RefWorks Basics class on Friday

This Friday, October 2nd at 1pm in the Park Library, I will be teaching an introductory class on RefWorks. We'll set up accounts and cover basic usage in less than an hour, then move on to the advanced topics you find most interesting.

What is RefWorks?
RefWorks is an excellent tool for research, helping you organize and keep track of resources you find. Also, RefWorks makes bibliographies easy to produce by automatically formatting references in the style of your choice.

What We'll Cover on Friday

• Starting a RefWorks account
• Importing references from databases like Academic Search Premier
• Organizing your references into subject or project-based folders
• Manually adding references
• Easy automatic bibliographies in a range of styles (eg. APA, MLA)

Advanced Usage (if there's time & interest)

• Storing articles (eg. PDFs) in RefWorks
• Using the Write-N-Cite Microsoft Word plugin
• RefShare for collaboration and public reference lists
  
• RefMobile for devices such as iPhone
  

So come on out Friday to get started with RefWorks! And remember, the Park Library staff is available to assist you with RefWorks, whether you are a total beginner or you use it all the time. Please come see us with your questions!

RefWorks

Editor's Note: here's an example of two projects that you can do with RefWorks. To learn more about RefWorks, read Adam's post and/or come to the RefWorks session in the library on Oct. 2.

The other day I did this cool project in the library. Now before you think "Huh? Cool and library = fun" give me a chance to explain. You know how irritating finding articles can be? Yeah, I thought you would. Well, RefWorks is a database that collects sources, reformats them in APA or MLA among others, and allows the user to share the sources. Still with me? Ok, so I had to find faculty publications, a daunting task, I know. I had to use multiple databases to locate more than 500 publications faculty members have done since being employed here. Here's how the faculty publications look in RefWorks. Citations can be sorted by author, title and others. That way, your citations are easy to find. But that's not the real story, the point is that instead of finding so many citations and sources and printing them out, losing them, saving them in multiple files, why not keep them in one secure place? Research is tough but staying organized keeps the task from becoming a burden.

Now, to how you can use RefWorks beyond research papers. As journalism students, we're in that awful transition between budding media member and college reporter/videographer/designer/photographer etc. Keeping clips is uber-important but so is keeping them all in one place. RefWorks keeps all your clips or citations in a "storage" section, allowing you to access all of them, any time, any where, any place, well as long as you have the password. Sending out countless resumes and cover letters and clips is very tedious but necessary. Beyond sending clips, why not advertise your awesomeness on social media networks? Blogs, Twitter and yes, even Facebook, can reach more people than a couple of cover letters and pleas for employment. So try this: grab all your citations, clips, ringing endorsements and add them to Refworks and then link them to your Facebook page, Twitter account and blog.

I know, you'll thank me later. (that's Karen Kleimann (two n's)).

Don't know how to use RefWorks? Come to the RefWorks class in the Park Library, hosted by our very own Adam Rogers on Friday, Oct. 2 at 1 p.m.

There’s No Reason Not to Stay Up on Current Events

If you’re like any college student in the world, leaving home and coming to school has probably put you a little behind on your current events. Thankfully, the Park Library has the solution. We carry stacks of newspapers from all over the region, plus wide-circulation newspapers such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.

Want to know what the weather is like in Nags Head? The Coastliner is the premier source of information for the Outer Banks. What to know how your old high school football team from Cary is doing? No problem, the News and Observer has all the scores. These, along with several other newspapers, are delivered to the Park Library every single day, so you’ll always have up-to-date information at your slightly-blackened-from-newspaper-ink fingertips. We usually hold newspapers for about a month before they are recycled (Park Library is also environmentally friendly!), so make sure you check ‘em out before it’s too late.

We also have subscriptions to a variety of magazines, from Popular Photography (Visual Communications, anyone?) to Time Magazine (I know there is someone in the J-School who wants to work there) to Entertainment Weekly (Yes, I do think the stars of Twilight are dating). Older volumes of magazines are kept with our stacks and are never thrown out. If you need Fortune Magazine from September 5, 2005, we have it available.

So whether you want to catch up on current events, need some information for a class, or just want to relax with something OTHER than a textbook, stop on by and browse through our newspaper and magazine racks. Comfy chairs (hopefully) coming soon.

Down with Google

Down with Google searches! …well, at least for your papers.

As the semester begins and teachers review their carefully-planned syllabi, an age-old feeling may set in as you skim the weekly list of assignments – panic. You wonder how you are going to write those excessively long papers in topics unfamiliar to you. Your professors have taken Wikipedia and Google from you. You feel unarmed, confused, and helpless.

Luckily for you, the staff at the Park Library can come to your rescue. We can help you search for scholarly articles using a variety of academic search engines. You can find a myriad of articles to help you on your way, and I can promise you that the results will be much more reliable than anything you find on Google. Scholarly articles have been peer-reviewed by experts in the field, so you know that whatever comes up is a legitimately-researched body of work.

Doesn’t that make you feel just a little bit better?

So stop in. Park Library is located on the second floor of Carroll Hall. We are open from 9am-5pm Monday through Friday. After Labor Day, we will be open from 9am-9pm Monday through Thursday, 9am-5pm on Friday, and 5:30pm-8:30pm on Sunday.

Oh, and food and drink are allowed so please don’t hesitate to utilize our resources.

Allow myself to introduce... myself

Hello everyone, I'm Adam, I'm new here but excited to be working at the Park Library. You'll see me at the front desk, ready to assist with your research, help you locate and check out books, and anything else you might need assistance with.

So you'll know what I look like, here's a portrait my artist friend Eliza painted of me:



You'll see the resemblance, I'm sure. Eliza also gave me a holiday on a calendar she produces annually called "Every Day is a Holiday." Because I'm a librarian and in school studying library science, she made my birthday "Library Day."

Now, my birthday won't come around again for quite a while, but if you need some help designing cakes, birthday cards, party invitations, etc. for Library Day, a good place to start is with the National Library Symbol, below:



This sign has been around about as long as I have, originating in the early 80s. For more information you can head over to the American Library Association.

I hope to see you soon in the Park Library!

Sign image is from the Manual of Traffic Signs, by Richard C. Moeur.

Apologies to Austin Powers for the title.

Check out the new Park Library

Students this fall semester will see a new face and new Park Library. Barbara Semonche, the Park Librarian since its opening, retired over the summer, handing the reins to Stephanie Willen Brown. Also, on staff is Brian, an undergraduate politics/Econ major; Adam, a graduate student in library science; Cristina, a graduate student in photojournalism; and Karen, an undergraduate News-Editorial journalism major. We're happy to welcome Amanda, a graduate student in public relations, and Danielle, a undergraduate journalism major. We're all here to answer questions, inquiries and assist with research.

The Park Library has broken out of the shadow of its former self, advertising the newest books and news on Twitter, Facebook and Blog posts. We revamped our Web site and have included an IM feature for quick questions (see the side of this blog, or IM JoMCParkLib) . In other words, we are no longer just a traditional library inside the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC-Chapel Hill, we are a technologically-savvy network of E-journals, databases, web features as well a library full of books, newspapers, magazines and theses and dissertations.

Some new policies are also in place starting this fall. The Park library now allows drinks, food and cell phone usage -- keeping in mind that being respectful and reasonable with the above is an integral part of Library function.

So visit us Monday-Thursday 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.