The Inside Cover

Faculty and Staff Edition of Library Newsletter

 December 2007

Volume 1, Number 4

‘Tis the season to be @ your library

Whether your students are finishing up papers, figuring out how to cite a source, studying for finals, or just trying to get motivated to do anything, tell them it is time to be at the library.

It’s also time to read The Inside Cover with news just for you. Be sure to scroll to the bottom to read the Finals Week poem written by your own Pulitzer Prize-waiting author, Sarah Kaip.

--The Library Staff

Singing in the rain

Sarah Kaip, reference librarian and native Oregonian, is carrying a new tune all the way to rainy Olympia, Washington, where she accepted a librarian position at South Puget Sound Community College.  Says Sarah of leaving: “It’s been pure bliss working as your librarian. There’s not a soul in sight that I didn’t enjoy getting to know—everyone from the peppermint-chomping horses to the ubiquitous squirrels to the top dogs in admin, but especially the students, faculty, and staff.”

Sarah’s last day is December 21. Going-away gifts of raincoats and umbrellas will be gladly accepted.

WRAC committee highlights

The Writing and Research Across the Curriculum Committee met on November 8. Present were: Edie McClellan, Judith Hatchett, Anna Senter, Cathy Reilender, and Sarah Kaip. Below is a summary of the minutes:

      Judith Hatchett discussed a grading rubric she uses for students’ writing that clearly defines A, B, C, D, and F work. This rubric is useful for students because they know exactly why they received a certain grade. It’s useful for faculty because students are less likely to argue their grade. If you’d like a copy of the rubric, please visit the faculty resource office in the library (the office next to Cathy’s).

      The committee also discussed the results of the recent faculty survey on library resources, services, and information literacy. (Find November’s newsletter from the library’s homepage to see a summary of the results). In response to the survey, next spring the library will offer a faculty workshop on how to identify plagiarized work and how to help students avoid it.

      Sarah discussed the latest book she read—Teaching information literacy: 35 practical standards-based exercises fro college students. Sarah will select certain exercises appropriate to Midway College and send them to faculty through email in December. They will also be stocked in the faculty resource office next to Cathy’s office. All of these exercises can be completed outside of class. See article below for more information.

The committee’s next meeting will be in January.

Database spotlight:  ATHENA

It’s as mighty as a Trojan warrior with the allure of a Greek goddess—it’s your online library catalog!

http://midway.kyvl.org/

Athena is used to find books, videos, CDs, reserves, and to find out which journals we subscribe to. It does NOT contain articles. Quick search tips:

• use quotes to search phrases: "world wide web"
• use + to mark essential terms: new world +explorer
• use * to mark important terms: *internet basics
• use ? to truncate: browser? will bring up “browser” and “browsers”

You can learn more about how to search Athena in the “Finding books” module of the MILTON online tutorial.  http://eagles.midway.edu/library/MILTON/Welcome%20Module%206.htm

It doesn’t even take class time

Information literacy without sacrificing class time… what more could you ask for? Sarah has designed several SHORT, creative exercises that can be completed outside of class to teach your students about research and library resources. These will be sent to your email in December, as well as stocked in the faculty resource office. Each exercise takes about 10-20 minutes, 30 at the most.

If you think you might use these, you will want to save them to your computer so that you can tailor the examples to your subject content. The exercises include:

      Thinking about information

      The quality of information

      Using subject encyclopedias

      Creating a research question

      Sources outside the library

      Search terms worksheet

      Popular, trade, and peer-reviewed publications

      Library catalog

      Database discovery

      Writing a citation (this is not about citing sources)

      Fix this bibliography (this one IS)

      Evaluating websites

      Rights of authors; responsibilities of researchers

Now there’s no excuse for information illiteracy.

New library homepage

A thriving library with a boring website is no match. So, Sarah created a new library homepage going live in mid-December.  A whole new look with new resources and links.

How to site a cite

Looks like our headline got your attention. If your students’ bibliographies resemble an academic junk yard, and they’re siting cites incorrectly, or citing sites just as badly, they might benefit from visiting one of two excellent websights. J

1)  http://library.osu.edu/sites/guides/  from Ohio State University, scroll down to the middle of the screen. You’ll see a heading for “Citation Style Guides” with links to APA, MLA, CBE, Turabian, and Chicago.  In addition, at http://liblearn.osu.edu/tutor/les7/guide.html students can learn how to cite Net sources, including websites, electronic articles, blog entries, emails, and message boards (hopefully they’re not using those last 3 in great numbers).

2) http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/  Highlighted in the last newsletter as an online writing center, if you click on “Research and Citation” on the right side of the screen, it will open several links. Look for “APA” and “MLA.”

What is a webliography?

The faculty survey last month revealed that many faculty are unfamiliar with webliographies. A webliography is an annotated bibliography on the Web of selected websites pertaining to a particular subject.

There you have it, and we have it too at http://eagles.midway.edu/library/subjectguides.htm .

The equine, education, humanities, and psychology webliographies were updated in November thanks to Carrie Lewis and Cathy Reilender. The business and nursing webliographies were updated in October. Science, critical thinking, and reference resources will be updated in December.

Book exchange

Holiday break is a time to clear the air and clear the shelves. Come back from break with an armful of your hopefully-already-read books for our library book exchange. We’ll take fiction, fiction, and more fiction. Feel free to pick one up for your holiday break as well.

Finals week poem for faculty and staff

“Twas the week before finals,

When all through the library

Students were studying

Using methods that vary;

Finishing up projects

Was first on the list

Before they settled down

With finals in their midst.

Most were sleepy

But none went to bed,

While visions of A’s

Danced in their heads.

Cell phones were ringing

And music was heard,

Still they kept reading

For every last word.

The books were shelved

On the 2^nd floor with care,

In hopes that students

Would one day find them there.

Citation style guides

Are what students wanted;

‘Cause threats of deductions

Continuously haunted.

Google’s the choice

For researching courses

But the librarian says,

“Find scholarly sources.”

Peer-reviewed journals

Are what instructors want

Searching EBSCO databases

Is the most promising jaunt.

With Cathy in her office

And I in my space,

We’d just helped a student

Use a database,

When out of the lab

There rose such a chatter,

I sprang to my feet

To see what was the matter.

Away from my office

I flew like a flash,

Just as I thought,

A computer had crashed.

Printing, copying, email, fax,

Helping patrons to simply relax.

Papers are due

And exams are near

But with library services

There’s nothing to fear.

To the instructors I say,

“You are the best.

Happy holidays to all,

And to all a good rest.”

Helpful handouts available from the library…

Email Sarah or visit the library to get a copy of any of these handouts:

• Overview of library resources and services
• Avoiding plagiarism handout
• 100 unique research topics
• Database search tips
• Google in-depth search tips
• EBSCO databases handout
• Research project checklist
• APA, MLA, and CBE handouts
• Overview of CINAHL—nursing database
• Nursing resources overview – books, articles, websites
• Information literacy exercises – (see article above for a list)