Friday, June 24, 2011

Embedded Librarians Want To Collaborate with You in Fall 2011!

The on-going Embedded Librarian Program is entering its 6th semester. It is an online solution to improving students’ research assignment outcomes. Last spring 2011, 15 instructors teaching 32 sections to more than 630 students in 100 to 400 level courses in ATH, BIS, CHM, CSE, ENG, HST, MUS, NSG, and PSY collaborated with an embedded librarian.

Would you like the Gardner-Harvey Library to deliver information literacy resources and skills to your Niihka course(s) to strengthen your students’ course-related research efforts?

Email Beth Tumbleson (tumbleb@muohio.edu) if interested. Preferably before August 8, 2011!

Name:

Course(s):

Description of Research Assignment(s):

This starts a conversation that leads to your embedded librarian designing customized content within your Niihka courses to the extent you designate:

· with a start-up research guide

· assistance during the research project period

· research service throughout the semester

We are prepared to:

· explain the research process in plain English

· identify tools to simplify tasks such as managing time, narrowing topics, identifying search terms, citing sources

· suggest a few relevant research databases from among the hundreds Miami University Libraries offers

· save you time. How? As publishers continue to upgrade their electronic resources’ content and interfaces, librarians stay current by attending webinars and reading the professional literature. Then you may focus on developments in your discipline.

Whether you teach online, hybrid, or traditional courses – lower or upper division courses, consider requesting the embedded librarian service for your students this Fall 2011.

Embedded librarians are already building content in Niihka, creating screencasts, and building subject specific LibGuides for the LMS.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

GHL Closing at 6pm

The library will change its evening closing hour (Monday through Thursday) to 6:00pm. We will continue to open at 8:00am from Monday through Friday, and to close at 5:00pm on Friday.

The new hours will start on July 5th and last through August 5th, when the library begins its Monday-Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm schedule prior to the start of classes.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Summer Pages

At Miami University Summer 2011 is a time for thinking and tinkering.

Technology is the steamroller that moves us to change, painful as it may be. Yes there is help to be had, but there is also the need to own up to the job of overhauling your Blackboard course content into the new, improved Niihka. Of course you can do this! You are bold and brave and persevering!

Then there's the thinking part. This is code for reading. Summer's pace slows and there is time to sit, read, and reflect deeply. This launches tinkering with course content as well as new conversations and commitments.

What's on your book shelf? Here are a few titles on mine.

Okay for Now
. Gary D. Schmidt is an English Professor, Newberry Honor winning author, and observer of the human condition, especially in classroom settings. In this 2011 novel, 8th grader Doug is dealing with cruel forces and creative, caring individuals. Why did you become an educator? Read and remember the transformative pain. Yes YA literature matters. Schmidt mixes humor, art (James Audubon) and literature (public libraries) into small town life in upstate New York during the sixties.

Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life
. Karen Armstrong is a big picture person who writes about the place world religions and spiritual practices have held in our lives throughout the centuries. Beliefs drive behavior. So how do you get close to people in your world or classroom who are so very different from yourself? Compassion.

The Heart of Higher Education a Call to Renewal: Transforming the Academy through Collegial Conversation. Parker J. Palmer & Arthur Zajonc believe in the value of experiential learning, lingering conversations, and crossing boundaries in the university. When spirituality matters to so many undergraduates, how can academics address such issues of meaning, purpose, and value within their disciplines? Academics who connect with the inner life over and above facts and information, shape lives and motivate students to stay the course and create solutions.

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

Citation Help

Confused on how to use parenthetical references or how to create a Works Cited page? Are you unsure what the difference is between MLA and APA styles? The library can help. Check out our new and improved Citing Sources page. With a comparison chart for finding the best citation tool to suit your needs, useful how-to guides, and links to citing sources in different databases, it is a one stop shop for all your citation needs.