2021

Dec. 3, 2021: New Access to Gale's Indigenous People of North America Collections

VIVA, the Virtual Library of Virginia, purchases and licenses shared collections across the state in order to ensure that all students have access to the same critical core resources, regardless of what institution they attend. Through the SCHEV fund for Excellence and Innovation as well as state funding provided by the General Assembly, VIVA has purchased more exciting resources that are focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion in order to help support research and explore diverse perspectives.

Another exciting resource that is now available to Radford University users through VIVA is the Indigenous Peoples of North America collection from Gale. This resource is a comprehensive collection of primary source documents from American and Canadian government sources and institutions, tribal publications, and documents from Indian-related organizations, including a selection of indigenous-language materials. The collection covers topics such as Indian removal, Indian wars and the frontier army, treaty policies, government boarding and missionary schools, Indian languages and linguistics, water and fishing rights, and more. Together, these primary sources enable in-depth study of the political, social, and cultural history of native peoples from the sixteenth century well into the twentieth century.

See VIVA’s full press release about this and other exciting resources at https://vivalib.org/ld.php?content_id=61841044. You can access this Gale collection by visiting VIVA’s list of databases at https://vivalib.org/az.php.

Aug. 12, 2021: New Access to Two Readex Collections

As the academic library consortium of Virginia, VIVA the Virtual Library of Virginia purchases and licenses shared collections across the state that aim to level the academic playing field for students and faculty. VIVA does this by ensuring that students have access to the same critical core resources, regardless of which institution they attend, whether it is a small community college or a large research university. An important part of this effort is to make resources available that are focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion in order to support researchers and students in their exploration of historical and current systematic injustices, diverse perspectives, and inclusive practices. These resources also help ensure that students and community members see themselves and issues important to them reflected in library and research collections.

As a part of the VIVA consortium, Radford University now provides its users with access to two Readex Collections:

African Americans and Reconstruction, 1865-1883 contains nearly 1,400 fully searchable printed works from the end of the Civil War to the beginning of Jim Crow. It includes documents related to African Americans and citizenship, voting rights, literacy, land rights, employment, and more, including the gaps between written law and practice.

African Americans and Jim Crow, 1883-1922 contains more than 1,000 fully searchable printed works from the beginning of Jim Crow to post-World War I. These works provide insights into African American culture and life during this period of segregation and disenfranchisement and include such topics as African American identity, relationships with peoples of other nations, and literature.

Not only do these new collections greatly expand the breadth and depth of equity, diversity, and inclusion content that VIVA makes available to its members, but they represent substantial cost avoidance for Virginia thanks to VIVA's group negotiating power.

See VIVA's full press release about this and other exciting resources at https://vivalib.org/ld.php?content_id=61841044. You can access the Readex Collections by visiting VIVA's list of databases at https://vivalib.org/az.php.