Citation Questions

Students have been asking questions about citation styles; in particular MLA and Chicago styles.

Printing

Students are asking how to print their research papers,

Oxford Islamic Studies Center

We now have an active trial to the Oxford Islamic Studies Center. The link to access is below. Please forward this to the appropriate faculty members. Comments are needed to make a decision on this resource. If anyone has any questions about any aspect of this resource, please contact me - leakca@wssu.edu

Oxford Islamic Studies Centerhttp://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com

Reference Voice Mail

1) Pick up Reference telephone and press “Talk” to initiate call.
2) Dial 2001
3) When prompted, enter your mailbox number (2454) and press #
4) When prompted, enter password (0113) and press #
5) Retrieve, delete, forward messages as your would normally. (76 deletes)

No Halloween masks

Hi all

I ran across a student in the library with a Halloween mask on today. I asked him to remove it and he did with no problem. However, please keep in mind to tell students who may do this to take off all masks so that we can see their face. In lieu of campus shootings around the country and other incidents, we do not want anyone to panic or create chaos.

Thanks

African American Inventors

Finally, the website we need. Take a look at http://inventors.about.com/od/blackinventors/Famous_Black_Inventors.htm
I found this from using the NCSU Patent Library that I learned about at NCLA. Check it out, too. http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/ptdl/. It's much easier to search than the USPTO.

Using Google Books

A student needed historical information on Parris Island Military Base. He had already checked the military database in NC LIVE and couldn't find anything so wanted a book. We searched the online catalog and couldn't find anything. So, we tried the Google Book search. Since the full text of the book is searched via Google Books we found that we did indeed have some books in our library about Parris Island. Since only the record is searched by the online catalog, we weren't finding them. With the link in Google Books to WorldCat we could go right into our online catalog and find the book. He found several books he could use for his paper and left the library with a big relieved smile on his face!

RCL Web

Use RCL Web to locate new titles to order.
RCL web - This resource can be used to search and generate books, web resources, e-books, journals, etc. in a desired subject area. There are also resources on general research procedures that can benefit students.
You can also use:
ChoiceReviews.online - The electronic version of the printed publication, users can search for the latest materials in their respective discipline. Only 15 users can use this resource at a given time. It requires a username and a password. (Username: wssu1/Password: wssu2)
Please request new orders from our faculty members.

Dr. Seuss

The question of finding criticisms for Dr. Seuss came up in the coordinators meeting. I did find one criticism in Literature Resource Center, however it is written by Dr. Seuss explaining how he came up with the idea for writing The Cat in the Hat. There are also some references to Dr. Seuss in Children's Literature Review, however the volume 100 housed in O'Kelly is not on the shelf. I have found some more titles to order and will update here when they come in.
Theodor Seuss Geisel [3/2/04 - 9/24/91]

Gale Resources

Hello all

Sandra George has discovered that resources from Gale are not working at this time. The note reads that "Gale technicians are actively working resolving the problem." They (Gale) anticipates the problem being resolved within the hour. It is currently 12:40PM. This message will be deleted when the problem is fixed.

International Students

The international students that Ms. Miller has been trying to get to the library are coming in! (4 this week) Please assist them in any way needed and let her know so we can keep track of numbers. Also, she has library brochures for them.

LOST & FOUND

Greetings All,

Its finally here, a central lost and found, and its allready filling up. The location is Circulation Desk. So for now lost flash drives, shades, disks, etc. have a home there. And for those who like to loose hot itmes, like flases, please be careful because many times these items are picked up before staff has a chance to find it and set it aside, so students please be careful with your belongings, and especially with flash drives because its easy to get up and leave them. Also be careful with taking out extra stuff while in work/study areas because many other personal items have been left behind as well.

Nursing Success Strategies - Scavenger Hunt

Some sections of Freshman Seminar/Nursing Success Strategies (It may be other Freshman Seminar classes as well) are doing a scavenger hunt that includes questions about the history of the university. One specfic question is "how did the lirbary get its name?" That question was found in the university catalog, but we may want to point them to the unversity history book located in the textbook/reserves area and the Archives website on the library's homepage as well.

Empirical Journal Articles

Empirical journals are also known by the following terms: research, scholarly, professional, peer reviewed/refereed, and scientific.

