The 2023 University of Notre Dame Library Research Award competition, sponsored by the Hesburgh Libraries, resulted in 11 awards given to students across diverse disciplines. These annual awards are earned by undergraduate students who demonstrate excellence in research skills by using a breadth of library resources and services for their course assignments, research projects and creative endeavors.

Students from across campus were invited to submit a brief essay describing the many ways in which they used library resources for a project or assignment completed during summer 2022, fall 2022 or spring 2023.

“The annual Library Research Award advances Notre Dame’s mission by recognizing two of the University’s primary goals: to offer a nurturing, unsurpassed undergraduate education and to advance human understanding through scholarship and research that heals, unifies and enlightens,” said K. Matthew Dames, the Edward H. Arnold Dean of Hesburgh Libraries and University of Notre Dame Press. “Building these skills is critical to academic success on campus and in the world beyond graduation.”

Congratulations to the 2023 Library Research Award winners.

Capstone Project or Senior Thesis Award Category

First place — Charles House, Romance languages and literatures

Charles House won first prize for his extensive use of library resources while conducting research for his honors senior thesis, “Coproducing Fascism: How Italy and Spain’s Cinematic Cooperation Demonstrates International Fascist Values.” Advised by Charles Leavitt, associate professor in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, House was tasked with comparing the similar fascist histories of Italy and Spain during the 1940s through cinema.

House credited his course instructor who introduced him to resources available through the Hesburgh Libraries. His class met with Visual Resource Curator Denise Massa, who helped him integrate images into his essay. House also visited Rare Books and Special Collections, where he was introduced to subject specialist and curator Erika Hosselkus, who connected him to primary source material.

“By leveraging the knowledge of subject librarians and the rare and extensive collections of the Hesburgh Libraries, I was able to shed light on an international fascist movement in the cinema industry that has been largely understudied,” said House.

House admitted that early on in his research journey, he was concerned about his ability to find information on his specific thesis topic. However, after learning how to use the library, he was able to discover ample print and digital sources from Hesburgh Libraries’ databases, general collections, and special collections. “I am left proud of the fact that the Hesburgh Libraries allowed me to not only join a conversation through my research, but open a new one,” said House.

Second place — Tia Williams, management consulting

Tia Williams earned second prize for her substantial use of library resources for her senior thesis, “That Which Cannot be Washed Away: A Critical Systematic Review of New Orleans Public Education Post-Katrina.” Williams was advised by Maria McKenna, professor of the practice in the Department of Africana Studies and the director of the Transformational Leaders Program.

Williams’ thesis focused on the educational landscape in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. As her project progressed, she consulted Africana Studies and Education Librarian Leslie L. Morgan. Williams notes, “She not only guided me through the databases and resources that the Hesburgh Libraries had available online, such as ERIC and Web of Science, but she took the time to share representative texts with me.”

Morgan helped Williams discover print and electronic resources and introduced her to RefWorks, a citation management software, to help organize her data. Williams was then referred to Digital Initiatives Librarian Eric Lease Morgan in the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship, whom she said became an integral resource to her work.

Lease Morgan helped Williams narrow her interests, discover more materials, and better focus her research topic. He introduced her to the Distant Reader, a locally-written software that uses machine learning to help analyze large volumes of text. Williams credits Lease Morgan and the Distant Reader for helping her understand the literature and her research.

“Beyond this work, these library resources helped me navigate a new methodological approach that will be invaluable in my future, especially as I pursue my Ph.D. in educational research and policy in the fall,” said Williams.

Sophomore, Junior, or Senior Award Category

First place — Michael Donelan, history

Sophomore Michael Donelan won first prize for his use of library resources to support his research, “Historically Conceiving the Irrationality of Moby-Dick through Antebellum America, or: the Apotheosis of Paradox.” He was advised by Jake Lundberg, associate professor of the practice and director of undergraduate studies for the Department of History.

Hesburgh Libraries’ primary and secondary sources, digital and online resources, and expertise from Political Sciences Librarian Mark Robison were essential to crafting his paper about reading Herman Melville’s landmark work through a historical lens. While helping Donelan identify texts for a possible political science thesis, Robison pointed out two sources that became crucial to the crux of his argument in his essay on Moby-Dick.

“I spent hours tucked away in the stacks or in reserved study spaces, poring over search results in OneSearch, ND Catalog, Hathi Trust, and WorldCat. Whether in physical or digital books, online articles, or 19th-century artifacts in Rare Books & Special Collections, Hesburgh always had what I needed,” he said.

