Off The Shelf

Google Scholar recently changed their user interface.  This affects both how how you hook the Capella Library up to Google Scholar and how you refine your searches in it. First things, first:  The library’s Google Scholar guide has been updated with the new directions to hook it up to the library.  If you’ve already connected [...]

The National Academies Press offers many of its PDF books and all of its PDF reports for free.   With reports and books available on health, medicine, engineering and more, you may just find the information you’ve been needing.  You can also check out one of the specific academies or  institutes to focus on the  [...]

There are a few more days of break before Summer Quarter starts on July 11th.  Why not do some reading for fun at the World eBook Fair?   Once again, this website is making over 6.5 million ebooks freely available until August 4th, including classics, popular fiction and academic works.   Many of them can be downloaded, so you [...]

Many people know that there are certain shortcuts you can use on your keyboard to make your computing life just a little bit easier, but not everyone knows all of them.  Here is a sampling of some of the most commonly needed and/or used. Please note that most of these shortcuts work on PCs by [...]

When doing market research in government websites, there are a couple of code systems that you should keep in mind.  First, the federal government devised the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system in the 1930’s, which divides industries into 11 major categories.  The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), also used in Canada and in Mexico, [...]

There are a few more days of break before Summer Quarter starts on July 12th.  Why not do some reading for fun at the World eBook Fair?  There are over 3.5 million ebooks that are freely available until August 4th, including classics, popular fiction and academic works. Of course, many of these books will only [...]

National Library Week runs April 11-17, so go ahead and take the opportunity to get to know your libraries better. This year’s theme is “Communities thrive @ your library” and many public libraries will be holding special events to celebrate.  If you’re not sure where your nearest public library is located, you can go to [...]

One of my favorite places to get the “scoop” on a new technology is EDUCAUSE. What is EDUCAUSE?       EDUCAUSE is a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. The EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative’s (ELI’s) 7 Things You Should Know About… series provides concise information on emerging learning [...]

You may have used the ebook database, ebrary, through our library before.  Now, ebrary has released two publicly available databases that will have special interest for learners in the School of Public Service Leadership. The first, the Natural Disaster and Extreme Weather Searchable Information Center,  includes  ”hundreds of important government documents related to natural disasters [...]

If you’ve ever asked a librarian about research on the internet, you’ve probably heard that you should be careful about the information you find. Most internet sites lack editors and fact checkers (that’s YOUR job), so there are many factual errors and inconsistencies that can creep in. That’s compounded by the fact that many websites [...]