UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State University Libraries recently completed development of a new Library Guide to Indigenous Peoples in Pennsylvania History.
Finalized in November, in time for the observance of Native American Heritage Month, the Library Guide is a collection of resources related to the history of Native Americans in Pennsylvania, including maps, treaties and land appropriations.
“Whenever possible, we tried to highlight materials and resources that include Native American perspectives and voices,” said Eric Novotny, history librarian for the George and Sherry Middlemas Arts and Humanities Library and a member of a research subgroup of the University Libraries Native American Learning Working Group, which created the Library Guide. “The Penn State section includes data documenting how the sale of Indigenous lands (in the 1800s) funded America's land-grant institutions, including Penn State.
“The guide was originally developed to support the work of a group of Indigenous faculty, staff and students at Penn State,” Novotny said. “One result of their work was a land acknowledgment officially adopted by the University.”
The Native American Learning Working Group is chaired by Brandy Karl, copyright officer in the Office of Scholarly Communications and Copyright. The research sub-group also consists of co-chairs Heidi Abbey Moyer, archivist and humanities reference librarian at the Madlyn L. Hanes Library, Penn State Harrisburg, and Jane Ingold, reference and instruction librarian at the John M. Lilley Library, Penn State Behrend; Clara Drummond, curator and exhibitions coordinator, Eberly Family Special Collections Library; and Ruth Tillman, Sally W. Kalin Early Career Librarian for Technological Innovations, Cataloging and Metadata Services.
Library Guides are collections of information resources, such as books, maps and databases, to assist students and other library patrons with research on a particular theme or topic. The University Libraries has more than 600 library guides online to help individuals navigate information for academic courses and other uses. These tools feature content from a variety of sources and can be continuously updated.
For more information about the Indigenous Peoples in Pennsylvania History Library Guide, contact Eric Novotny at ecn1@psu.edu.