The University of North Texas Libraries’ Dean’s Innovation Grant, provides funding to research and projects within the UNT Libraries that promote scholarship and contribute to the gathering of knowledge that helps improve our libraries, our university, and the community.

Dean’s Innovation Grant 2021 Awardees

“Press Start!”: A Video Game Music Symposium

Blaine Brubaker, Sabino Fernandez, Kristin Wolski

Project Description: “Press Start!”: A Video Game Music Symposium is a research and demonstration project, focused on bringing more awareness to the video game industry and the ludomusicology field. The project entails three parts: a collection development initiative on the topic of video game music and sound design; a LibGuide on video game music, sound design, and ludomusicology; and a symposium on video game music, ludomusicology, the video game industry and a celebration of video games in general. With our efforts, we aim to solidify the University of North Texas as a hub for research in these emerging fields of study.

Civic Engagement Stations

Robbie Sittel, Brea Henson, Bobby Griffith, Jenne Turner

Project Description: The Knight Foundation’s College Students, Voting and the COVID-19 Election reported an increase in voter turnout among college students from 2016 to 2018 and a greater level of awareness around the 2020 presidential election. The UNT Libraries can be a presence in continuing this momentum by providing self-service and mediated access to voter registration, voter education, and other civic and political resources to produce an informed and engaged electorate. To assist with this goal, we will create Civic Engagement Stations at the Willis and Sycamore Libraries that provide access to voter and civic engagement resources.

E-Resource Donut Survey

Chris Hergert, Sephra Byrne, Karen Harker

Project Description: We plan to expand on the previously completed 30-second survey and adapt it to fit the needs of the Collection Assessment Department in order to integrate direct patron feedback from UNT students and faculty into our annual collection evaluations. These surveys would allow us to target users and non-users of UNT Libraries collections, and answer the questions: what do patrons think and feel about the library collections, and can users find what they want, when they want it? Answering these questions would allow us to improve our pre-existing evaluations and help us to better understand patrons’ usage of resources.

Tackling the Digital Divide in Texas

Yvonne Dooley, Cary Jim, Jo Monahan, Robbie Sittel

Project Description: This research project will investigate the “digital divide” in the State of Texas, particularly in rural areas. According to a 2018 Federal Communications Commission report, 31% of rural households still lack access to broadband Internet in the United States. This lack of access made rural communities more vulnerable to poor health outcomes, disrupted education, and few telework opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic. By studying the “digital divide” in Texas through this research project, UNT can contribute to the understanding of this nationwide problem at a state level and explore creative solutions that could assist in addressing this complex issue.