UHD Library Blog

Writing and Citing Time - Know the best way to finish off that paper.

I'm sure many students are busy writing papers this time of the term.  With paper writing comes the citation and works cited pages at the end of those papers.  The library has tools and resources to help you with those citations on the Citing Sources page. 

Paper-writing involves much more than doing citations, so, although that popular section is worth a visit the citing & writing section also includes Research and Writing Tips.  Librarians try to link UHD students to valuable, high-quality web resources on these topics.

The library also has several research guides on citing and writing topics such as plagiarism, legal citations, grammar and more.  We also have guides on two of the more common used citations styles.  APA and MLA.  The guides have citation examples by material type, sample References/Works Cited pages, and other helpful information. Need more citation help? Ask a librarian! We'll point you in the right direction.

Peer-Reviewed or Scholarly Journals, what is that anyway?

Your professor wants you to write a paper using sources from scholarly journals. What does that mean? Why does it matter? And how do you find such things?

Scholarly journals are specialized publications that feature original research or analysis written by experts. Most scholarly journals are peer-reviewed or refereed -- that means every article is reviewed by a panel of experts before it is accepted for publication. Your professor wants you to use scholarly journals because they are considered the most accurate and reliable sources for university-level work.  

How do you find scholarly journals?  Start with the Databases & Articles section of the library website. When choosing a database, read the description to find out if the database covers journals. Once you choose a database, look for a "scholarly journals" option on the search page. Most databases have this option. Choose the "scholarly journals" option to limit your search. 

To find out more about scholarly or peer reviewed journals and how they differ from popular magazines or trade journals, check out the Peer-Review or Scholarly Journals page. 

Plagiarism - Avoid it.

When writing a research paper, you will need to incorporate other people’s statements and ideas into your writing, in order to provide expert support for your ideas.  When you do this, you will need to make it clear to a reader where you found these statements and ideas, whether in a book, an article, on the internet, in a film, by talking to someone personally, or through any other means.  This shows a reader that you did your research, and also allows her to find that same information if it interests her.

Plagiarism is when you use the work or ideas of someone else in your own work without giving credit to the original source. Sometimes people intentionally cheat by trying to pass a paper as their own work, but, very often, plagiarism happens by accident.

Regardless of the intention, plagiarism can have serious consequences. The UHD Student Handbook includes an Academic Honesty Policy (PS 03.A.19) with a definition of plagiarism and procedures for faculty to follow when they suspect a student may have plagiarized or cheated on a paper. Penalties for plagiarism can include a failing grade (F) for a course.

The UHD library has a research guide all about plagiarism, understanding it and avoiding it.  Take a look at it for more information or help.  You can also take a look at the Academic Honesty web page. 

 

Library Publishes Research Guide on Journal Quality Evaluation

Faculty and students frequently ask librarians "How can I tell if this is a high-quality journal?" The tools to help you answer that question are now listed in the new Journal Quality Evaluation research guide.

This guide provides tips and resources for evaluating journal quality for research and publication purposes. It includes coverage of open access journals.

A particular publishing peril in recent years is the advent of many "open access" journals with publishing fees that purport to have genuine peer review, yet their contents seem to belie that. Besides examining the articles in fields with which one is familiar, how can quality be determined? There are no "hard and fast" rules that allow one to determine whether a journal is of low quality. The Journal Quality Evaluation guide lists factors to help you examine this question.

So, whether you're assessing a journal as a research source or are interested in publishing in it, take a look at this guide. Feedback about it is appreciated -- see the Provide Feedback box on the guide.

Chronicle of Higher Education Now Available Online to UHD

The UHD Library is very pleased to announce that the Chronicle of Higher Education is now available online in full to all current students, faculty, and staff. The Library has subscribed to this premier higher education news source on a university-wide basis so that all UHD community members can access the full content without having to have individual or departmental subscriptions.

The "C" title list of the Library's A to Z database list provides access to the Library's subscription. If you are located at UHD's One Main downtown campus while accessing the Chronicle through this link, you should be able to see all content, including premium items.

If you use the link while anywhere other than the One Main campus, and you are a currently-affliliated UHD user, you will be redirected to log in to student e-services.

To make comments on the site and request emailed newsletters, you will still create an individual free account with the Chronicle through its site. This is something you can do without a subscription.

Authorized users who encounter problems with accessing the full content of the Chronicle via a UHD Library Web site link should contact the Library through Ask-a-Librarian.

