RCL Blog - Research Guides and Class Pages at Dominican University

Welcome to Rebecca Crown Library’s blog! This blog will provide media recommendations, research tips, information about research guides, event and programming updates, insight into the work behind the library, discussion of issues in the library and information science field, and much more.

This is a project from the library’s instruction team, which consists of the following librarians and staff:

Ben DeBiasio: Community Learning & Outreach Librarian

Phil Skurski: Instruction Librarian

Julia Petrella: Instruction Librarian

Ana Hernandez: Instruction Intern and Reference Assistant

Mary Laffey: Instruction Intern

Keeley Flanigan: Instruction Intern

Liam Guinan: Recording Studio Intern

As one of the three instruction interns, I work to maintain and provide instructional and educational material to students through our research guides, handouts, marketing, and programs. We host workshops and events to welcome students into the library and showcase our resources. Previous events include Library 101 informational sessions and Halloween movie nights. We are preparing to step into CRWS classrooms this spring semester to teach students how to make the most of the library.

You can look forward to seeing us at the de-stress week events we are hosting to help everyone through finals! View all events on the library website.

The library is open from 7 a.m. - 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 12 p.m. - 11 p.m. on Sunday. A graduate reference assistant is available at the first-floor circulation desk to help with any research questions from 9 a.m. - 10 p.m Monday through Thursday and during all open hours Friday through Sunday. They are also reachable over the website’s “chat” function, phone (708) 524-6875, or email. For more information on our hours, check here.

We look forward to starting discussions through this blog and developing it further as a space for many members of the library team to share their thoughts, experiences, and recommendations!

Recent Posts

Lessons of Long-Suffering in Like Water for Chocolate

This post was authored by undergraduate student Angelica Perez for Professor Christine Wilson's ENG 335 assignment, Writing as Social Action. It is part of a “Student Speaks” series on the RCL blog.Each new year, I find it important to set aside time to slow down so I can give energy and attention to the things that interest me most. This year my goal has been to start my own blog and write more consistently while also paying attention to the many ways other creatives perform the art of storytelling.This has led to a desire to be more critically creative. To that end, I like to revisit stories I have already read through their visual adaptations. As a writer and artist, much is gained from observing the way human nature is portrayed in various forms of media. Last fall semester, I kicked off my senior year by reading Laura Esquivel’s 1989 novel Like Water for Chocolate, which was adapted to film a few years later.Book cover of Como Agua Para Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Title can be accessed through Rebecca Crown Library.Like Water for Chocolate follows the life of Tita de la Garza, a young woman from a matriarchally run home in Mexico around the early 1900’s. As Tita and her older sisters grow up to be socially considered women, each decides differently how they want to lead their lives. The story portrays how some people appear to have an ultimate destiny decided for them that they may find unfortunate. Such is Tita’s predicament. Early in the story her mother, Mama Elena, decides Tita is to stay home and take care of her until death, which she claims is Elena’s duty as the youngest daughter.Despite her misfortune, Tita is the only one of her sisters to learn the recipes of Nancha, the maid who helps run the de la Garza household. Throughout the story, Tita’s cooking is a labor of love: she holds the power to deeply affect people emotionally through her food. In family gatherings where she is joyful, her food uplifts everyone's spirits as if she sliced a piece of her elated soul into each bite. Sadly, the practicality of her work forces Tita to cook while slowly losing the ability to live a fulfilling life that honors her desires and dreams. Movie cover of Like Water for Chocolate, screenplay by Laura Esquivel. DVD can be accessed through Rebecca Crown Library.Tita is haunted by a love for her neighbor Pedro Muzquiz, whom she isn’t allowed to marry out of sole obligation to her mother. In a cruel twist of events (spoiler!), Mama Elena elects her eldest daughter, Rosaura, to marry Pedro, which he does in a desperate attempt to stay close to Tita. The clearest example of Tita’s powerfully longing and aching heart comes during Rosaura’s and Pedro’s wedding ceremony. The sorrow from Tita’s tears affects the wedding cake batter; as the guests eat, they are overwhelmed by a melancholic force and shed their own tears thinking about past loves before they become sick. In this way, food is a vehicle for painful memories and the experiences Tita has gone through. In the book, more detail is given about each recipe’s ingredients and the nature of Tita’s long-suffering spirit. For its own part, the movie features an overall warm tone in its imagery: the lighting in any given scene is a glowing orange, and the frames give an airbrushed feel. The wardrobes with lacey dresses and hats are also amazing to behold. Book cover of Cinema in Latin America by A. Elena, M.D. Lopez, and W. Salles. E-book can be accessed from Rebecca Crown LibraryBoth versions of the story center on the conflict which arises from the strict “traditional” values Mama Elena attempts to enforce. In what becomes a pivotal moment in the book, Tita no longer cares only for herself but for her niece Esperanza, Rosaura's daughter. Unlike Tita, Rosaura’s desire to keep the “family” together is to preserve a social self-righteousness that includes a hint of jealousy. Yet Tita, knowing what it is to have deferred dreams and desires, harbors much love for Esperanza and hopes her niece will have the opportunity to live a full life. A theme running through both book and film adaptation is the possibility for improvement through incremental change. As the main analogy, cooking calls for small tweaks and improvements over time as a recipe is preserved. Conversely, Mama Elena quite literally lingers as a ghost because she cannot rest knowing that what she left behind was changing. In a lovely conclusion, Tita’s cookbook is passed on to Esperanza and her own daughter who are thereby given direct access to the trials, lessons, and legacy of Tita de la Garza....

