miller’s plot standards, a university library stumbled across a cache of her novels.

Meanwhile, author Belinda Anderson came across Mrs. Miller’s typed autobiography in museum archives. Come hear Belinda share how Mrs. Miller overcame personal challenges …

Collaborations Between Academic Libraries And Other Campus Departments: An Annotated Bibliography 2007 - 2017, Michael Mounce

West Virginia Library Association Conferences

Michael Mounce will discuss academic libraries working with other campus departments within their institutions when helping students. Attendees will learn about collaborations between various academic libraries and other departments, such as writing centers. This presentation will be most helpful to attendees wanting to implement similar collaborations at their institutions.

Yarn Bombing: How To Turn Your Library Into A Piece Of Art!, Kenna C. Martin, Kathy Lawrence

West Virginia Library Association Conferences

Are you an artist? No? Don't worry! We can show you a great way to turn your library into a work of art. Yarn Bombing is a great way to add color and creativity through fiber art, as well as showcase the beautiful work of people throughout your community. This program is a great for all ages and unites those who crochet and knit with those who have never attempted a stich.

The session will include What is yarn bombing?, How to yarn bomb?, Why yarn bomb? and lessons learned along the way. We will show pieces that were used …

The Best Things In Life Are Free: Open Educational Resources For K-12, Michele Frasier-Robinson

West Virginia Library Association Conferences

Open Educational Resources (OER) are free openly licensed materials for teaching and learning that can be reused, modified, and shared. This presentation will introduce school librarians to the wide world of open educational resources for K-12 students. Attendees will learn how to find, evaluate and use high quality OER.

All Hands On Deck: Making Information Literacy Outreach A Priority, Sabrina Thomas

West Virginia Library Association Conferences

Creating partnerships within and between schools is vital to promoting information literacy as a critical survival tool for the Digital Age. In this session, I will talk about partnerships I’ve made that facilitate and encourage teaching information literacy beyond the library and to all ages.

Ibby- The World At Our Fingertips: Award Winning International Literature For Children Of All Ages, Zana Sueme, Isaac Williams Williams

West Virginia Library Association Conferences

Bring award winning International books to your juvenile patrons! Presenters will: provide an overview of the IBBY award winning books from international authors and illustrators; discuss/demonstrate program ideas related to these books; provide a brief description of the USBBY, a non-profit organization that supports literacy and promotes cultural understanding.

We Had To Move It: Wvu Tech Library Historic Transition From Montgomery To Beckley, Mary Strife, Jewel Connell

West Virginia Library Association Conferences

In spring 2014, it was determined that WVU Institute of Technology in Montgomery would be moved to Beckley by fall of 2017. Since no one has ever moved an entire campus this distance in this short period, we had to create our own plan. Come hear the adventure of a career.

Oer Faculty Librarian Collaboration: Service With A Smile, Anne Hudson, Alan Thompson

West Virginia Library Association Conferences

Assigned to work with a faculty member outside of her liaison departments to create an Open Educational Resource Textbook for his class, presenter will share fun stories about their relationship and best practices for building collaborative partnerships that would apply to OER and other liaison initiatives: Instruction; Data Management; etc.

The Use Of Social Media By Contemporary Witchcraft Communities, Michael J. Haverty

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

This event will be a summarization of the theory and findings of my research project that looks at how self-identifying witches use social media. Witchcraft users have historically adapted to the changes in society like all other peoples. Witchcraft users have also historically only had contact with others of their spiritual practices during yearly gathering events or local covens. However, social media has created platforms for people from minority subcultures to interact in ways that were formerly limited. By digitally surveying and interviewing users of the social media platform Tumblr who self-identify as witches, this project attempts to look at …

Families And Caretakers Of The Disabled, Alanna M. Morgan

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

In our society, perfection is strived for and disability is stigmatized. With this societal expectation comes many stressors and emotional factors that must be faced. Much research has been done on what disabled individuals face, however, not much has been conducted on what the individuals who take care of the disabled face. The purpose of this project is to give insight into what these caregivers face on a daily basis and to examine what kinds of stressors they encounter. This project will also focus attention on family members who have had to transition the role to caretaker. Each category of …

The Use Of Non-Verbal Communication In Music Performing Arts, Justin T. Evans

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

The purpose of this research is to study how performers use non-verbal communication to create an interpersonal connection and draw out emotion from their audience. With current nationwide concerns of arts funding and the importance of performing arts being question, this research could be very helpful to understand the importance of the performing arts and its value in human communication. I will be looking over various periodicals and academic journals in the fields of Sociology, Music, and Communication to expand the theoretical knowledge of nonverbal communication and it's use in the performing arts.

