Posted December 4, 2017
Top photo: Dr. Elise Lewis presents senior Joseph Brown with the top research award.
The School of Library and Information Science hosted Information Science Discovery Day featuring research presentations by seven undergraduate students.
The annual event is open to students in all majors who are interested in issues involving information science and technology. The students write an abstract, create a research poster and present their work to judges who are currently working in the field.
Senior Joseph Brown was honored by the judges with the top award for his project "Are Librarians Still Important: A Qualitative Analysis." Brown began his research his first semester in the Information Science program — fall 2015. He presented his preliminary work at the 2016 Discovery Day. He continued the project and presented his completed study, data analysis and findings this year.
Brown concluded that librarians were absolutely still important and relevant in this technology-driven society.
"They provide access to information and contribute to information literacy, especially in rural communities," he said. "And as long as they stay current, embrace new technology and are willing to change and to adapt, they will remain important to our society."
Brown starts the Master of Library and Information Science program next semester.
Two seniors, Justin Collett and Bryan MacKenzie, presented reflections on their information science internships.
Collett worked in the office at one of the leading poultry trading enterprises in the United States and dealt with logistics and user needs. He said working with such a successful broker helped him learn "important skills to excel in this business."
MacKenzie discussed his web development internship at a Charlotte tech company. He said his responsibilities there not only improved his web development skills, but that he also "learned how to function in the workplace, how to handle outside vendors, how to work with and compromise with a web designer, and how to prioritize key tasks."
Five students from the undergraduate research methods class presented research proposals, one of the first steps of the research process. The students and their presentations were:
Alexandra Bollman - Cell Phone Electromagnetic Radiation: Its Affects on Public Health and Behavior.
Alexander Chambers - Mutually Beneficial Relationships: Exploring the Practice of Commercial Real Estate Agents
Carla Fant - Transgender Acceptance in the South: How does Religion, Age and Education Affect Acceptance?
Samantha McDorman - Whole Body Donors in South Carolina: A Practice in Research Design
Julia Williams - Music as Medicine: The Correlation Between Music and Mental Health