Off The Shelf

For those of you who just can’t get enough about libraries here is something more for your reading pleasure….

The Guardian newspaper in the UK recently published a special section on Academic Libraries.

“The Google Generation Report… found young people lacking in critical and analytical skills. Libraries are well placed to serve their needs as library staff become enablers assisting with online research and information literacy. We examine the migration of resources and services to the web, which is freeing up libraries to take on new roles such as providing venues for exhibitions and conferences and promoting e-learning, social networking and study support.”

• Academia’s big guns fight ‘Google effect’
  Academic search engines may be more discriminating than their commercial counterparts, but they often lack user-friendliness.
• No paper required
  Despite initially being sneered at, the e-book is gaining popularity. Is this the dawn of the bookless library?
• Meet the ‘information brokers’
  A combination of new technology and shifting student expectations is radically altering the job of the librarian. What do librarians themselves see as their role in the new digital era?

-KateP

While at the Atlanta colloquium, I was asked the same question over and over:  How do I find a research article that uses a specific methodology? 

There are many types of methodology terms you may run into: qualitative, quantitative, case study, mixed method, phenomenological, action research, content analysis, etc.  The list goes on and on, and will depend on the school and specialization you are in.  Knowing the methodology terms in your field is the first step (look at your textbooks or articles you’ve already read for help with this step).

Next you’ll go into the library databases and use a methodology term to search.  Most authors will mention the methodology they are using in the abstract of the article.   Because searching by methodology will greatly reduce your search results, you may need to search a broader topic.

Here’s an example of a search in SocINDEX for case study research articles about juvenile delinquency:

Why search by a specific methodology?  By looking at research articles that use a particular methodology you can learn a lot about your field.  What types of research are common?  What types of methodology are appropriate for a specific research question?  How do you construct a research study?  What methodologies should you consider for your dissertation research?

For more help finding articles using specific methodologies, you can look at our library guides Search by Methodology: Qualitative, Quantitative or Search by Methodology: Case Study.

 Or you can always Ask a Librarian.

- Erin

My colleague Erika and I have been out of the office for the past couple days presenting at the Off-Campus Library Services Conference in Salt Lake City, UT. Since I am based in Minneapolis I was looking forward to some warmer weather, but unfortunately it has been overcast and rainy. However the beautiful mountains around Salt Lake City more than make up for the lack of sun (beautiful mountains always tend to impress us from the “flat” Midwest).

Conferences are such a great way to find out about new ideas and share what you are doing with others. One of the presentations I attended today was on Web 2.0.

Not sure what Web 2.0 is and how it can help you in your coursework check out the following links on the Library’s Guides & Tutorials page:

• Cool Tools (brief overviews of Web 2.0 tools such as Assignment Calculators, RSS, Social Bookmarking, Wikis and more!)
• Enhancing Library Research Skills with New Technolgies (this is a presentation you may want to check out at your next Colloquium)

What is your favorite Web 2.0 tool?

Robin

I just read about a program to bring the Library via “vending machine” to commuter stops in San Francisco.

“The Contra Costa County Library is proud to be the first in the nation to offer the public book lending machines under a new program called Library-a-Go-Go.”

“A new program called Library-a-Go-Go, along with the Contra Costa County Library, will allow BART riders to simply swipe a card, select a book, wait for said book choice to drop, and then return the book after the rider is finished reading their literary gem. The machines will “hold around 400 popular and best-selling titles, both fiction and nonfiction, and will be accessible during Bart hours.”

Here is a picture from Sweden of one of the machines:

I wish that were at my bus stop!

-KateP

A twelve (12) hour maintenance window will take place to install three new platform enhancements. The window will begin Saturday, April 26, 2008, at 22:00 EDT to Sunday, April 27, 2008 at 10:00 EDT. Some ProQuest products will not be available during this maintenance window.

-KateP

We have added new guides to our Guides & Tutorials page. Enjoy!

New Guides:
Search by Methodology: Case Study (PDF)
Finding Related Articles (Based on the Articles You Already Have) (PDF)

Updated Guides:
We have added ebooks on research methodologies to Search by Methodology: Qualitative, Quantitative (PDF)

Do you have a suggestion for a guide you would like to see? Please add it as a comment or email librarian@capella.edu. Thank you!

-KateP

Today is both the first day of the Atlanta Colloquium and the last day of National Library Week.  One of the things we Capella Librarians do is answer reference questions.  We only get to answer those questions face-to-face here at colloquia.

In celebration of National Library Week, the American Libraries Association has put up a funny video about questions at a traditional academic reference desk.  And those librarians answered a lot of questions: 72.8 million of them!  Your Capella librarians answered thousands of questions last year; from “how do I use the library?” to “can you help me find a dissertation about juvenile delinquency using phenomenological methodology?”  And everything in between.

So, if you have a question about your research, give us a call or email (or make an appointment at colloquium).

-Erin

PsycBOOKS added the following titles to its coverage list in March 2008. Of the titles added, 2 were APA books and 6 were designated classic books.  Classic books are landmark titles in psychology and are selected by APA experts.

APA Books

• A history of psychology in autobiography, Vol. IX, © 2007, by Lindzey, Gardner (Ed); Runyan, William M. (Ed)
• The wisdom of coaching: Essential papers in consulting psychology for a world of change, © 2007, by Kilburg, Richard R. (Ed); Diedrich, Richard C. (Ed)

Classic Books

• The acquisition of word meanings: A developmental study, ©1952, by Werner, Heinz; Kaplan, Edith
• The criminal, the judge, and the public: A psychological analysis, © 1931, by Alexander, Franz; Staub, Hugo; Zilboorg, Gregory (Trans)
• The insanity of genius and the general inequality of human faculty physiologically considered (6th ed.), ©1912, by Nisbet, J. F.
• Marriage and heredity: A view of psychological evolution, © 1889, by Nisbet, J. F.
• The measurement of attitude: A psychophysical method and some experiments with a scale for measuring attitude toward the Church, ©1929, by Thurstone, L. L.; Chave, E. J.
• Movement and mental imagery: Outlines of a motor theory of the complexer mental processes, © 1916, by Washburn, Margaret Floy 

Note: To read any of these ebook go to the Databases A-Z page. Scroll down to PsycBOOKS and type in the title

– Erika

Back in February, Kate posted some useful links to election resources on the web. Here’s another great resource from the Lexis Nexis database in our library. They have a special Campaign 2008 search, which will let you quickly search for news articles, blogs and transcripts relating to the current campaign season.

Find out what the candidates are saying this week about the issues that matter to you, look back to what they said six months ago, or just take an opportunity to try out the massive Lexis Nexis database.

- Erin

Did you know that you can get the latest issue of a journal or magazine (i.e. The Chronicle of Higher Education, Business Week, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, etc.) sent right to your email inbox? Set up a Journal Alert or Table of Contents Alert using the Library databases. The email will contain a list of the articles in the newest issue and with links to the abstract and full text if available in the Library.

How do I do this? Use our Setting Up Journal or Search Alerts Guide.

Ask a Librarian with questions.

-KateP