Author Archives: Stephanie Davis-Kahl

Design on Display: COVID Runaway Fashion Show

Last week, students in Professor Lozar’s Foundations of Art and Professor Bullock’s Beginning 3D Design courses competed in a COVID Runaway Fashion Show, displaying designs with the goal of promoting social distancing and experimenting with building wearable constructions out of cardboard. The winning design, “Building/Burning” by Andrew Browne is now on display on the Minor Myers jr statue in front of The Ames Library. More coverage and photos of the students’ creations are available on the Pantagraph’s website.

Setting up Google Scholar

 

Did you know you can configure Google Scholar to connect to our journals? Follow our instructions to set up Google Scholar on your device, and use your IWU NetID/password to access articles and more!

Congratulations to Professor Tom Lutze!

Congratulations to Professor Tom Lutze, our newest Kemp Award Winner! We’re so happy to celebrate your many achievements and your dedicated support of students! To listen to President’s Convocation, please visit the IWU News site, and to view past Kemp Winner Honors Convocation talks, please see our collection on Digital Commons.

Writing Center Fall Workshops!

The Ames Library Writing Center’s Writers’ Workshops are back! Please see below for dates, times, and descriptions.

Workshops for the fall will be held online via Zoom. For Zoom links/passwords, or if you have questions, comments, or need assistance with registering for one of more of these workshops, please email Dr. Scanlon.

 

Friday September 4th 2 p.m. CDT MLA-Making Language Awesome [Passed]

Has your professor required you to write in MLA? Do you need a bit of help going over the basics of the citation style? Perhaps you have a few questions! Bring them and any citations you’ve worked on to this online writing workshop to gain insight and information on this awesome citation style! Email Dr. Scanlon for the recording.

Tuesday, September 8th 6 p.m. CDT APA No Way!: 6th versus 7th Edition [Upcoming]

Have you always written in 6th edition APA format and now your professor wants you to switch to the newer style? Perhaps you’re starting out and are unfamiliar with APA in general. This workshop is designed with you in mind! We’re here to take you through the general differences of each style as well as discuss pitfalls writers can avoid as they work through the process of writing. If you have questions or wish to attend, contact ascanlon@iwu.edu. Recording available after the event upon request if you email Dr. Scanlon.

Thursday, September 10th 7 p.m. CDT Writing for Protest [Upcoming]

Are you interested in social justice? Do you support a variety of causes but are feeling a bit hindered as a result of the COVID Pandemic? This writers’ group is for you. We’ll meet weekly (you don’t have to come every time!) and virtually to discuss inspirational protest writing and work on some of our own. If you have questions or wish to attend, contact Dr. Scanlon.

Tuesday, September 22nd 6 p.m. CDT Let’s Get Personal: Grad School Personal Statements [Upcoming]

Are you applying to graduate school? This workshop is for you! We’ll cover the ins and outs of writing personal statements, give you some tips from a pro, and answer any questions you have. We’ll also recommend tutors able to help you on your writing journey. If you have questions or wish to attend, contact ascanlon@iwu.edu. Recording available after the event upon request if you email Dr. Scanlon.

Tuesday, October 6th 6 p.m. CDT GREat Writing [Upcoming]

This workshop is designed to help writers tackle the analytical portion of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE). We take writers through what good essays include, how to get a high score, and what resources are available both online on-campus and online in general. If you have questions or wish to attend, contact ascanlon@iwu.edu. Recording available after the event upon request if you email Dr. Scanlon.

Tuesday, October 27th 7 p.m. CDT Maybe Medicine? Moving from Maybe to Definitely with a Strong Personal Statement [Upcoming]

Are you thinking about applying to graduate school with a focus in medicine? Perhaps you want to become an advanced practice nurse? Maybe dentistry is more your speed? Does an MD appeal to you? This workshop will take you through the work done to craft a personal statement that will set you up for an interview with the college(s) of your choice. We’ve planned this one well before most application deadlines, too, so you can return to meet with a tutor several times before your final statement is due. If you have questions or wish to attend, contact ascanlon@iwu.edu. Recording available after the event upon request if you email Dr. Scanlon.

For all questions, comments, or for assistance with registering for one of more of these workshops, please email Dr. Scanlon at ascanlon@iwu.edu.

Thank you!

