With over nine million people infected and 231,988 dead, novel coronavirus 2019, abbreviated as COVID-19, is one of the deadliest diseases that the US has ever encountered. The US has experienced almost 300,000 more unanticipated deaths this year than usual, with 200,000 of those deaths due to COVID-19. It is imperative that all of us… Read more »
Tag: KT Lowe
Harry Houdini: Fake news fighting pioneer
The immigrant born as Ehrich Weiss became more than a star. Throughout his career, Harry Houdini continuously upended public perceptions of magic and reality with daring escapes, feats of mentalism and, toward the end of his life, debunking the claims of spiritualists. As committed as he was to furthering magic, he was equally devoted to… Read more »
Your vote counts! Then and Now: a brief timeline of women’s suffrage
On August 26, 1920, women in the U.S. secured the right to vote. It was a victory 80 years in the making, opening voting rights on a national level to all women for the first time. While the Constitution first extended voting privileges, it did so only for property-owning men. Eventually, all men were allowed… Read more »
Go to the sources! Primary sources at IU East
A primary source is an original “real thing.” It could be a song written in your favorite artist’s handwriting – maybe even on the back of an envelope. Or Leonardo da Vinci’s sketch of one of his early paintings. It could even be your family’s old Bible, with the names of your ancestors written, with… Read more »
Why voting matters
While the right to vote has been part of the US Constitution since the founding of this country. it was originally limited to white male landowners – a wealthy elite in many cases. The right to vote, considered a cornerstone in the popular conception of democracy, is a hard-won right earned through centuries of war,… Read more »
Resources to Support an Everyday Approach to Fighting Racism
“When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” This deeply racist phrase reentered the public conscience last week after a series of protests surrounding the tragic and brutal death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. The phrase dates to 1967, when Miami, FL police chief Walter Headley used it as part of a series of instructions… Read more »
The Internet Archive, a trove of amazing things
Founded in 1996, the Internet Archive is a free resource of materials ranging from previous versions of websites to video games to concerts from well known recording artists and much more. So much, in fact, that it can be quite overwhelming. As an avid user of Archive.org, KT Lowe, Instruction Librarian, is glad to provide… Read more »
Sorting fact from fiction about sexual assault
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, an uncomfortable subject for many of us to think about. Yet it is very important to learn about sexual assault, especially since there are so many myths about it, myths that victimize people ever further after an attack. Myth: Rape and sexual assault are crimes of passion and cannot… Read more »
The Fight Against Fake News Begins with Me
A first person account of the battle for accuracy from a rather unattractive couch I have tried very hard to be a Nerd of Trust. To me, accurate and timely information is a critical need for daily life function, and since 2016 I have worked tirelessly to promote good information literacy while combating fake news. … Read more »
(Some of) the curious cultural history of women in chocolate
Chocolate is one of the most widely beloved foods in the world today, used in a variety of dishes from chocolate pasta to mole sauces to, of course, decadent brownies. However, much of what we know about chocolate is fairly recent and limited in context. Let’s open up a bit of that history and take… Read more »