Track Session Type
Creation: OER Creation & Management, Copyright, Licensing, and CC101, Instructional Design and Ed Tech for OER, Open Pedagogy
Presentation Type
Panel Presentation
OER Level of Expertise
Beginner
Audience
Faculty, Librarian, instructional designer, Administrator, Staff
Public Records as Open Educational Resources
Session Abstract
Public records in the form of government documents and data can provide important learning opportunities for students. Learn about the New Haven Political Papers collection at Southern Connecticut State University, and how faculty are using the records, and other materials available through a Freedom of Information request, in the classroom. Beyond being affordable, these records provide valuable primary source documentation for students studying public policy, government affairs, journalism and more.
Keywords
Public Records, Freedom of Information, Political Archives
Objectives of the Session
Understand the process to gain and archive the New Haven Political Papers.
Learn some quick tips for assignments based on the collection, and other public records, as well as understand rights to access public records not already archived.
Full Description of the Session
The Hilton C. Buley Library at Southern Connecticut State University is host to a collection of documents which includes materials from four former New Haven mayors, consisting of more than 188 cubic feet of material in the library’s Special Collections & Archives.
An effort to digitize the documents has brought broader access to a majority of the materials from the 20-year John DeStefano mayoral tenure (1994-2013). The ease and depth of access to these documents sheds light on the inner workings of the city of New Haven, but also highlights the types of records that are currently available to the public through a simple Freedom of Information Request. These primary source documents include government reports, meeting minutes, speech drafts and internal communications at New Haven City Hall. They are valuable tools for students as they learn about public policy, reporting on municipalities, and several other issues, such as school reform and economic development, that have been detailed in depth through the communications, reports and city documents.
This session, geared toward beginners, will provide context about the collection and instructions on how to access it, as well as assignment ideas for using public records in class, and resources to support filing your own Freedom of Information requests for records to use in the classroom.
Presenter Bios
Jodie Gil is an associate professor of journalism at Southern Connecticut State University, where she teaches various undergraduate reporting and digital media courses. A former daily news reporter, her area of research is Freedom of Information laws, and specifically how open records and open meetings laws are impacted by modern technology and privacy concerns. She is a board member of the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information.
Dr. Jonathan L. Wharton is associate professor of political science and urban affairs at Southern Connecticut State University. His teaching centers on state and local government, public policy, economic development as well as identity and urban coalition building politics. His research and publications specialize in local governance and public policy issues, specifically urban redevelopment. An area of his research centers on the New Haven mayoral papers collection at SCSU’s Hilton C. Buley Library.
Elizabeth Wilkinson is the first Archivist at the Hilton C. Buley Library Special Collections & Archives at Southern Connecticut State University. She is responsible for curation and stewardship of the manuscript collections and university archives, as well as creating and maintaining policies, workflows, and procedures. Prior to this position, she served as the first Archivist in the Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia and was the Curator of Manuscripts at Georgetown University. She is an active member of the Society of American Archivists and the New England Archivists. She holds an MLS and an MA in History from Indiana University.
Publishing Permission
1
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Start Date
4-4-2024 11:00 AM
End Date
4-4-2024 11:50 AM
Public Records as Open Educational Resources
The Hilton C. Buley Library at Southern Connecticut State University is host to a collection of documents which includes materials from four former New Haven mayors, consisting of more than 188 cubic feet of material in the library’s Special Collections & Archives.
An effort to digitize the documents has brought broader access to a majority of the materials from the 20-year John DeStefano mayoral tenure (1994-2013). The ease and depth of access to these documents sheds light on the inner workings of the city of New Haven, but also highlights the types of records that are currently available to the public through a simple Freedom of Information Request. These primary source documents include government reports, meeting minutes, speech drafts and internal communications at New Haven City Hall. They are valuable tools for students as they learn about public policy, reporting on municipalities, and several other issues, such as school reform and economic development, that have been detailed in depth through the communications, reports and city documents.
This session, geared toward beginners, will provide context about the collection and instructions on how to access it, as well as assignment ideas for using public records in class, and resources to support filing your own Freedom of Information requests for records to use in the classroom.