About
Windows and Mirrors: Diversity in Books for Young Readers
The Windows and Mirrors: Diversity in Books for Young Readers project began in the Winter of 2022 as a class research project in a course called "Children's Literature as Art and Activism" in the Department of English at the University of Ottawa.
The 2022 project aimed to introduce students to some of the tools, resources, and potential of the Digital Humanities as they performed research concerning the diversity of representation in prominent bookstore displays of books for children and young adults.
In the summer of 2024, the project expanded to include the work of students in a graduate seminar. These advanced students performed research on what scholar Jennifer Miller refers to as the "transformative potential" of picturebooks, particularly in light of recent book bans and challenges.
The results of the students' work can be accessed via the Student Projects area of the website.
The explanation of how the students went about cataloguing the works can be accessed via the Browse by Tags area of the website.
An Invitation
We hope visitors to our site will enjoy looking through the student exhibits. These projects represent students' first exposure to the demands of cataloguing and to working with Omeka and Neatline. If you are aware of a correction that needs to be made, particularly to the way a student has catalogued a particular item, please contact us. We welcome your feedback.
Those interested in pursuing a similar digital humanities project might find it useful to see the Guide that Roxanne Lafleur created for students. The detailed work required often pushed students outside their comfort zones, but they rose to the challenge.
Project Team
Kelly St-Jacques, Ph.D., Professor, Department of English, University of Ottawa:
Professor St-Jacques, a full-time sessional instructor, has a passion for Children's Literature and Young Adult Fiction and is the originator of the Windows and Mirrors project.
Roxanne Lafleur, Digital Humanities Support Specialist, Research Support (Arts and Special Collections), University of Ottawa Library:
Roxanne Lafleur developed the cataloguing schema in this archive. Her expertise in Omeka and Neatline and her overall dedication and enthusiasm have been invaluable for the Windows and Mirrors project; she is also a collaborator in the site's overall organization and design and the creator of its banner.
Jada Watson, Ph.D., M.I.S., Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities, School of Information Studies, University of Ottawa:
Professor Watson is an expert in musicology, description of musical works, broader socio-cultural institutional frameworks, data curation, and data-driven analysis. Her expertise in the Digital Humanities and her support for this project have been greatly appreciated.
Copyright
The Windows and Mirrors: Diversity in Books for Young Readers project is strictly not for profit and intended for research and educational purposes only. More information about copyright and conditions of use.