The NARIC Spotlight Podcast celebrates its first season this year! One of NARIC’s newest information and resource products, the Spotlight Podcast has covered a variety of topics this year in English and Spanish – from introducing NARIC to the podcast community to celebrating the 500th issue of News and Notes to a roundtable with NARIC’s information specialists, and more. The following are just a few highlights of the podcast’s first season:
“The inaugural episode introduced the podcast to our listeners and the NARIC audience to what we do: Managing a comprehensive library of disability research, developing consumer information products, collecting the work of the NIDILRR grantee community, and sharing what is in our collection and resources with patrons in English and Spanish – not only in the US, but throughout the world,” stated Mark Odum, Director of NARIC.
The second episode, Celebrating 10 Years and 500 Issues of News and Notes from the NIDILRR Community and Beyond, brought together Mark Odum and Jessica Chaiken, NARIC’s Media and Information Services Manager. They discussed the path to what News and Notes is today. Mark noted, “News and Notes from the NIDILRR Community and Beyond is the crown jewel of our information and resource products. It’s unique. We publish updates on research, resources, and events from the NIDILRR grantees, as well as other areas of the disability community and it’s just the one place where you’ll find all of that.”
NARIC ventured into episodes in Spanish with the third episode of the season, ¿Qué es y qué hace NARIC? (What is NARIC and What Does it Do?), introducing our Spanish-speaking listeners to NARIC and the services that NARIC provides. “In this episode, we described the work that NARIC does: The diverse collection of publications, journal articles, and other items from the NIDILRR grantee community; the translations of News and Notes; and our information and referral services in Spanish, among other services. We also introduced our Spanish-speaking listeners to Research In Focus, which highlights NIDILRR-funded research, and introduces this research to them in their native language,” said Marta Garcia, NARIC’s Bilingual Information and Media Specialist.
The podcast delved into the NARIC Collection during the fourth episode of the season, What is in NARIC’s Collection? A Discussion with NARIC’s Library and Acquisitions Manager. Natalie Collier, NARIC’s long-standing Library and Acquisitions Manager, was interviewed for this episode. She shared her wealth of knowledge about the NARIC Collection, the items it contains, where those items come from, how researchers and NARIC’s patrons can search the collection, and how researchers and other stakeholders can learn about new items in the collection, among other fascinating topics. “Natalie knows more about the NARIC collection than just about anybody on this planet. She has had her hand in adding over 3,000 items to the collection per year and has wonderful relationships with the NIDILRR grantees, publishers, and editors,” stated Mark Odum. Marta Garcia added, “I learned so much during this episode about the collection from talking to Natalie. I look forward to diving deeper into the collection with Natalie in a future episode!”
The season’s fifth episode, ¿Qué es News and Notes? (What is News and Notes?), brings NARIC’s News and Notes from the NIDILRR Community and Beyond to our Spanish-speaking listeners. In this episode, Marta Arnold, NARIC’s Spanish-language Reviewer, interviewed Marta Garcia about News and Notes. Like the season’s second episode, this episode delved into the history of News and Notes, its evolution, and how Spanish speakers may benefit most from NARIC’s weekly newsletter, which serves both English and Spanish speakers alike. “As Mark said, News and Notes is unique. For Spanish speakers in the US and around the world, it provides a look into the latest research and events from the NIDILRR grantee community and the disability and research communities in general within the US,” stated Marta Arnold.
NARIC staff members gathered for the sixth episode, A Roundtable with NARIC’s Information Specialists Team, where they shared their experiences of providing information and referral services to NARIC’s diverse patrons, the great and challenging aspects of calls/chats, the search methods in their toolboxes, and more. Mark Odum shared, “The Information Specialists Team brought over 70 years of combined experience to the roundtable. Each member of the team brought their personal take on providing information and referral services to the disability and research communities.”
The final episode of the season, El Transporte Accesible para Hispanohablantes con Discapacidades (Accessible Transportation for Spanish Speakers with Disabilities), brought NIDILRR-funded consumer products on accessible transportation to Spanish-speaking listeners. “Several Spanish-speaking patrons from the US and Latin America had contacted NARIC looking for resources on accessible transportation, shortly before release of this episode. And since the NIDILRR grantee community has published very informative consumer-friendly products in English and Spanish, this episode was a great way to share those products with our patrons,” stated Marta Garcia.
The second season of the NARIC Spotlight podcast will begin in early 2023 with a variety of topics that include resources related to caregiving and discussions with staff about NARIC’s Research In Focus series and the Knowledgebase, among other topics. As the Spotlight Podcast takes a break for the holidays, we wish you all a Happy and Safe Holiday Season.