Personal Growth Through Therapy

This post was authored by undergraduate student Gina Reitsma for Professor Christine Wilson's ENG 335 assignment, Writing as Social Action. It is part of a “Student Speaks” series on the RCL blog.When I graduated college the first time around, pre-COVID, I vowed I’d never go back to school again. I had just spent four years getting a two-year associates degree at a community college. I was only a part-time student, but I still struggled with keeping my head above water. My mental health had taken a nosedive in 2016, somewhere between starting my first job at a local Walgreens and the “Pokémon go to the polls” incident. I had been tracking my mood on a new period tracking app and realized that I marked most days with a blue frowny emoji. I then decided it was time to try seeing a therapist. Even though I started my therapy journey while I was in school, I still struggled. If you’ve been to therapy before, you’ll know that the first year or even the first couple years are a bit rough. Your mind is still getting used to the new thought patterns and reframing that you’re trying to hammer into it. You’re undoing all the unhealthy coping mechanisms learned throughout your childhood. It’s hard work, it’s tiring, and sometimes, I’d rather just go back to sleep. I was still having panic attacks, still falling behind on my homework, and still dealing with many crippling phobias.Book cover of You've Got This: A Student's Guide to Well-being at University and Beyond by Rachael Alexander. Title can be accessed online from Rebecca Crown Library.In 2019, my mental health was drowning me yet again and I considered dropping out of school. I was encouraged to stick with it because I only had one semester to go. I needed that god-forsaken piece of paper that supposedly proved I was worth something to employers. So I did it. As soon as I graduated with an Associates in General Education, I immediately felt relief. Throughout my academic career, I had this giant boulder of pressure on my shoulders. It was finally being lifted. My journey wasn’t over yet, though. I continued going to therapy every week while picking up part-time jobs. While attending college, I got a job at my local library in the circulation department. It started out as a shelving position, but I quickly moved up to a service desk position. I loved working at the library, but without a Master's degree in Library and Information Science, I could never be full-time. But I did not want to go back to school. I couldn’t have that boulder be dropped back on me again. Instead, I picked up other jobs that might fill the gap. I worked at a doggy day care and I walked dogs; I even tried retail again. I was miserable everywhere I went. After all the trial and error and dipping my toe in other career fields, I realized the library was where I wanted to be. I decided I couldn’t leave the library in favor of somewhere that would give me full-time hours and health insurance. I was not going to be the person that hated their job, that dreaded Mondays, that contemplated quitting every week like clockwork. cover photo for Rebecca Crown Library's Facebook page. Accessed from https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaCrownLibraryAt this point in my life, I had already made tremendous progress with my therapist. I started taking medication for my depression and was discovering that I also had ADHD. This progress opened up many more resources for me. I read books and watched videos about how to manage ADHD which seemed to help me. My mental stability began to even out. I was, dare I say…happy. I finally felt like I could take something else on, something challenging. I knew it was time to take the next step; I applied to Dominican University.Therapy has taught me a lot in 8 years. Eight years ago, I couldn’t see myself surviving well into my adulthood. I wasn't able to picture myself turning 30. Now I can. I’m 27 now and I truly wouldn’t be here today without the help of CBT and a good old SSRI. Sometimes I feel too old to be getting a bachelor's degree, that I should have done this years ago. But that’s not true. I bring a different perspective to the discussions in my classes, the perspective of someone who has entered the so-called “real world” that our professors talk about. I have a real goal for my education now. I’m not the same 18-year-old that was being pressured to choose what I was going to do with the rest of my life. How’s that for reframing?Editor's Note: Dominican's Wellness Center offers free counseling services. Please visit their website or email wellness@dom.edu to find out more about their services. ...