Empirical journal articles test a hypothesis or opinion about a topic such as “What is the effect of capital punishment on crime?” An empirical article will contain numerous headings including the Hypothesis, Method, Participants, Procedure, and Results, and Conclusions. They also may contain tables and statistics that present the study’s results. Experts write these empirical articles on topics they study based on facts that they discover. Other experts in the field review these articles before they are published (this process is called peer reviewing), which lends credibility to the information contained in the article.

Empirical journal articles for topics can be found using the following “specialized” databases such as Science Direct, Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), PsycARTICLES, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) or “interdisciplinary” databases such as Academic Search Premier, Project Muse, ProQuest Research Library, and InfoTrac OneFile.

A journal may also contain non-empirical articles that are essays on a topic that present an expert’s opinion on a topic or review previous literature on a topic but are not tests of a hypothesis. These types of journal articles are called review articles. They do not have the headings mentioned above within the article. These are not appropriate for assignments that require the use of empirical articles.

One Book One Community

We have received two questions about the one book one community reading experience this morning. One faculty member will be requiring the students to write an essay on the book. Please refer individuals to our website – “One Book One Community” there they will find our “reading blog”. Chris is also going to post the PDF copy of the brochure and Jeff is going to post sound bits from the discussion session with the author. Hopefully, these items will be posted by the end of the work day. This is an endorsement that the Blog is very helpful. Thanks

Hello all,

Dr. Lori Sheppard is sending her students to look for articles from an American Psychological Association resource. She recommended PsycLIT, which is no longer in existence. It has been collapsed into PsycINFO. Mr. Foster assisted one student with this today, so we may want to be on the lookout for others. Below is the email that I sent to Dr. Sheppard.


Hello Dr. Sheppard

A few of your students have come into the library to search for articles through PsycLit. That database has been collapsed into the database PsycINFO 1870-Current. To get access to PsycINFO or to PsycARTICLES (another APA database they just go the library’s homepage (http://www.wssu.edu/WSSU/About/Administration/Information+Resources/C.G.+OKelly+Library/)

Then under Research click on Database by Title. Scroll down the alphabetical list and click on the link for with PsycARTICLES or PsycINFO. They can also click on Databases by Subject, click on “Psychology,” and view other Psychology databases.

Freshman Library Assignment

Brenda Taylor is giving this library assignment to the Freshman Seminar instructors for their students. It is a credit assignment so hopefully we will see students working on it in the library and hearing from them at the desk and via email soon. Please look over the questions that are attached so you will be familiar with the assignment. They are not all getting the same 5 activities to complete (which is why you’ll notice an OR between some of the questions). One of our main goals is to familiarize the students with asking for help at the reference desk so please be your very “nicest” and approachable self to our newbies on campus.


Name:
Date:
Instructor:
Class Section:

Homework Assignment Freshman Seminar Students
Directions: This assignment will require you to visit O’Kelly Library and perform 5 activities. Before leaving for the library, make sure you have your RAM card, a pen or pencil, this sheet and the titles of a few magazines or newspapers in mind for activity 2.

After you enter the O’Kelly Library building, stop, view and listen to the video playing on the flat panel screen in the foyer for several minutes. Write down one thing you learned:
________________________________________________________________________


Stop at the first desk you see and ask to speak to a librarian. Ask the librarian to help you find out if one of the magazines or newspapers you have in mind is online in one of the library’s databases. Write down the librarian’s name, the title of the book or newspaper and the name of the database:
Librarian’s name: _________________________________________________________

Magazine or newspaper title: ________________________________________________

Name of database: ________________________________________________________


Next, look for a computer to use on the first, second or third floor. Click on Start, then Internet to find the library’s website. Click on Library Catalog. Search the online catalog to find a book of your choice. Note the title of the book you selected and call number. Go to the shelves and find the book. Write down the call numbers of the two books on either side of your book:
Call # 1: _____________________________Call # 2: ____________________________
OR
Next, look for a computer to use on the first, second or third floor. Click on Start, then Internet to find the library’s website. Click on Library Catalog. Search the online catalog to find a book of your choice. Write down the Location, Call # and Status of the book below. Click on Book Locations. Where is your book located in the library?
Location: _____________________________ Call#: ____________________________

