Clemson University Libraries congratulates Jessica Serrao, our Metadata Librarian, on her recent acceptance to the Institute for Research Design in Librarianship!
The Institute for Research Design in Librarianship (IRDL) empowers librarians to develop research design skills by removing common barriers to successful research. The annual competitive program brings together 20-25 diverse academic and research librarians who are eager to conduct research, and provides training and support for participants to design, conduct, and disseminate a research project over the following academic year.
As part of the sixth cohort of IRDL scholars, Jessica will participate in a nine-day intensive summer workshop to be held June 1-9 at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. In this hands-on portion, Jessica will learn librarianship-oriented research methods from expert instructors and revise her initial project proposal. She proposes to undertake a research study that examines the influence of equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives on digital collections metadata practices of academic libraries and archives. It is her hope that this research provides a clearer path for librarians and archivists to make data-informed metadata decisions to move toward equitable and inclusive digital collections for our researchers.
After the workshop, Jessica will continue to receive support from a professional research mentor and the IRDL’s growing community of researchers to help complete her research project. The Institute fully funds the learning experience, travel, accommodations, textbooks, and meals through an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grant and Loyola Marymount University.