Tell Us What You Think!

Brookens is YOUR library – help us make it better for you! From time to time we need to check in with you to make sure we are meeting your needs and fulfilling our mission. By completing our survey you will have the opportunity to tell us what you like, what you don’t like, and what we can do better. All UIS students, faculty, staff and community members are encouraged to complete one of two surveys: either a short version (no more than 7 minutes) or a longer version (no more than 15 minutes) if you’d like to go into more detail in your responses. The survey is completely anonymous. After you finish the survey, we hope that you will enter a drawing to win one of five Brookens goodie bags (a large cloth grocery bag filled with a flash drive and some other cool stuff). The form for the drawing is separate from the survey itself.

CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY

We know how busy you are and really appreciate your taking the time to give us feedback. Thank you for helping us to make Brookens better for you!

Subject-Specific Research Workshops

This March the library will be offering subject-specific research workshops for students, both online and on-campus.  Please help us inform students about these workshops!  They are a great opportunity for students to learn how to conduct research, take advantage of the many library resources available to them, and get one-on-one help from a librarian.  Some are designed for students within particular departments or programs while others will focus on conducting research in particular disciplines (humanities or social sciences). Below is a list of the departments, programs and disciplines in which we will be offering workshops:

College of Business and Management (CBM)
Management and Information Systems (MIS)
Political Science (PSC)
Public Affairs Reporting (PAR)
Teacher Education Program (TEP)
Legal Studies (LES)
Humanities (English, History and Philosophy)
Social Sciences (Psychology, Sociology/Anthropology, Communication)

Visit the Library Calendar to view a full schedule of the dates, times and formats of the workshops.  A great way to ensure your students will attend these workshops is to offer extra credit or other incentive.  If you choose to offer some type of incentive for attending one of the sessions, we will happily notify you by e-mail which of your students attended.  Feel free to contact your library liaison with any questions.

Designing Research Assignments

Need help designing research assignments for your students?  Consider working with your library liaison.  Each department at UIS is assigned a library liaison to assist you with just this type of project.  In working with librarians, your assignments will allow students to take advantage of the library resources available to them at UIS.

Read the following article for more information:

For Better Research Assignments, Ask a Librarian
Beth Schuck – Faculty Focus

THIS WEEK: iPad and Virtual Library Tours

Help the library reach new and returning students by promoting library tours in class!

February 15: 5-6 p.m. and 6-7 p.m. (iPad Tours)
February 16: 12-1 p.m. and 7-8 p.m. (Virtual Tours)

Make an announcement in class or through Blackboard and send your students a link to the schedule: 
http://illinois.edu/calendar/list/2725
.  A majority of students that attend drop-in library tours at UIS learn about them from their instructors, and receive some type of credit. If you choose to offer credit for attending one of the sessions, an e-mail will be sent to you following the sessions.  With new students joining UIS each and every semester, we want to make sure they are learning about the library resources and services available to them.

During the tours students will learn where to find books and articles, how to access resources from off-campus, where to get research help, and more!  If you would like more specific information about what we will cover during these sessions, or have any other questions, please contact Amanda Binder at binder2@uis.edu or 217-206-8458.

Schedule for iPad Library Tours

Schedule for Virtual Library Tours

CTL Tutoring in the Library

A Brookens Librarian and CTL tutor will be in the library Tuesday and Wednesday nights to provide both research and writing help to students. No appointments necessary – students just need to walk up to receive help. This service will take place on the main floor of Brookens Library between 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. every Tuesday and Wednesday this semester.

Help promote this service to your students!

• Make an announcement in class or through Blackboard
• Post a copy of the flyer on your classroom or office door

Share this link with your students:
http://bit.ly/x5lswa

Print and Post on your Office Door!

Sharing Library Resources with Students

Below are suggestions for how to effectively connect students to the resources you require or recommend in your courses, with respect to Brookens Library Guidelines and Procedures for Copyright Compliance in the Use of Library Materials.