Donelan also grew his skills to work with rare materials through visits to the Rare Books Reading Room and through a digital humanities course taught by Caterina Agostini, a postdoctoral research associate with the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship and the John J. Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values. Donelan attended workshops on the Distant Reader, ATLAS.ti, Mendeley and AntConc – all programs that helped him work through large volumes of texts to better understand complex subjects. “My story and those of others show that, through enabling students, the library is nourishing a love for learning across the nation. It is a force for good in the world,” he said.

Second place — Connor Patrick, history

Senior Connor Patrick won second prize for his use of library resources to support his research paper, “Fr. Sorin’s Liturgical Crown Jewel: The Basilica of the Sacred Heart High Altar.” He was advised by Heather Hyde Minor, professor in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design.

Patrick was inspired to write about the high altar of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart because of his volunteer work as a Basilica tour guide. He used the high altar as a focal point for his final project for Minor’s course, “Notre Dame and Its Artifacts.” No online resources existed to give him the history of the altar; Patrick turned to the University Archives and its dedicated team of archivists and staff to find the origins of the religious object.

“Without the resources of the Hesburgh Libraries, primarily those in the Notre Dame Archives but also additional print resources, the discoveries of my final paper simply would not have been possible,” Patrick said.

Patrick worked with Assistant Archivist Joe Smith to pull archive materials related to the Basilica. Through multiple trips to the Archives, he was able to learn the origins of the altar and the extent of the involvement of Notre Dame founder Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., in its design.

“Simply finding the name of the altar’s designer was a struggle prior to my work in the Archives! Thus, I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked in the Archives and with library resources overall, and am exceptionally pleased with the discoveries I have made,” Patrick noted.

First Year Student Award Category

There was a tie for first place.

First place — Bernice Antoine, business analytics

Bernice Antoine won first prize for her use of library resources to support her research paper, “Ultra-Processed Foods through an Intersectional Lens.” She was advised by Whitney Lew James, assistant teaching professor in the University Writing Program.

Antoine’s research journey began in a library workshop with Africana Studies and Education Librarian Leslie L. Morgan. Morgan taught students how to use specific search engines like OneSearch, Google Scholar, and Access World News Research Collection to garner different views. “She taught our class how to synthesize research questions. She empowered me to refine my research questions and broaden my research topic. At the end of my research, I had a well-balanced paper where each side of the argument was equally represented,” said Antoine.

Through her work with the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship, Antoine learned how to apply the principles of design justice and how to center underrepresented, underprivileged voices in her research. “The result is an inquiry essay that acknowledges the invisible forces that drive underprivileged people to eat ultra-processed foods, despite its correlation with negative health implications,” she said.

Onsite expertise and spaces were also a key part of Antoine’s success. She notes that the Hesburgh Library’s 24-hour availability on weekdays, enthusiastic librarians, reading rooms and desktop computers allowed her to fully immerse herself in the research process.

“The Hesburgh Library is more than a building; it is an embodiment of our commitment to justice through discourse, an encapsulation of Father Ted’s passion for inquiry and, to me personally, a home away from home,” said Antoine.

First place — Carter Powers, environmental engineering

Carter Powers also won first prize for his use of library resources to support his research paper, “Self-Debasement and Westernization: Yu Dafu and the Development of China’s National Identity.” He was advised by Xian Wang, assistant professor in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and fellow at the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies.

Powers was first exposed to Hesburgh Libraries’ services during a library instruction session with East Asian Studies Librarian Hye-jin Juhn, who gave his class a workshop on how to conduct research with library sources. Juhn explained how to perform searches with OneSearch and databases, find texts of identified sources and request sources that were not immediately available. Juhn compiled an online library resource guide specifically for this class.

“The Hesburgh Libraries’ resources were critical to the development of my research paper. They helped me understand the scope of my project, narrow down what I was looking for, and find the right resources to build my argument,” said Powers. He also learned how to integrate some database research into the Zotero app, which allowed him to easily save the source texts and all of the information needed to cite them with a single click.

“Overall, I used the library’s resources to find reputable sources that greatly enhanced my ability to write a nuanced argument about the historical, social and political development of China and Chinese literature during the New Culture Movement. Without library resources, my research would have been more shallow and broad and my argument would have been less compelling,” said Powers.