Free access to the Scientific American 1845-1909 digital archive

"Nature Publishing Group announced the complete digitization of Scientific American, the longest continually published magazine in the U.S. The archive, extending from Vol. 1, Issue 1, is available at www.nature.com/scientificamerican/archive. The last segment of the digitized archive encompassed the inaugural issue in August 1845 through December 1909. To celebrate the completion of the archive, the 1845-1909 archive collection will be free to all to access from Nov. 1-30, 2011." 

Source: http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/Digest/emScientific-Americanem-Archive-Digitized-From--78698.asp

New Amazon eBook format aims to improve digital publications

From the article:

Kindle Format 8 (KF8) ... will replace Mobi 7. ... gone are the days of the black and white ebook. 

KF8, which will roll out to Amazon’s latest generation e-readers and reading apps in the next few months, provides publishers the ability to develop digital publications that require rich formatting and design functionality. The file format will be an ideal fit for children’s books, comics and graphic novels, cookbooks and even technical and engineering books. 

See the full article from website magazine.

Scholarship Information Guide Available

Having trouble meeting rising tuition costs? Check local, state, and national resources to find scholarship opportunities through the library research guide on Grants and Financial Aid .

This UHD research guide includes sections on student financial aid, education grants, research grants, business grants, and grant-writing. You will be guided to high-quality Web resources as well as library materials.

Make your search easier -- start at the Library!

Library service during the Winter Online Term

As we approach UHD’s first ever Winter Online Term, we at the library would like to address some questions that you may have about library service during this time.

 

Will the library be open during the Winter Online Term?

The library will have shortened operating hours December 18^th-23^rd and January 3^rd-16^th.

Winter hours are as follows:

DAY	OPEN	CLOSE
Monday	8 AM	5 PM
Tuesday	8 AM	5 PM
Wednesday	8 AM	5PM
Thursday	8 AM	5 PM
Friday	8 AM	5 PM
Saturday	CLOSED
Sunday	CLOSED

The library will be closed from December 24^th-January 2^nd.  However, we will be monitoring the library’s email Ask-a-Librarian reference service December 27^th-31^st from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. Questions regarding placing items on reserve or interlibrary loans may not be resolved until the library reopens on January 3^rd.

Email reference questions can be submitted by filling out this form:

http://www.uhd.edu/library/forms/askform.html

 

Can I put items on e-reserve for my students?

Yes!  The normal rules and procedures for placing items on reserve apply.  Information about course reserves can be located here:

http://www.uhd.edu/library/about/reserves.html

To ensure your students have access to course reserve material on the first day of class, we ask that all items be submitted by December 20^th.  Please be aware library reserves staff will not be available the first week of class (Dec 27-31) to add items to the reserves modules which were submitted late.

Items submitted after this date will not be processed until after the library reopens on January 3rd.

 

I’ve never taught an online class and I’m not sure where to find information

You may want to look at the Library’s Online Instruction FAQ’s page: http://www.uhd.edu/library/about/onlineinstructionfaq.html

The Library Online Instruction FAQ’s page will provide you with contact information, information about online resources, and a wide range of other useful information to help make your online course a success.  In addition, the Library is creating general subject guides for all courses offered during the Winter Online Term.  Your subject guide will be available here by December 18: http://library.uhd.edu/.

Adding the subject guide URL to your Blackboard course will greatly assist your students in their research.

Please contact the library with any questions you may have about library service during the Winter Online Term. 

Have a great Winter Term!

New Library Services for Fall 2010

Welcome new and returning UHD students and faculty. Your library staff has been working over the summer to add new services we think you'll find both helpful and useful.

LibSearch: "Everything Under One Search Box"

Use this new searching tool to find research materials (books, articles, journals, video, and more) all in one place. Start by entering keywords for your topic or area of interest. Your should see a list of results almost immediately. Use the check boxes on the left side of the results list to narrow down to just the materials you want.

LibSearch finds items (books, DVDs, e-books) in the library catalog as well as full-text electronic items (journal articles, newspaper articles, theses, video) in other library databases. You can start finding material right away without having to choose a database or switch between the library catalog and databases. Of course, if you want to use a specific database you can still do so -- just click the Databases tab on the library home page.

For more information, see our guide to using LibSearch.

LibraryGuides: "Your Research Guides to Library Resources"

Our subject librarians have compiled information about, and links to, the best library resources available for research in specific subject areas. You'll find guides to information resources for Business, Philosophy, Criminal Justice, Education, English, and much more. You'll also find class-specific guides and guides on special research topics such as UHD Information.

Browse the available guides, and let us know what you think.

You can access both of these new services from the library's home page at: www.uhd.edu/library/index.html.