Appalachian Dialect, Taylor B. Grimmett

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

My project is centered around Appalachian Dialect and how "outsiders" tend to judge people from the area, no matter what their degree may be in or what they have accomplished in their lives based on how they sound when they talk. Colloquialisms come into play here, along with accents, vocabulary choice, everything comes into play when considering what makes one area different than another, but why individuals feel the need to comment on it is what interests me the most. The interviews that I have performed so far have showed me that some people tend to be ruthless with their …

Is She Worse Than Him: An Attitudes And Perceptions Study, Sydney Mullins

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

There is currently an ongoing debate in regards to the level of equality amongst women and men in American society. Women often feel they are not seen as equal to men, and in most cases, this has proven to be true. However, whether or not this is true when it comes to the way people perceive deviant behavior is up for debate.

The purpose of this research is to assess the attitudes and perceptions, of the general public, surrounding the same acts being committed by males and females. The goal is to determine if a person committing criminal acts is …

Unequal Playing Time, Rachel A. Shafer, Joe L. Gates Mr, Matthew D. Kelley

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

Unequal Playing Time

In his book The American College Town, Blake Gumprecht claims one of the defining features of college towns is that they are more progressive, liberal-minded, and socially-blended spaces. However, this is not the type of college town that appears in Marshall University’s collection of archives. Throughout the years, many groups of students were often overlooked due to minority population status. This presentation examines the lack of recognition for one such group, in particular, women’s athletics during the 1920’s. Student yearbooks published between 1920 and 1930 were analyzed for content featuring men versus women’s athletics.

At the …

Stand Up, Fight Back: Native American Struggles And Rising Up, Autumn Rikki Lee Haithcock

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

American Indian Treaties and laws are only followed when they benefit

the government, meaning they don't apply any other time. Only certain

sections are deemed valuable, and the parts that could incriminate the

government are omitted. This paper discusses the content of American

Indian Laws and treaties and the crippling effects they have had on

Indian country. Furthermore, this paper goes in depth on the cultural

advances made even with such restraints. Much work has been done

on the issues of cultural injustice, but there are very little works done on

the triumph in Indigenous culture and just what those …

A Bloody Affair: Thomas Boleyn’S Political Influence On The English Religious Reformation, Jessica Meadows

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

This research looks at the life of Thomas Boleyn, the father of Anne Boleyn the first publically executed Queen of England. In this research, I will argue that Thomas Boleyn used his political and personal influence to begin the religious reformation in England. He first attempted to sway Henry VIII with his eldest daughter, Mary, and failed. He next attempted to gain the kings attention with his younger daughter, Anne, and there he succeeded. His families political influence triggered the split between England and the Catholic Church and left the Protestant Nation surrounded by Catholic enemies. I will argue that …

The Balloon Effect On West Virginia, Ashley N. Wilson

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

According to the CDC, West Virginia is eleven times the national average for opiate related deaths. Huntington has been hit the worst with this drug epidemic. The idea of the balloon effect on drugs, is more commonly used to describe what happens when clamping down on the production of a drug in one area will push that same drug into another area. However, I will examine how the crack down on prescription pills here in West Virginia, has led to the pop up of other illicit drug use in the state.

Indian Gurus Uproot Yoga's Traditions, Alexandra T. Bright

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

Yoga, an Indian practice with roots over 4000 years old, is a relatively new practice in the United States. The U.S. first welcomed Indian gurus and their yogic spiritual teachings in 1893 with Swami Vivekananda at the Chicago Parliament of Religions. Yoga has been an ever-evolving practice since its start, changing with the times, though this change has been slow and contained within the subcontinent of India. When yoga was introduced to the U.S. it became an American practice with nearly all of its roots and traditions disappearing. The goal of this study is to discover if the Indian gurus …

Does The El Nino Southern Oscillation Play A Role In The Spatial Distribution Of Tornadoes In The United States?, Katarena A. Jarrell