Group Project Award Category

Rachel Salamone, political science

Piper Shine, psychology

Seniors Rachel Salamone and Piper Shine won honors for demonstrating excellence in their use of library resources and services for their project, “Women’s Boxing at Notre Dame.” Advised by Katherine Walden, assistant teaching professor in the Department of American Studies, the assignment was a final project for her Sport and Big Data class.

The duo was encouraged to choose a topic related to their passions: Baraka Bouts, a women’s boxing club that has existed for more than 20 years but has little written history. They were motivated by their love of the sport, the supportive club community and how sports and culture are deeply intertwined when deciding to create an interactive timeline on the history of women’s boxing at Notre Dame.

First, they visited the University Archives, where Sports Archivist Gregory Bond walked them through the process of submitting archives requests and opened the door to submitting materials to the archives. With the help of Archives staff, they reviewed, selected and digitized material to use in their timeline.

“The Hesburgh Libraries archivists were incredibly helpful; their knowledge, support and excitement for our project proved to us that scholarship can take many different forms, exist over several platforms and can be far more wide-reaching than it may seem at first glance,” the pair said.

They spent hours in Hesburgh Library’s collaboration spaces working together efficiently and effectively, searching online databases, and piecing together materials. They also explored remix.nd.edu for tips on building their timeline and troubleshooting issues.

“We would like to thank everyone at the Hesburgh Library for developing the resources we used and walking alongside us in the development of our project!”

Digital Scholarship Award Category

The Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship (NFCDS) Award is a specialty category of the Library Research Award. This award recognizes excellence in leveraging digital scholarship resources, tools and methodologies in research and projects. Students can win the NFCDS Award in addition to another category or as a stand-alone recognition.

Megan Hilbert, environmental sciences

Megan Hilbert earned an NFCDS Award for her use of digital scholarship resources in her research papers, “Understanding controls on ammonium-N removal and reach-scale nitrification using experimental streams” and “Monitoring high-risk areas for agricultural impacts on stream water quality: A case study of the Michiana area,” advised by Jennifer Tank, the Galla Professor of Biological Sciences in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Hilbert’s research examined nitrogen cycling in stream ecosystems, and she used the library’s resources to conduct data analysis, learn the R programming language and GIS software, and access ArcMap and ArcGIS datasets. She also created a StoryMap of her research, a publicly accessible tool for education on issues of freshwater quality and nutrient pollution.

“I could not have accomplished any of this work without the resources provided by the Hesburgh Libraries and NFCDS, and I am extremely grateful for the study spaces, printing resources, databases, computers and GIS platforms that allowed me to produce an honors thesis and develop skills in R and GIS,” Hilbert said.

Joseph Jegier, philosophy

Joseph Jegier earned an NFCDS Award for his use of digital scholarship resources in his senior thesis, “Exploring, Deciding, Becoming; Discernment at the University of Notre Dame,” advised by Maria McKenna, professor of the practice in the Department of Africana Studies and the director of the Transformational Leaders Program.

Jegier’s research looked at student reflections from the Moreau First Year Experience using the Distant Reader, a program for text mining and analyzing large volumes of sources written by Digital Initiatives Librarian Eric Lease Morgan. Morgan and Jegier met weekly throughout the spring semester to analyze 1,400 anonymous reflections containing more than 2 million words.

“The library’s resources, collections, spaces and staff make the library a truly remarkable place. I am grateful for all that the Hesburgh Libraries has done to enhance my intellectual development, and I am particularly appreciative of the role it has played in creating an informative senior thesis,” Jegier said.

Kayle Liao, economics

Senior Kayle Liao earned an NFCDS Award for her use of digital scholarship services and resources while working on her honors senior thesis, “Does Political Pressure Affect Monetary Policy?” Advised by Eric Sims, professor and chair of the Department of Economics, Liao’s research focused on evaluating the effect of political pressure on the Federal Reserve.

Unsure of how to begin collecting data, Liao was referred to the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship and was introduced to Digital Initiatives Librarian Eric Lease Morgan. After an initial discussion with Morgan, they identified a need for a political pressure index that wasn’t readily available, so Liao was challenged with constructing her own dataset. “I want to give credit to Eric Morgan for his fantastic idea of starting a pilot study for constructing a political pressure index,” said Liao. Morgan offered his data science expertise and helped her identify her primary data source. He also helped Liao establish key search terms, introduced her to text mining and taught her how to use Python.

“My thesis journey was not only a demonstration of my intellectual curiosity and interdisciplinary understanding but also a testament to the Hesburgh Libraries’ excellent staff and services,” Liao said.