MindFreedom International is a coalition of grassroots organizations and individual members who unite to win human rights and alternatives for people labeled with psychiatric disabilities. The MindFreedom International records in the OHSU Historical Collections & Archives are rich yet underutilized. I aimed to bring more exposure to the records and to center the voices of psychiatric survivors by curating a physical and digital exhibit that highlights the collection, including newsletters, visual art, event flyers, and photographs. This exhibition and the accompanying digitization efforts demonstrate opportunities for future archival research and will generate greater awareness of the psychiatric survivors movement.

In Spring of 2020, UW Libraries closed its doors leaving students to adapt to new ways of studying and researching in an entirely virtual environment. When the Libraries re-opened, student use failed to return to pre-pandemic numbers. To investigate, we interviewed UW Fine Arts students to discover if their values aligned with their branch library’s. Unsurprisingly, after years of virtual college experiences, student values now reflect a strong need for socialization and community building from their libraries. It is our hope that these findings will allow UW Libraries to re-align their service model to meet these previously unvoiced needs.

The goal of this project was to assist the North Olympic Library System (NOLS) in creating a plan to implement the recommendations of an equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) assessment. In 2021, NOLS commissioned an EDI assessment of the organization, both as a public library and as a workplace. A five-year implementation plan was created using the assessment’s recommendations, input from NOLS staff, and information from other library systems engaging in EDI work. This plan will serve as a guide for NOLS in cultivating an organizational culture that is welcoming and accessible for all people.

The goal of this Capstone project is to investigate the qualities of journals that accept software articles, how they communicate those expectations to authors, and how many articles have been published in recent years. Between 2014-2021, there has been a steady upward trend in the number of software articles published. Most journals do not give authors clear instructions about the expectations for software articles; however, of those that do, archiving, persistent links, and documentation are usually required. We hope that this data will draw attention to the myriad of guidelines and issues in software articles and journals.

In response to the inability to access traditional children’s programming during Covid shut-downs as well as in acknowledgement of an ongoing need for safe programming alternatives, this Capstone project set out to design an outdoor, passive programming experience for 4–7-year-olds and their caregivers. Informed by research, inspired by existing projects and interviews with programming professionals, and shaped by Covid-related constraints, the result is an intentionally designed interactive walk that offers a framework for a fun and accessible outdoor activity, which can be adapted for a wide-range of community needs.

Working with the New Hospitality Institute and building upon research from the H.E.A.R.D. Collective, this capstone builds an online space for hospitality workers and interested academics to contribute research around this industry not often studied with a data-driven sociological lens. This online space first acts as an archive of public policy created or activated by the pandemic relevant to hospitality workers in the United States, and will hopefully develop into portal to deal with a variety of labor concerns in the service industry.

Pregnant people are overwhelmed by the vast plethora of information about birth and postpartum while simultaneously feeling lost and without agency. Using NNLM, PubMed, and MedlinePlus, we conducted research on their information-seeking behavior and created a library toolkit for public librarians to create materials for their patrons about maternal health. Our resulting toolkit includes handouts, social media tools, inclusive vocabulary, and bookmarks that are ready-to-go or customizable. Our project makes a difference because the published toolkit on NNLM’s website will increase health literacy and empower library patrons in local communities to be an informed participant in their health decisions.

Utilization of library resources is instrumental towards academic success; however, library anxiety can inhibit student’s ability to access library’s resources. The present study investigates how book clubs influence library anxiety. Five librarians were interviewed about their experiences with book clubs. Patterns emerged indicating book clubs offering holistic student support, focusing on building relationships, and addressing different levels of anxiety saw decreases in library anxiety. Suggestions for best practices in designing and running book clubs to decrease library anxiety are provided. Reduction in library anxiety helps increase a student’s ability to use library resources and can thereby increase their academic success.

This capstone presentation provides a high-level summary of Corey Cherrington's work building a digital archive for the Celtic Arts Foundation in Mount Vernon, WA. To complete this goal, I have created an archive for the Celtic Arts Foundation’s historical materials (physical and born-digital) and enacted a long-term plan to stabilize the records involved in this archiving project. Key areas of focus are: Digital Preservation, Digital Asset Management, Information Architecture, and user experience design.