Status: _______________________________ Floor: ___________________________


Go back to the library’s website and browse through some of the links. Write down 2 reasons (besides using the catalog to find a book) you would use the library website:
Reason 1. ______________________________________________________________

Reason 2._______________________________________________________________
OR
Go back to the library’s website and click on the Departments link. Scroll down to the Archives link and click on it. Read the mission statement for Archives and in your own words briefly explain the purpose of the library’s Archives department:
_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
OR
Go back to the library’s website and click on Ask a Librarian. Next, click on the Ask a WSSU Librarian link. Email a question about the library’s online databases that will help you use these tools more effectively. (Example: Which database would help me find an article for my biology class about …?) Write down the question you asked:
_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Before leaving the library, stop by the Circulation desk and register your RAM card with the library (if you haven’t already done so) and complete a laptop and pager form. Make sure to ask what library services are now available to you. List three things you can do in the library now that you are registered.
1. ____________________________________________________________________

2.____________________________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________________________

APA Update

For those of you who teach APA, or who are asked APA questions- hold onto your hats!
This past summer APA released a revised and updated guide to the APA Style Manual. You can buy an online copy at:
http://books.apa.org/books.cfm?id=4210509

This addendum includes examples to items we've always had to fudge, like blog postings, podcasts, and PPT presentations. That's the good news.
Now for the not-so-good:
The examples in the guide _replace_ the old way of citing online journal articles. You no longer list the library database or URL- instead, you are supposed to provide a DOI.
(You can read about APA's reasoning- and learn more about DOIs_ at
http://apastyle.apa.org/elecmedia.html)
To some of us, it makes about as much sense as listing an ISBN in a book citation. And we're not sure how we can describe to students and faculty what a DOI is, how you use it to find articles, or even how you find it (since every vendor seems to do it differently- and I haven't found it in some).
Has anyone heard how committed to this new style APA is? It seems like a rather cumbersome change, and I don't want to try and switch our campus over- and change all our handouts and such- if it's still under discussion. (And there are those of us who are advocating we pretend we don't know about this new version!)
Spreading APA joy,
Candice

Candice Benjes-Small, MLIS
Instruction Team Leader and Reference/Instruction Librarian McConnell Library, Radford University, VA
540-831-6801
cbsmall@radford.edu
IM: benjessmall

Students printing from Blackboard

An email was forwarded to me from a computer lab director on campus concerning students printing from Blackboard. Many faculty members post classnotes in PowerPoint presentations. When students print they are sometimes printing in excess of 100 or more pages. Many are not aware that they can print in handout form. The instructions for printing in handout form, which will reduce the pages of these classnotes are below. The orgininal email addressing this concern will follow this posting.

HOW TO PRINT POWERPOINT SLIDES IN HANDOUT FORMAT

1. Find the document/notes you want to print on blackboard

2. Instead of left-clicking on the document to open it, RIGHT click on it and click on “save target as”

3. This will bring up options of where to save that particular document. At the top of the dialogue box, there will be an arrow that will drop a menu and you can choose where you would like to save it. In most cases, the easiest place to save it and find it quickly is to the desktop.

4. After you have saved the document, minimize your screens, go to where you have saved it, and open it again as if you are opening a regular PowerPoint document.

5. When it opens, go to file and print. There, towards the middle of the dialogue box on the right side, it should give you the options of how you want to print the document. In the box, it will probably say “SLIDES.” Change “SLIDES” to “HANDOUTS.” Then to the right of that, it will ask how many slides you want on a page. A good number to choose is six (6) – they are small but still readable. Then press print.

Access to e-resources/Dept. of Health and Human Services

Students from all over the state who work for Department of Health and Human Services cannot access our resources due to new firewalls that they added this year. Ms. George and I are in contact with their IT department and with Serials Solutions. This is an isolated case with this particular agency.

If you get phone calls and the patron is having issues, ask them if they are at one of the DHHS agencies and inform them that we are working on it. If they do not fall into this category, then it is probably the usual issue of using the wrong username or password.

Remember that the username is the beginning of the WSSU email address and the password is the Banner ID if admitted within the past two years and their social security number if they enrolled three or more years ago. For faculty it is whatever username and password they use for checking email or signing in to their computer. (This is from the Computer Help Desk, if students are unsuccessful with these procedures, then they should contact the Help Desk @ 750-3431)