Off The Shelf

Most of us “bookmark” our favorite Web Sites.  While Web browsers allow you to organize bookmarks into folders on your personal computer,  Social Bookmarking works a bit differently. First,  your Social Bookmarking account is web-based  so you can access your bookmarks from any location with Internet Access.  It also allows you to create  folders or categories  to organize your bookmarks. You can put bookmarks into multiple categories. Lastly,  you can see the bookmarks of others who have also bookmarked your favorite sites and get new ideas for Web sites to visit. To start using social bookmarking you would sign up for a free account, similar to your email account.

Here is a list of  providers to choose from:

Top 20 Most Popular Social Bookmarking Web Sites

Want to see Social Bookmarking in action? Check out this brief overview video produced by Commoncraft:

Social Bookmarking in Plain English

Here is link a list of bookmarks  I have started of  organizations and resources for learners in the School of Education:

http://delicious.com/edresources

Any questions on Social Bookmarking? Ask a Librarian

Robin

Week Four is a great time to start planning those big end-of-the-quarter projects!  With work and multiple classes, how can you possibly reserve enough time to write a good 20 page paper?

Well, the Capella Library’s Assignment Calculator helps you figure out exactly how much time to reserve for each step of the research process.

Here’s how to use it:

1. Go to Assignment Calculator on the Library’s Guides and Tutorials page.

2. Type in your assignment’s due date.

3.  Write down the individual steps in your planner.

4. Use the linked resources as needed to help you complete each step.

– Erika

I was using my RefWorks account today when I discovered the following advertisement announcing that RefWorks “is now on Facebook & Twitter!”

I have been avoiding setting up a Twitter account, but decided it was time to take a look at how it might be useful to me in a professional capacity. It turns out they “tweet” many useful pieces of information, such as announcements of their upcoming webinars for learning how to use various functions and features of RefWorks, as well as links to interesting articles and related information.

They post the same information on their Facebook account as status updates so you don’t have to do both if you prefer one application over the other. If you’re interested in checking out what RefWorks is up to in the Social Networking realm, then check out this website: Can’t Get Enough of RefWorks?

-Sommer

Hi All -

I am at the Phoenix PhD Colloquium this week and a learner asked me for some suggestions on setting up a naming system for her folders in RefWorks. One of the first ways that comes to mind is to create folders by a course number or name of the assignment,  and also by subject .  You can then put on article in multiple folders. That way you have your articles organized for your coursework and also by subject for when you work on your comprehensive exams and dissertations. 

What is nice about RefWorks is that you don’t need to come up with the perfect system to start.  RefWorks has very sophisticated ways to search for articles under the Search menu at the top of the RefWorks page. You can search by topic, author, journal title and many other options. So even if you only remember a few details about an article you can locate it. You can also always create, rename or delete folders using the Organize Folders link under the Folders menu in RefWorks.

If you have further questions on setting up folders or using the search function in RefWorks check the handouts RefWorks Basic Features  and RefWorks Advanced Features. Or Ask-a-Libarian.

What is your strategy for naming your folders in RefWorks?

Robin

Did you know that 14% of Capella learners are part of the military? Whether active duty, veterans, reservists, or Department of Defense/Uniformed Services personnel, the military makes up a large percentage of the learners we serve.

Maybe you’re one of them. Maybe you’re a family member or friend. Maybe you’re simply interested in researching about this select group of individuals and the myriad of resources available to them and others connected to or affected by military life.

Here are a few guides and resources compiled by librarians at other institutions you may find informative and useful. In particular, each guide includes links to some wonderful web resources that provide services and information to military personnel.

• http://www.ulib.iupui.edu/subjectareas/milsci (by Kathleen Hanna at IUPUI)

• http://people.sfcollege.edu/diana.matthews/subjguide/veterans.htm (by Diana Matthews at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, FL)

• http://nnlm.gov/training/veteranshealth/webresources.pdf (compiled by Terri Ottosen at the U of Maryland Health Sciences and Human Services Library)

• http://www.wo.ala.org/veteransinfo/index.php?title=Main_Page (American Library Association’s – Veterans Information @ Your Library site)

• http://www.loc.gov/vets/ (Library of Congress Veterans History Project)

Beyond these resources, Capella also has an Armed Forces Department that supports all military and veteran learners. Visit their site on iGuide to find contact information for the Armed Forces and Veteran Support staff, as well as information about VA Resources, Tuition Assistance, Military Scholarships, and Career Resources just to name a few things.

To navigate to their website go to iGuide – click Learner Services – click Armed Forces Support — click Armed Forces Support Home.

–Jennie