Sharing Our Resources
Milestones achieved this year
Three-year “Data for Good” Project Concludes
Libraries harnessing the power of data
Businesses make use of data analytics to gain valuable insights about their services, customers, and growth opportunities. Similarly, libraries are well positioned to play a pivotal role in analyzing raw data to assist community partners in identifying trends and patterns, thereby enabling them to address issues and make informed decisions for the greater good. Recognizing the immense potential of data analytics and having seen compelling outcomes over three years of offering data education programs for adults and teens, PPL sought and received a multi-year IMLS national leadership grant of $532,380 in 2021 to seed an innovative, responsive, and holistic education program called “Data for Good” in partnership with institutions across the country, turning it into a training program to assist libraries in providing data analytics support to local nonprofits, as well as the library.
Partners participating in this project included DeKalb County Public Library, Decatur, Georgia; Okefenokee Library, Okefenokee, Georgia; Pottsboro Library, Pottsboro, Texas, and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence. The collection of resources and information about the project offers guidance and adaptable tools to aid any library in launching its own Data for Good initiative. With data analytics as a powerful tool, libraries can empower patrons, strengthen community organizations, and catalyze positive change through this program for adult and teen learners.
The Data for Good curriculum is available for anyone to replicate and adapt into a training program in their community. The curriculum is a set of project-based lessons that guide adult or teen learners in achieving the skills they need to analyze data. There are a total of 15 lessons, each with a lesson plan packet, slide decks, and activities for learners. The curriculum is published under a Creative Commons license for anyone to reuse and repurpose.
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
William Martin Project Launches
PPL celebrated the launch of the William Martin Project, a website that brings together material from across our Nicholson Whaling Collection to illuminate the 1887 voyage of the whaling vessel Eunice H. Adams, which set out from Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard, on what would be the final voyage of its captain, William Martin. Martin was a Black whaling captain with over 40 years experience at sea, rising through the ranks from a green hand to the highest position on the vessel four decades later as master of the Eunice H. Adams.
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During our launch event, we were joined by Skip Finley, author of Whaling Captains of Color and perhaps the foremost expert on Martin to discuss Martin’s life and times. We also heard from PPL’s first Digital Humanities Fellow, Abby Dolan, who worked hard building new capabilities into our online project.
As part of its Nicholson Whaling Collection, PPL is fortunate to have a wide range of documentary material related to the 1887 voyage of the Eunice H. Adams, and this website provides an opportunity for users to examine those documents in various contexts and develop connections of their own between items and topics.
A more important reason to showcase this particular voyage from among the many in the Library’s Nicholson Collection is the light it casts upon the important role that people of color played in this crucial American industry. By the same token, whaling and other nautical occupations are being increasingly recognized for their importance in the long struggle against slavery in the United States.
PPL’s Special Collections, as is often the case with rare book and archival institutions, were originally built by white collectors with primarily white interests. More broadly, much of the evidence preserved in historical artifacts — from books and manuscripts to scrimshaw and photographs — prioritized white experience and history. This website is part of a larger effort to increase the visibility of materials relating to people of color in our collections and highlight histories that have been underrepresented in the past.
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This project was made possible by funding from the Papitto Opportunity Connection.