Twilight and Workshop reminders

Just a reminder that we’ll be discussing the book Twilight on Tuesday, at 1pm, in N113b on the Signal Peak campus! 

For those who are new to book discussions, we’ll simply be having an informal chat about the book , which means you’re welcome to bring your lunch and/or show up after 1pm if you can’t make it when we start.  We hope to see you there!

Don’t forget that we also have workshops taking place this week!  Here’s what we have taking place:

Tuesday (3/31) 11am
Thinking Critically
Instructor: Nancy
Location: Signal Peak Campus Library
It’s becoming more and more important to think critically about the world around us.  We’ll explain to students why information providers of all types try to persuade us, the techniques they use and how to identify them, and which information sources you can reliably use.  The use of language, statistics, and logic are just a few of the areas we will examine.

Thursday (4/2) 3pm
How to Use: Online Journal Articles and Electronic Book Databasees
Instructor: McKay
Location: Signal Peak Campus Library
Learn how to effectively use the various online information resources that are available through the library.  Students will learn about the types of information that can be found within library resources, and how to perform different types of searches for information, and how to save and print articles.

Post spring break workshops

We’re easing back into our routine by offering two workshops this week.  Don’t forget that the wiki workshop will take place in room O109!

Tuesday (3/24) 11am
Evaluating Online Resources
Instructor: McKay
Location: Signal Peak Campus Library
Gain an understanding of the differences between the information they find using library subscription databases and websites found through an internet search engine.  Then, using five standard evaluative criteria, learn how to determine if the websites you find are credible and accurate.

Wednesday (3/11) 3pm
Collaborating with Others
Instructor: Nancy
Location: O Building, Room 109
A wiki is more than Wikipedia – it’s a way to collaborate with others online.  Attend this workshop to find out what a wiki is, how it got its funny name, and how you can create your own wiki.   You’ll also learn about RSS feeds and how you can use them to subscribe to wikis and other sites that use feeds.

Library closed for Spring Break

Just a reminder that the all three campus libraries will be closed for Spring Break between March 14th and March 22nd.

We’ll return rested and ready to help you with your research on Monday, March 23rd.

Enjoy your time off!

Texting is back! And workshops!

We cleared up our technical difficulties and are thrilled to have our texting service back up and running!

We also have workshops this week.  Here’s what we’ve got:

Tuesday (3/10) 11am
Research Strategies 101
Instructor: McKay
Location: Signal Peak Campus Library
In this workshop we’ll explore how to break a student’s thesis statement into search concepts that they can then string together into an advanced research strategy.  Students will learn how and when to use “AND” and “OR” to narrow and broaden their searches, how to effectively use wildcard functions, and critically evaluate the information that they find to determine if it effectively addresses their research question.

Wednesday (3/11) 11am
Intro to Reference Resources
Instructor: Nancy
Location: Signal Peak Campus Library
This hands-on workshop is a basic introduction to the various types of library reference resources that are available to students, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and general reference works in online and print formats.

Some texting technical difficulties

We’re having some technical difficulties with our texting service.  We apologize if you’ve tried texting over the last couple of days and haven’t heard from us!  While we work out the issues, you can use one of our other ways of getting a hold of us.  We’ll let you know once we’re back up and texting!

Wrestling with citations?

We know that you know that you can always come to the library and get help with your citations.  But in case you’re one of those types who likes to know about helpful resources that are online, we thought we’d mention Purdue University’s OWL website.  The site’s a great resource for both MLA and APA citations. 

For either citation style, you’ll start out by getting some basic formatting info (page margins, font size, etc.).  Scroll down and you’ll find links to sections on in-text citations and how to cite all kinds of resources – books to websites to database articles.

We know that most of you would never want to replace a helpful librarian with an unfeeling website, but isn’t it nice to know that extra help is out there?

Workshops for this week

Here’s what we’ve got for you this week:

Tuesday (3/3) 11am
How to Use: Online Journal Articles and Electronic Book databases
Instructor: Scott
Location: Signal Peak Campus Library
Learn how to effectively use the various online information resources that are available through the library.  Students will learn about the types of information that can be found within library resources, and how to perform different types of searches for information, locate and save and print articles.  We’ll cover the Onefile article database and Gale Virtual Reference Library for eBooks.

Thursday (3/5) 3pm
Citing Sources
Instructor: McKay
Location: Signal Peak Campus Library
Students often have difficulty understanding why and when they need to cite their sources.  This workshop will help them understand the importance of citations and how to follow the MLA and APA citation styles.