Butler Lecture Series Welcomes Candace Fleming

Candace Fleming, award-winning author for Children's picture books and young adult nonfiction and fiction books, spoke at the 13th Annual Butler Lecture Series at Martin Recital Hall on Tuesday. Her lecture was followed by an audience Q&A, then a book signing alongside illustrator Eric Rohman who has illustrated many of Fleming's works.In introductory remarks, Butler Center curator Jennifer Clemons described Fleming as a "friend to the University and Center,” having helped establish the Butler Center 15 years ago. Previous series speakers have included Kyle Lukoff (2024), Ebony Elizabeth Thomas and Renee Watson (2021), Andrea Davis Pinkney (2018), and Jane Yolen (2014).Visceral Creativity A theme throughout Fleming's address was tactile experiences during the processes of research and writing. When writing drafts, Fleming said she uses cheap blue pens. That way, after a hard day of writing, with blue ink stains on her arm she can truthfully say, “I'm blue…I wrote today." Fleming also told a story from her youth, having just had her heart broken at a high school dance. Her mother's comfort came by means of a story from her own youth when she learned about the tragic disappearance of pilot Amelia Erhardt. Fleming remembers hearing how her mother “watched, waited, willed Amelia home” helped pull her from her own trifles and recognize the profound ways stories can be a window to empathize with feelings and experiences we don't participate in firsthand.Book cover of Candace Fleming's The Family Romanov. Title can be found at Rebecca Crown Library.Like many creative souls, Fleming thrives on new experiences through travel to inspire her research. A trip to Egypt provided sensations of sand skittering beneath her feet and the dark, quiet of the tombs which informed The Curse of the Mummy: Uncovering Tutankhamun's Tomb.Visiting Alexander Palace in St. Petersburgh, Russia allowed a critical shift in Fleming's perspective. Experiencing firsthand how close the palace gates were to the village and everyday life was a window into how the last czar family of Russia had created a psychological distance between themselves and those they were charged to lead. She then recognized that writing the award-winning The Family Romanov would need to include peasants, soldiers, and Revolutionaries to tell the story truthfully.Finding the Story“Searching and finding is not natural to me," said Fleming. When Dominican professor Cecilia Salvatore asked about her research process, Fleming admitted “It's so messy.” Sometimes an unexpected spark opens the path for a project for the author. After taking six full pages of notes on Faberge eggs, Fleming joked, the author turned course to research the exciting tale of the Russian Revolution.Book cover of Candace Fleming's Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Title can be accessed at Rebecca Crown Library.Fleming described the research for what was initially meant to be a true crime story to be like lifting a rock. In The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindburgh, Fleming would write about the “underside” of a man's life who, while known to most as a national hero, was also part of a secret society of eugenicists and had secret families. “Research can take you to shocking places, and I wasn't ready for it,” she said.Fleming prefers to do research with primary sources. “That's where the telling, intimate things are.” She begins a project by discovering which institution carries the most primary sources on her current topic of interest. Even if many documents are available digitally, Fleming prefers the hands-on experience of sifting through them. In researching for what would eventually be Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart, Fleming parsed through hand-written letters of sympathy to George Putnam. This allowed her to read the endearingly personal notes Erhardt's widower put on the envelopes of these letters.Fleming explained she has only begun to focus on nonfiction for young adult audiences in the last 5-8 years. She has a widely spanning oeuvre which includes many picture books as well as nonfiction and fiction books for older children. When an audience member asked whether writing nonfiction or fiction offers more rewards, Fleming said “I need them both.” She enjoys people's responses when she admits a fact-based story of danger and excitement like The Family Romanov is followed up by a picture book called Bulldozer's Big Day.A Reliable GuideBeyond being an author of high stature, Fleming is passionate about providing true stories to young readers. Her goal is to provide escapism so enticing her readers will gobble it up in one sitting like a cake. She recognizes that teens are daily awash with information, and she sees her role as guiding them through narratives and wild seas. At the same time, she trusts teens to wrestle with contradictions founds in her stories which embody the human condition. Such as depicted in Death in the Jungle, her forthcoming book about the 1978 “revolutionary suicide” of Jonestown. Despite some adults questioning whether such material is fit for teens, Fleming views the tale cautionary yet human, and one she trusts her teen readers to empathetically wrestle withCover of Candace Fleming's forthcoming Death in the Jungle (April, 2025).As a hopeful author of books for youth, these campus events are incredibly inspiring. Make sure to check out the SOIS Signature Events page for future awesome lectures on campus.More Candace Fleming books found at Rebecca Crown Library:Papa's Mechanical Fish Eleanor Roosevelt's In My Garage!Ben Franklin's Almanac Presenting Buffalo Bill The Enigma Girls Honeybee Oh, No! Our Eleanor Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!...