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is an event that is happening in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of South America. During an ENSO event, there are periods where the water off the coast is unusually warm or unusually cold. When the water temperature changes, it causes the air pressure that is above the water to change. The temperature change affects the weather pattern worldwide and along with it severe weather outbreaks. In a 2008 study by Cook and Schaefer, they mapped historical points for winter outbreaks for the three types of years associated with the ENSO event. These …

American Flooding And National Security, Tavish M. Riley

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

Flooding is a powerful force of nature that shows no inherent care for where it strikes. This study mapped flood locations and frequencies in the United States. The data presented is an analysis of major flood events in the lower forty-eight states between 1970-2016. The maps reflect the death tolls, locations, and overall cost of their damages, along with precipitation data and stream gauge readings. This study focuses on larger flood events, particularly those resulting in true damage to both the nation’s infrastructure and economy.

Results suggest that there are areas in the United States that have higher potential for …

Female Spirit Possession And Sexuality In Genji Monogatari, Nolan Miller

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

In Murasaki Shikibu's Genji monogatari , the readers follow the protagonist, Hikaru Genji, on his journey of romance and political power within the Heian period's polygamist court (784-1185). Due to high ranking males in Heian court possessing sexual privilege, women are often neglected as their courtiers seek extraneous love affairs. A perplexing consequence of this permissible male lifestyle leads women to use the supernatural force of spirit possession or mono no ke. While many scholars conclude that insatiable female emotions unconsciously elicit spirit possessions, women who are involved in the act willfully push the boundaries of male sexuality through …

How Yutori Education System Affected Japanese Society, Jieying Zhou

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how yutori education system affected Japanese society in different fields. Yutori kyoiku (relaxed education), which was announced in 1998, is a change that the government decided to give younger Japanese:an education system with lower pressure. It was used in all Japanese schools for about twenty years. Through the growth of people who had yutori education, more Japanese people started to realize there are several negative effects caused by this policy in Japanese society. This paper will focus on the failure of yutori education and why it brought a different result from people’s …

Youngstown, Oh: A Shrinking City's New Economic Plan, Kya Williams

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

Economic development is important for the success of a city. It helps improve the quality of life for the people and the community. Youngstown, OH was once nicknamed Steel Valley for it was surrounded by steel mills. As the demand for steel declined, so did the economy of Youngstown. Over the years, half of the city’s population relocated. Youngstown is a shrinking city that is targeting investments and new technology. The immediate objective of this research project is to examine economic and community development that is shaping the city of Youngstown. The city came up with the Youngstown 2010 Plan …

Crime Addiction Scale, Camden Wesley Everidge

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

Although it has been theorized that high levels of criminality can be understood as involving the seeking of excitement, and feelings of power, there are currently no scales or empirical approaches that have been offered to measure this. The crime addiction scale will measure an addictive crime hypothesis which suggests that the positive stimulation that derives from committing crime may lead to an addiction of criminality. The scale will question the criminals on how much power they felt, how much they felt they would gain, how exciting it was, and how much fun did they believe they would have. There …

Communication Apprehension, Kassandra G. Contreras

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

The purpose of this research is to analyze the communication apprehension behaviors displayed among separated age groups and how these performances reflect their experience or lack thereof.

Society Disconnect, Evan G. Robinson

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

This study is aimed at learning the effects of social media and cellphone use on interpersonal communication. My reseach will look at how people use their social media and cellphones to communicate, instead of face-to-face interpersonal communication. I feel that social media and cellphones create barrier for users, and that this translates when using interpersonal communication when speaking face-to-face with another. I will be using "Organizational Information Theory, created by Karl Weick. This theory looks at different channels of communication we chose to use so we can increase the speed of messages that we send" (West, 2013). However, I feel …

The Effects On Cellphone Use To Face-To-Face Interaction, Courtney S. Mobley

COLA Research and Creativity Conference

The Purpose of the Research:

The purpose of the research is to analyze how the effect on cellphone use can cause a negative outlook on face-to-face interaction in classrooms, families, and the young/older generation.

The Scientific or Scholarly Rationale:

Cell phones have become apart of a daily routine to the human race and are being seen as a distraction through parents and Professors eyes. Recent research has developed negative outlooks from college Professors on students using cell phones in their classroom, while also studying the effects that technology has on family bonding time. In order for this study to be …