Spring 2019 Issue
Unethical or Predatory Publishers
Have you heard the term predatory publisher? Have you wondered what that means? Is it a publisher like a T-rex, chasing you down? It’s not quite that scary, but predatory or unethical publishing is something you need to know about, both when you evaluate articles you read, and when you want to submit something for publication yourself.
The Library has added Predatory and Unethical Publishing to our Library Guide to Academic Publishing.
There you will learn what predatory or unethical publishing is, red flags to indicate unethical publishing practices, and resources for researchers. In the wild world of the internet, it’s best to be armed with the tools you need to evaluate publishers. We hope this helps!
Database and System Alerts
The Walden Library offers many wonderful databases, e-book collections, and other resources necessary for high-quality scholarly research. Maintaining each of these resources (numbering well over 100) is a lot of work, and when issues arise that impact access to a particular resource, the Library’s IT team jumps into action to make sure that access is restored quickly. The Walden University Library Database & System Alerts is the place to go for updates concerning all issues impacting access to Library resources.
The IT team makes good communication with Library users a priority, making sure that everyone is kept in the loop regarding which resources are impacted, what that impact looks like, and when access has been restored. If you haven’t checked out the Walden University Library Database & System Alerts yet you should! A link to the alerts system can also be found on the Library’s homepage under the What’s new? section.
Find Full Text with the Find@Walden Button
When you're searching for articles in the Walden Library, many people get stuck when they get to the Find@Walden button. Sometimes it takes just a few more clicks to access the full article.
First, click on Find@Walden. This will take you to a page with full-text access or will display a list of databases that may have that article.
If you see the list of databases, click on any one of those blue database links to access the full text. If there is more than one link available, you may need to try again:
It's possible that we don't have access to the article since no library has everything. In those rare cases, clicking on Find@Walden will display a "no results found" or similar message. At that point, you may wish to consult our Ask a Librarian service to double-check that we don’t have it, and we can also help identify other places to get the information.
To learn about more options and tips for finding and accessing articles in the Walden Library, including strategies to determine if the Library provides access to a specific article, please see the Library's guide to Full-Text Articles.
CoE and SPPA Faculty Classroom Blogs
Good news for faculty in Education and Public Policy & Administration: your respective liaison librarians have created Classroom Announcement blogs just for you! These blogs will contain weekly updates of resources, webinars, course drop-ins, and tips of the week explicitly aimed for your students. They are designed for you to copy and paste the announcements directly into your Blackboard discussion/announcement boards.
These blogs can be accessed and subscribed to via the Faculty Library website:
- Find the CoE Library Announcements blog at the College of Education Faculty Library page
- Find the SPPA Classroom Announcements blog at the School of Public Policy & Administration Faculty Library page
You can either copy/paste announcements from these pages into your classrooms periodically or subscribe to receive notifications of new announcements.
You can subscribe to these weekly emails by visiting each announcements page. Look for the Subscribe box on the right side of your screen, type in your email, and click Subscribe. You must confirm your subscription in a verification email.
Please feel free to contact the following librarians if you have any questions:
- Kim Burton (College of Education): Kimberly.Burton@mail.waldenu.edu
- Taylor Leigh (School of Public Policy & Administration): sppa.librarian@mail.waldenu.edu
Doctoral Student Referral
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.
For Fun...Summer Reading
Meet a Librarian
Get to know the Walden Library Librarians. A new Librarian will be featured in every newsletter!
Meet Nykol Eystad!
- What is your job at the library?
I am the liaison and outreach manager.
- What do you like the most about working at the Walden Library?
I enjoy all of my coworkers and I like that we are willing to take risks and try new things.
- What book or series are you reading now?
I am reading This is Your Brain on Parasites. It’s about how parasites can influence and control behaviors in animals and people.
- What do you like to do in your free time?
I like hiking, making stained glass, and I’ve recently started archery.
- Anything else we should know about you?
I've been to over 200 concerts since 1987. At least 132 of those were at First Avenue in Minneapolis. The first concert was David Bowie and the most unique was on a river boat on the Mississippi River.
Finding Articles on Your Topic
Just like a physical library, it’s sometimes hard to tell where to start a search for information in the Walden Library. Here are two ways to locate articles in the Library.
Subject Resources: Search a Subject Area
Most researchers want information related to the subject they’re studying. Researchers studying business typically want to go to the library’s business section, and those researching nursing are interested in journals related to nursing and health care sections.
Similar to the physical library, you can search those sections of the Walden Library by using the Subject Resources box on the Library homepage and selecting the subject area related to you research. Under the databases drop down menu, choose a database labeled Best Bet. Those databases are great places to start your research.
Thoreau: Search More Broadly
Ever wonder what that search box at the top of the Walden Library homepage actually searches? Its nickname is Thoreau, and it searches most of the Library’s databases, from journal articles to books, across multiple disciplines.
This can be a good place to begin if you’re not sure where to start or want a quick idea of how much information is out there on your topic. Remember, it’s possible to get thousands of results using Thoreau, so be prepared to use advanced search skills to narrow your results.
Learn more: Finding Article by Topic
Hidden Resource Gem: SAGE Stats Data Guides
SAGE Stats has a new feature for researchers working with U.S. or state data. Data Guides takes the numbers from SAGE Stats and produces visualizations (maps, tables, or charts) to illustrate key points and trends. This can be useful to illustrate an assignment, project, or capstone project, and the visualizations can be exported as a PowerPoint slide or a PDF document. The resource is updated quarterly with new sources and data series updates.
- To get started, search a topic or location in the top box on any page. (See a list topics on the Browse by Topic page in Sage Stats.)
- Then you can browse related data series, add a comparison location, and find links to the source data and additional documentation.
- After creating a map, table, or chart comparison, navigate to the Export feature in the upper-right corner of the screen, and download the Data Guide for the specific comparison chart you created.
Try creating a Data Guide today! Use your Walden login. For additional information, see a brief video demonstration on the SAGE Stats Help Page.
Upcoming Library Labs & Webinars
Please feel free to share these Library labs with your students!
Faculty Feedback Corner
Please provide us with any suggestions about the newsletter or any other ideas you may have!
Contact Us
Please contact the Library at libraryliaison@mail.waldenu.edu if you have any questions, content ideas or are having difficulty accessing newsletter content.