This is a mock research guide I created for the INFO 244—Online Searching course. It is geared towards undergraduate students taking AFAM 134 (a real course at SJSU) focusing on “The Civil Rights Movement in the United States” (not the actual course title). It was very instructive to take an in-depth look at what SJSU’s King Library had to offer regarding this transformative era in American History. I was deeply affected by the resources I found: the images, the first hand stories, the biographies and the oral histories all gave a real sense of how impactful this moment in history was and is for our country. Organizing all of this information into a format that I could envision being useful to students was wonderful exercise and I enjoyed it a great deal.
Rashida Skaar has worked as a Teen Services Library Assistant at Contra Costa Library’s Hercules Branch for four years. She was proud and honored to be selected as one of the American Library Association’s Spectrum Scholars for the 2017-2018 school year, and wants to continue to work towards promoting inclusion and equity in libraries through her ongoing work with the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. “One of my great passions is connecting people with resources, and I strive to find ways to ensure that the patrons I serve have the opportunity to take advantage of everything libraries have to offer.” Rashida will graduate from San José State University with her Masters of Library and Information Science in May 2020.