Writing Center Staff 2020-2021

Image from PIXNIO, CC0

“Supporting Teaching with Primary Sources at Illinois Wesleyan University”

Last fall, our Archivist & Special Collections Librarian Meg Miner participated in a multi-institution project sponsored by Ithaka S+R to explore “pedagogical practices of humanities and social sciences instructors teaching with primary sources at the undergraduate level. The goal of the study is to understand instructors’ undergraduate teaching processes toward developing resources and services to support them in
their work.” (Ithaka S+R) IWU joined with colleagues from 25 academic institutions, two of which are located in the United Kingdom, for this work. Two other participants in this project also offer
undergraduate-only liberal arts programs.

Her report, “Supporting Teaching with Primary Sources at Illinois Wesleyan University” is now available online, and presents the results of her interviews with our faculty. Congratulations to Meg on this accomplishment, our gratitude to the faculty who participated, and many thanks to Ithaka S&R for including the liberal arts perspective in their research!

 

Welcome Back, Titans!

photo collage of Ames Library We are so happy to have students back! The library may look different, but please know our new setup is designed to keep you safe and healthy. You can find more information about the changes we’ve made for health and safety, access to the building, services, and more in our Fall Semester FAQ.

If you have any questions over the semester, please remember that Ames Librarians are here to help. You can connect with us online or in-person during our on call hours, Monday – Friday, 1-4 pm, or during our office hours, or you can just send us an email! We look forward to seeing you, whether you are on campus or learning from home this semester!

Being a Successful Online Student webinar!

Interested in learning how to manage your time, boost your study skills, and engage thoughtfully in your online courses?

As we prepare for a semester with many online and hybrid classes, we know that learning and engaging electronically can require different skills and strategies. In light of that, we hope you’ll attend this one hour webinar “Being a Successful Online Student.” This webinar will cover study, organization and engagement strategies to help you get the most out of your online class. You’ll also hear more about one-on-one tutoring for academic skills being offered this year by new Student Success Tutors.

Register online, and join us on Aug 16, 2020 at 2:00 PM Central Time in Zoom!

Questions? Contact Bevin Choban at bchoban@iwu.edu for more information or for access to the recording!

Open Access Week: What You Can Do

There are many ways to get involved in the open movement!

Get Involved in an Open Project: The purpose of open is to invite collaboration and sharing of information to build new knowledge. There are lots of choices for projects in the arts, social sciences and sciences that you can contribute to with your time and know-how – here’s a few:

Check out Scientific American Citizen ScienceZooniverse or SciStarter for more ways to contribute to citizen science!

Explore Open Collections: From art to music to peer reviewed research, there are lots high-quality, curated collections of open content online. Here’s a few to get you started:

Know Your Rights and Responsibilities: As an author or creator, you need to educate yourself about your rights for the content you create, but you also need to be aware of how to use others’ work ethically! Check out our Copyright Guide, and also read up on Creative Commons, which allows you to select a specific license so other authors know if and how they can use your work.

Get to Know More about Open: Check out The Ames Library’s Open Access guide online, or visit the SPARC site, or visit the Open Access Directory from Simmons College!

Questions? Contact Stephanie Davis-Kahl, Scholarly Communications Librarian or Karen Schmidt, University Librarian, at The Ames Library if you’d like to learn more!

Open Access Week: Legislative Action!

It’s important to note that federal research dollars drive much of the research and development work at universities and research centers. The U.S. spends nearly $60 billion on research each year. That means that taxpayers are supporting the important and vital work of investigating new medical treatments, identifying environmentally conscious means of transportation, improving our infrastructure, and developing technological innovations.

In 2009, the NIH adopted the first open access initiative for federally-funded research and the policy is in full force today, with great success. Earlier this year, a bipartisan group of senators and representatives introduced the Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR), to “accelerate scientific discovery and fuel innovation by making articles reporting on publicly funded scientific research freely accessible online for anyone to read and build upon.”

For more information about FASTR, visit the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition’s Background and FAQ sites. If you’re interested in learning about a specific agency’s current policies for sharing their funded research, check out this resource. To advocate for FASTR, contact your senator or representative, and help open up research.

Open Access Week 2017: World Bank/SPARC Webinar

In celebration of the fifth anniversary of the World Bank’s Open Access policy, SPARC and the World Bank are co-hosting an event to showcase the ways in which open is helping to achieve the Bank’s goal of eliminating extreme poverty. The discussion will feature the CIO of the World Bank and the Principal Librarian of the United Nations. The event will be held Thursday, October 26th, from 2-3:30pm EDT and will be live streamed online. More details and a link to the livestream can be found online.