Reflective Essay for “Emblems for Education”

Course: MLIS 7280 Community Building
Competency: Research
Learning Outcome (1):  locate, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize research findings
Learning Outcome (2): identify appropriate research methods, collect, and analyze data to address issues faced by libraries or other information agencies

Purpose: This project for community building involved researching the demographic of a fictional town that was actually based off of a real town in Pennsylvania. It provided an opportunity to conduct detailed research into Census demographics to support recommendations to be made in the areas of community building.

Analysis: The final report would have been a lot less impactful without the demonstration of demographic research and how the make-up of the community contributes towards certain solutions over others. In addition to Census research, peer-reviewed articles on best practices in community development were used as references. The result was a highly targeted report of potential steps to take firmly grounded in research.

Reflection: Each time I go to the Census to conduct research, it gets a little bit easier. The Census has become one of my favorite tools to use in justifying community building initiatives or applying to grants, etc. Although I did not use IMLS data for this project, that is another prominent go-to tool I use when addressing issues faced by libraries or their boards.