History of Crime Blog
The history of crime collaboration tool is
inspired by the need for digital tools which can connect researchers in this
discipline and the need for professional development among graduate students.
The Toronto area is home to a number of the leading scholars in the history of
crime. These researchers are affiliated with York University’s History
Department and Osgoode Hall located in downtown Toronto, as well as the
University of Toronto’s Criminology and History Departments. Together they form
a strong research network outside of the main area of research activity in
Britain. These researchers have to rely on digital communication and research
trips for both their research and collaboration. As a result, communication and
collaboration can be difficult. Graduate students, especially PhD students, in
this field share these same problems as well as the added challenges of
creating a professional network and and becoming up to date on current research
ideas and projects.
The idea behind the history of crime
collaboration tool, is to create a blog using a blog service connected to York
University, which invited faculty and graduate students can then contribute to
and access.[1] Through
this blog, researchers can contact one another and post ideas, links to new
resources, and papers. More importantly, by working closely with the faculty
and graduate students in this field, the liaison librarian can also help to
create or assist with other professional development and/or social programs
which contribute to inter-departmental and inter-institutional collaboration,
networking, and learning. For example, the librarian may be able to offer
library space to host reading groups or meetings. Working with the Research and
Instruction Librarian and Learning Technology Services (LTS), the liaison
librarian can establish the blog and then use the blog to add other content
such as videos of meetings, reading groups, and guest speakers.[2]
This project may entail the expansion of the library’s current learning
technologies and technology services to include audio and video equipment and
support. Furthermore, the librarian can also add other content such as news
related to the field and guides and informational/instructional videos aimed
directly at history of crime researchers. The ultimate goals of the project are
to connect researchers in this field, especially those located in the Toronto
area; provide current content and updates about events, resources, and news;
and increase access to and documentation of significant academic events.
In effect, this project is a focused
combination of services that are frequently offered at many academic libraries
and information commons, directed at the needs of this small community of
active and prominent scholars. Many liaison librarians already offer current
awareness services such as newsletters, blog posts or website posts, and
workshops on how to stay current. Some, like the University of British
Columbia’s cIRcle, actively record and collect important academic events such
as speeches and presentations in order to make them available to a wider audience.[3]
Almost all academic libraries also offer instructional workshops, guides,
and/or videos as well as learning technology support. In effect, the blog would
function as a newsfeed, ideally through use of RSS feeds, through which this
small community of scholars can post research updates or links to events, store
recordings of events, and view news updates, resource links, and instructional
content provided by the librarian.
This tool, or a similar tool, would be
particularly helpful for a graduate student in the field since it would help to
connect her or him with scholars doing similar work, provide news of upcoming
events or easy access to videos and information from past events, increase
current awareness about what is happening in the field, and provide links to
library instructional resources. Ultimately, if successful, the History of
Crime Blog would function as a current awareness tool, a social networking
tool, and a kind of informal content repository.
