Research Guides: HIST 100: Soundscapes and Societies (Spring 2024): Introduction

Introduction: Who Am I? (Rick)

Hello! I'm the W&M History Librarian. A few facts about me:

I started as the W&M librarian for History, Philosophy, and Government Documents in Fall 2022.
Before moving here, I was an assistant professor & librarian at Portland State University (Oregon), and before that was the History Librarian at Drew University in Madison NJ, where I was also on the History & Culture faculty. I began my library career as the research librarian to the North Dakota legislature in Bismarck ND - it was very, very cold.
In addition to a Library Science masters degree, I'm trained as a historian (BA, MA, PhD), and my research interests are Anglo-American History, the history of 19th century cultural & intellectual life, and (my favorite topic!) the history of higher education.
I grew up in a farm town about an hour from Buffalo NY; my town was so small that learning to square dance & using snow shoes were part of the K-12 curriculum. My town has 1 traffic light, 4 pizzerias, and a weekly farmers' market. My older brother is the Principal.
My publication areas have been the history of education, history of publishing, data management, and government information. I'm currently working on two projects: a study of how COVID-19 impacted the distribution of government publications to libraries, and a study of the 19th century academic profession.

I started as the W&M librarian for Art & Art History, Music, Theatre & Dance, and Digital Humanities this past summer
Before moving here, I was completing my Master’s in Library and Information Science at Syracuse University. I also worked as a graduate library assistant at Syracuse University Libraries and a graduate library intern at SUNY ESF’s Moon Library.
In addition to a Library Science master’s degree, I have BA in English Literature with a concentration in Digital Humanities. My research interests are the long 19th century, Victorian literature and culture, digital humanities and pedagogy, and adaptation theory particularly relating to Arthuriana and mythology/folklore.
I grew up an hour north of Los Angeles, CA and for many years my town had the distinction of being the 3rd safest city in the US. However, both with my family and on my own, I have lived in 4 different states: CA, AZ, NY, and VA.
My publication areas have been text and data mining, text encoding, digital pedagogy, and teaching digital humanities, I'm currently working on a book chapter about teaching TDM to library professionals and students using HathiTrust’s Digital Library and Research Center.
So far, I love the community and calm of Williamsburg (also the trivia scene is pretty great)

Make a Research Appointment
I hold regular office hours and invite students to make an appoint to visit me. Whether you're working on a large project or are having trouble finding a couple really tricky sources, I'm very happy to help.

Appointment can be in person, or via Zoom, or via phone - whichever makes you comfortable.
Chat
Need *immediate* help? Try the chat feature on the main page. It's staffed by a full time member of the library faculty during business hours. If the question is extremely complex they'll forward you to me, but if it's a fairly quick question, they'll be able to help right away. Fortunately, quite a few of the librarians have experience in historical research, so you're in great hands!
Email me at rmmikulski@wm.edu
Have a quick question or having difficulty accessing a document, database, etc? Always feel free to email me directly. If the question is overly complex I may ask you to set up an appointment (in person or via Zoom, whichever you want). Always glad to hear from history scholars!

Information about the Libraries
Services, events, hours, and access all vary throughout the year. For the most immediate information, consult the library homepage, which we update constantly.