This week senior Elizabeth Weinstein became the first recipient of the annual Friends of the Library Research Award. Judging research papers that professors had nominated on their use of library resources and creativity of the research approach, the $500 award is part of a larger college effort to reinforce the value of quality student research.
Weinstein was nominated by Antoinette Charfauros McDaniel, the professor of her Sociology class, Diversity, Justice, and Sociological Imagination, for a research paper entitled, “Deconstructing Autism: A Sociological Perspective on a Puzzling Disorder.”
Weinstein, an English major with a concentration in Modern Culture, chose to write the paper instead of taking a final exam, wanting to study autism, a topic she had previously been interested in. “I didn’t think I would win, though it is really cool that I did. I really loved the work I put into the project; I just loved working on it. I know I went above and beyond what was expected,” Weinstein said.
Weinstein cited the sociology class that offered her the opportunity to do this research as one of the most inspirational classes she had taken at the College. She said that Charfauros McDaniel was the best professor she had studied with in her time at Oberlin.
In addition to hours of scholarly research, Weinstein worked at an Elyria school for children with behavioral disturbances. This field research focused on two autistic boys, giving her impressions of life with autism that she would use as vignettes within her paper. The paper traced the definition of autism throughout its history, focusing on how the definition has altered and expanded with time. Weinstein’s interest in autism came out of reading the book Thinking in Pictures, by Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who is a professor at Colorado State University.
While the College has one of the nation’s most extensive private collections, it is thought that more of these resources could receive student use. This award attepts to erctify that by encouraging innovative research work. Additionally, the problem is addressed through bringing intro level classes to the library and formally teaching information seeking skills such as how to search OBIS or the internet.
“It’s mind-boggling how much information our species creates, and it’s more and more, with the web, electronic databases…it’s exploding,” Director of Libraries Ray English said. “And at Oberlin it’s extraordinary what is available for students and faculty. Technology is always changing. You can’t just start researching without understanding how research systems work.”