Library Faculty Newsletter: Winter 2019

Essential Academic Skills and Resources for a Successful First Year

Library Database Search Skills

Meet a Librarian

Ask a Librarian Service

Finding Walden Research

Citation Management

Doctoral Student Referral Form

Upcoming Library Labs & Webinars

Library Lab Suggestions

For fun ...

Faculty Feedback Corner

Does your class have first-year students in it? This webinar is for them! Feel free to copy and paste the following information for this webinar into your classroom.

Wednesday, January 16, 2019, 7 p.m. (Central Time)

Welcome to Walden, first-year students! In this webinar, join specialists from the Library, Writing Center, and Academic Skills Center for a discussion on essential scholarly skills such as finding required readings, searching databases, writing in a scholarly fashion, reading effectively, and using good online etiquette. The discussion will also cover where you can find resources to help you achieve academic excellence in your first year, and beyond.

To register:

Webinar: Essential Academic Skills and Resources for a Successful First Year

We’ve just updated our Database Search Skills Guide, and it’s full of information that will help your students find what they need to ace their coursework. 

Send your students to the library guide to help them Decide on a Topic that’s not too big, not too small, but just right. The guide will also help them Identify Relevant Databases so that they can find quality articles right away without having to wade through millions of results in Google.

Our guide shows students how using Keywords, not whole sentences, is the way to search when in a library database. The guide can help them determine which words will work best and, just as important, how to Connect Keywords so that they’re getting what they need.

There is also information on how to Find Subject Terms, basic and advanced help on using Search Limiters, Advanced Search Tips and how to Save and Share what they find. These search techniques will help your students find research articles quickly and efficiently.

Encourage your students to take some time to explore and experiment with searches. Spending a little time up front will save them lots of time down the road as they look for research to support assignments and discussion posts throughout their coursework.

If you have any questions, would like to invite a librarian to visit your classroom, or have a webinar request, e-mail us at libraryliaison@mail.waldenu.edu.

Did you submit one of the more than 16,000 questions received in 2018 through the Library’s Ask a Librarian service? If not, now’s the time! Let the Library help you with your research, point you to a specific database or article, and more. The Ask a Librarian service offers several different ways for you to contact us with your Library question:

• E-mail: The more information we have about your research needs, the better we can help you. Filling out the e-mail web form is the best way for us to procure this information from you and provide general research help.
• Chat: We typically offer chat hours every day of the week. Here you can ask quick questions such as how to navigate the library website, find a specific article, or get help with a course reading.
• Phone: Call us toll free and leave a voicemail with your question. We will respond to you via e-mail with instructional and research guidance.
• Doctoral Research Appointment: Schedule a 30-minute appointment with a librarian to brainstorm effective research strategies for your dissertation or doctoral study literature review. 

So come check out Ask a Librarian and choose the service that is best for your research needs!

If you have a doctoral student who is struggling with research, information literacy, or any other library related skill, please fill out the Student Referral Form. We will reach out to the student and do our best to assist them. 

Is there a research topic you feel your students are struggling with? Or an assignment that requires intense and in depth research? Perhaps there's a resource that students are struggling to navigate? Please provide us with some suggestions for library lab topics you'd like to see us cover and we'd be happy work with you to create it.

We've probably all had an overdue library book but these books were extremely overdue!

11 Ridiculously Overdue Library Books (That Were Finally Returned)

Get to know the Walden Library Librarians. A new Librarian will be featured in every newsletter!

Meet Lisa Presley!

1. What is your job at the library?
   I am a liaison librarian. I teach information literacy concepts and work with students to improve their personal research skills. I help students with every stage of the research process so that their approach is both streamlined and comprehensive. Some of the most common tasks I assist students with are: getting acclimated to the virtual library’s various resources; developing effective search strategies for openly available resources, as well as proprietary sources; using a variety of specialized features in subject specific databases; locating and accessing hard-to-find resources; and organizing citations in programs such as Zotero or Mendeley.
2. What do you like the most about working at the Walden Library?
   I thoroughly enjoy helping students work towards their educational goals. The great thing about working for Walden, is that it affords me the unique opportunity to work with students and faculty from all over the world.
3. What book or series are you reading now?
   I am currently reading Upstream by Mary Oliver, which is a collection of essays about the author’s connection to literature and nature. I really appreciate intellectual and creative works that explore the interdependent relationship between human beings and the natural environment. In addition to literature on the topic, I also enjoy reading scholarship in the field of Ecopsychology.
4. What do you like to do in your free time?
   I live in Michigan and find ways to enjoy the outdoors during each of the seasons. I love the beach and the woods, and when I can’t make it to either one, I have two energetic dogs that I enjoy taking for walks.
5. Anything else we should know about you?
   I’m new to Walden and really excited to be here!

Did you know that Walden University publications are included in the Library's Thoreau search tool? Thoreau combines most of the Library's subscribed and open access content into one convenient search experience. You can use Thoreau to filter your results down to Walden journal articles, dissertations, and more to view research the University has published on your topic.

In Thoreau, use the Walden specific filters Walden University Research & Publications only or choose from the list of options under Walden Collections located on the advanced search page.

You can also use the side bar navigation to limit your results to Walden only publications after you've run your search.

We also have the ScholarWorks collections for direct access to the University's intellectual output.

Looking for a way to organize all the articles that you collect from your courses and research? Give citation management software a try. This is software that you can download onto your computer and integrate with an online version. You can save article citations and full text with the software, and then create your own filing system with folders for each course, or topic, or whatever theme you choose. There are a lot of different kinds of software to try; some are free, some need to be purchased. The Library’s Citation Management Software guide will get you started with advice about choosing software and making it work for you.

Please feel free to share these Library labs with your students!

Please provide us with any suggestions about the newsletter or any other ideas you may have!