• Reserves – Electronic reserves allow you to share resources with your students through Blackboard that are unavailable at Brookens Library. You can also use this service to share selections from print resources online. Print reserves can be used to ensure that your students have access to relevant print or media resources in our collection, or in your personal collection, and can be checked out at the Library Circulation Desk. To place items on reserve, complete the online forms.  Contact Gloria Newton Davlantis with questions about reserves: 206-6605.

• Permalinks – If you want to share electronic resources that are available through the library databases, provide students with the permalink from Quick Search or the database.  Downloading PDF articles from a database and uploading them into Blackboard is a violation of copyright and the terms and conditions of our licensing agreements.

• Course Resource Lists – You can create online course resource lists for your students that will allow them to properly access print and electronic resources from our collection.  Students will also be able to request available materials through I-Share and ILL directly from these lists.

Learn more about these options TODAY (January 26) at the Library Open House for Faculty.  Feel free to contact your library liaison with any questions.

iPad and Virtual Library Tours

Help the library reach new and returning students by promoting library tours in class!  Include a link in your syllabi, make an announcement through Blackboard, or post a copy on your classroom or office door.  A majority of students that attend drop-in library tours at UIS learn about them from their instructors, and receive some type of credit. With new students joining UIS each and every semester, we want to make sure they are learning about the library resources and services available to them.

We have created two sets of tours to accommodate both online and on-campus students. During the tours students will learn where to find books and articles, how to access resources from off-campus, where to get research help, and more!  If you would like more specific information about what we will cover during these sessions, or have any other questions, please contact Amanda Binder at binder2@uis.edu or 217-206-8458.

Schedule for iPad Library Tours

Schedule for Virtual Library Tours

Spring FDO Workshop: Navigating the Library Website

Brookens Library will be offering workshops for you this Spring through the UIS Faculty Development Office.  We hope you can join us!

Workshop:     “Navigating the Library Website: Tips & Tricks”
Date/Time:     Wednesday, January 11, 1-2 p.m.
Location:        BRK 141A

Click here to RSVP for this workshop

Library Workshop: Creating Course Resource Lists

The library has a new discovery tool: Quick Search.  Using this tool, you can create online lists that will allow your students to connect to the library resources that you require and recommend in your classes, whether books, articles or media items.

You can manage these lists online, easily update them at any time, annotate each citation, and best of all, insert a link to them in your syllabi rather than manually writing the citation information or finding the URLs for each resource.  Using this method could potentially save time, trees, and increase the chance that students will be able to find and properly access course resources.

Interested in testing this out for one or more of your courses next semester?  Half hour drop-in workshops will be offered at noon and 12:30 in UHB 2025 on Monday, Dec. 12, Tuesday, Dec. 13 and Wednesday, Dec. 14.  If you feel like working on your own, view these step-by-step instructions, or contact Brookens Librarian, Amanda Binder at binder2@uis.edu or 206-8458 to schedule a one-on-one session.  We look forward to working with you to study the effectiveness of this method for sharing resources with students.

Linking to Library Materials

If you provide your students with links to library resources, please make sure you are using the persistent URL (otherwise referred to as the “permalink” or “stable URL”) provided by the database.  The easiest option is to find the article through Quick Search and click on “Permalink” in the top right corner of the page.

You can also create course resource lists through Quick Search that you can easily link to from your syllabi and Blackboard. Students will be able to access the full text directly from Quick Search if the library subscribes to that resource.  Using this resource will save you time, free up some space in your syllabi, and better connect students with library resources.

If you prefer to use the links from the databases, the persistent URLs should include the library EZproxy to ensure that students can access library resources from off-campus.  EBSCOhost databases always include the EZproxy in persistent URLs.  JSTOR is an example of a database that provides a “stable URL” but does not include the library EZproxy. Students will not be able to access JSTOR articles from off-campus using the stable URL if you do not add the EZproxy.  Solution?  Place the EZproxy (
http://ezproxy.uis.edu:2048/login?url
=) before the stable URL. Remember to test it from off-campus before sharing with your students.  Please contact your library liaison if you have any questions.

Stable URL for JSTOR article: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2205659
EZproxy plus Stable URL: http://ezproxy.uis.edu:2048/login?url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/2205659