Library Student Newsletter: Spring 2018

Welcome From the Director

Meet a Librarian

New Databases

The Library in Social Media

Database Searching Tips & Tricks: Subject/Thesaurus Tool

Doctoral Student Appointments

Upcoming Library Labs & Webinars

Library Lab Suggestions

For fun ...

Student Feedback Corner

April 8-14th is U.S. National Library Week! I want to take this opportunity to thank the team of excellent librarians we have here at Walden. Our librarians work hard every day to support students through our Ask-A-Librarian service, by designing and presenting webinars, creating course and assignment support, building a wealth of content for our library website and online resources, and maintaining a world-class library collection. Thank you, librarians, for your dedication to our students.

Michelle Hajder

Director, Walden University Library

The Library’s collection continues to grow with the addition of five new databases.  These new additions represent several fields of study and include a fantastic multidisciplinary video collection. 

All recently added databases are currently highlighted on our Databases A-Z page, just look for the New/Trial Databases box on the right-hand side.

Looking for a way to improve your searching in the library databases? Take a look at the subject-specific thesaurus located within the databases to find a list of terms related to your topic. Use this database thesaurus option to brainstorm keywords related to your topic and build better subject searches.

For example, Business Source Complete is a business-specific subject database and its thesaurus includes subject terms in the business field. Subject terms are created by the database vendors using article content. Therefore, you can use the subject terms found in the thesaurus to create targeted searches on terms you want to find in research articles.

If you are unsure of what term to use when creating a search, use the database thesaurus to help you find subject terms related to the topic you are searching. Then create a search using these terms and limit to the “subject” or “subject term” field. When using the thesaurus, you are able to search for terms and add Boolean terms (AND, OR, NOT) to create a search directly from the thesaurus.

Next time you are stuck on a search, use the thesaurus inside the databases to help you brainstorm and create more targeted searches using terms and language found within the articles of that database.

Want more direction using this the thesaurus tool? Check out the following:

EBSCO Thesaurus Search Tips

ProQuest Thesaurus Search Tips  

If you are a doctoral student who is struggling with research, information literacy, or any other library-related skill,you can make an appointment with a librarian to get assistance. Select Doctoral Research Appointment on our Ask a Librarian page to make an appointment with a librarian in your subject area.

Is there a library topic that has you confused? Or an assignment that requires intense and in-depth research? Perhaps there's a resource that is confusing to navigate? Please provide us with some suggestions for topics you'd like to see us cover.

Housed in the Brooklyn Art Library, The Sketchbook Project is a crowd-sourced library that contains sketchbooks contributed by people from around the world. The project got its start in Atlanta, Georgia in 2006 and moved to New York City in 2009. You can view sketchbooks at the Brooklyn Art Library, online in their digital library or catch their mobile library tour.

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

Meet Emily Adams!

1. What is your job at the library?
   
   I am a reference and instruction librarian. Which means I get to answer student questions and teach them how to use the Walden Library.
    
2. What do you like the most about working at the Walden Library?
   
   I really enjoy presenting webinars where I get to teach students all the ins and outs of using the Library.
    
3. What book or series are you reading now?
   
   I am currently reading the 5th book in the Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series by Brandon Sanderson. These are fabulous adventure stories where evil librarians have taken over most of the known world. In the latest book, Alcatraz has to infiltrate the Library of Congress to save his best friend. So much fun!
    
4. What do you like to do in your free time?
   
   I’m almost five months pregnant, so at this point, I take a nap whenever possible! I’m also working on a baby quilt for the little one. And, of course, I read whenever I have a free moment and can keep my eyes open.
    
5. Anything else we should know about you?
   
   I love rhinos! Especially baby rhinos – they’re just so funny looking that they’re adorable! Someday, I’d like to travel to Africa to see a rhino in the wild, but I’ll have to overcome my fear of being eaten by a crocodile first.

If you want more Library content during those long stretches between newsletters, you can catch up with us on social media!

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

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