Barbara Fagen

History Lab: Combining Service Learning, Research Methods, and Digital Archives

Project Partner Commentary by Barbara Fagen

¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 0 1.  How many students worked at the History Branch and Archives of the Cleveland Bradley County Library?
Two students worked at the History Branch one evening a week for a set number of weeks.

¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 0 2.  Will you work with History Lab students again?
Certainly. The students were polite, reliable, diligent in their work, and followed directions with little supervision.

¶ 3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 0 3.  What did you find most productive or enjoyable about the process of working with the students?
It was rewarding to see the students’ progress from novice researchers to becoming confident in their work. Along the way their project changed from a class assignment to one of discovery. They became excited and interested in their subject and wanted to expand the scope of their work through additional research.

¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 0 4.  How has the students’ work impacted the History Branch and its collections?

• ¶ 5 Leave a comment on paragraph 5 0
• The additional research done by the students will be available to all of the library’s patrons.
• Students have given presentations on their research to the Bradley County Historical and Genealogical Society.
• Observing the students as they worked with the photograph collection helped me to be more aware of the type of material that captures a new researcher’s attention.