Finding a Sense of Belonging

This post was authored by undergraduate student Jazlyn Cordero for Professor Christine Wilson's ENG 335 assignment, Writing as Social Action. It is part of a “Student Speaks” series on the RCL blog.As we enter adulthood, life pushes and pulls us in different directions. We are challenged to establish who we are, what we identify as, or simply where we belong. That said, finding a community that truly embraces us can be difficult and frustrating. Putting ourselves out there can be unsettling, especially when there are always demands on our time. As a current sophomore at Dominican, I understand how daunting it can be to branch out and find one's place on campus. I am all too familiar with how obligations such as commuting, working, and even studying can interfere with prioritizing yourself. With everything going on in the world, as well as in our personal lives, it is easy to forget being part of a community can be essential for our social, academic, and professional lives. Here at Dominican, there are many activities, events, clubs, and programs that aim to enable students from all types of backgrounds to form unique communities. The effort it takes to find your niche may seem daunting, but it requires only a little movement on your part as a student and person. Your reasons for engagement don’t even have to be fully academic; they can incorporate your interests, hobbies, or even side hustles! Trust me, Dominican will most likely have something to fit your needs. Even if they don’t – yet – you have the power and flexibility to fulfill your need and even bring others alongside who may potentially share your interests.I also want to express that there is no judgement in not knowing where to start when it comes to becoming a more active member of a community. At times we all face some sort of pressure, or perhaps guilt, in not being aware of all we have to offer in giving back to a community. Perhaps you can gain a little confidence by recognizing there is someone in the same boat as you are. Here is something else to keep in mind if you are feeling alone in your movement to engage with others: you can consider inviting someone you are comfortable with to help you find something suitable for you. Sometimes it takes time to find your voice and power – and that's okay – but that is no excuse to withhold yourself from expanding your horizons or from finding your safe place. By no means am I telling anyone that their road to self-discovery and involvement will be an easy one. I know it is not. Even after being at Dominican for nearly two years, I sometimes still feel I have yet to truly leave my mark. However, I have found people ready to encourage me every day, as well as rewarding ways to build community on campus and beyond these walls. So even if you find yourself roaming these halls feeling a little lonely, awkward, or shy, just know you are not alone. Whether you become part of a social group like a club or engage in civic opportunities, you will – eventually – find your place here....

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