South College Library Blog

A new semester is upon us and that means it’s time for new classes, fresh routines, and another shot at doing things a little differently. Maybe you’ve already done the traditional spring cleaning - cleared out the inbox, reorganized your planner, or finally cleaned the binder that has been collecting all the spare papers. These small resets can be surprisingly powerful at clearing up mental space and resetting your focus. It’s not just your physical space that deserves a refresh, your study life might need one too. Thankfully for you, the library has you covered.

The South College Library is more than just a place to check out laptops, it’s also designed to support your academic success. Whether you want to build better habits, stay ahead of your workload, or just find a consistent place to focus, the library offers the tools and environment to help.

Rethink Your Study Environment

The foundation to strong study habits starts with your environment. Prioritizing a clean, quiet, and designated place to work can make it easier to get in the zone and maintain your focus. It also helps create a clear separation between your academic and personal life. If you're near a South College campus, you have access to library and resource spaces that can become your go-to study zone.

There are also great places to collaborate with classmates, building accountability and shared motivation - two things that are easy to lose midway through the semester. Check with your campus to see what study spaces are available, as some locations offer additional study rooms you can utilize.

Make the Most of Your Tools

The beginning of a new term is the perfect time to get well acquainted with the resources available to you, before you're buried in due dates. The library webpage includes many guides tailored to specific subjects, each program, and even some individual courses. These resources are designed to bring all the related resources together in one place so you are able to find credible, relevant information quickly.

Know Where to Turn for Help

If you find yourself stuck on something, do not wait! The Ask the Library chat button directly connects you to library staff for quick help with research or using resources. For more in-depth support, each program has a librarian assigned who knows your field and can meet with you in person or via zoom.

This spring, consider giving your study habits the same thoughtful refresh you’d give your physical space. You might be surprised by how a little intention now can lead to a semester that

feels more manageable, more productive, and a little lighter to carry. Whether you're on campus or working from home, the library is here to support you every step of the way!

We’re excited to announce the launch of the South College Institutional Repository! The South College Institutional Repository, managed by the Department of Library Services, serves as a hub for the preservation and dissemination of scholarly works produced by the South College community. This digital archive facilitates the discovery of research and academic contributions from faculty, staff, and students.

The Institutional Repository serves to:

• Preserve and provide long-term access to scholarly output.
• Enhance the visibility and impact of South College research.
• Facilitate scholarly communication and collaboration.

While currently featuring graduate theses, dissertations, and capstone projects, the repository welcomes submissions from faculty, staff, and students across various formats.

The link to the IR can be found on the Library homepage.

Want more information about the Institutional Repository? See the Institutional Repository Information Page on the library website under the Resources tab. 

And if you're looking for a quick guide to searching the repository, we've created a handy video tutorial called "Institutional Repository 2025" to help you navigate and find what you need.

Take a moment to explore the Institutional Repository and see the amazing work being done here at South College!

It’s clear that the digital age is upon us, and information is moving faster than ever. Let’s take love letters and Valentine’s Day, for example. Although it is a holiday that lives in extremes (you either love to hate it or hate to love it) as soon as the Christmas decorations come down, stores are filled to the brim with pink hearts and chocolates for your love.  

At its onset, the holiday we celebrate today may have been unrecognizable to many of us. The earliest versions of Valentine’s Day are believed to stem from a pagan holiday, Lupercalia, which celebrated fertility. Men and women were paired together when their names were drawn from a hat, and “valentines” were exchanged. (Hiru News, 2024).   

Later, the holiday underwent a Christian makeover and was named for a Catholic priest whose deeds blur the line between fact and legend. Legend has it that when a Roman emperor outlawed marriage for young, able-bodied men, believing single soldiers served the empire better, St. Valentine secretly married lovers. He was eventually caught and executed, but not before penning a final love letter to his sweetheart, signed “Love, your Valentine.” (Salem Press, 2024).  

From there, the holiday grew into a widely celebrated day of love and romance. People continued writing handwritten notes for their valentines until the invention of the printing press, which made mass production of such cards possible.  

Fast forward to the late 20th century and the rise of the internet, and we see the emergence of email; a brand-new way to send a little e-honey. Declarations of love could now be shared not only with your valentines but also with 300 of your closest friends and family in the form of words, graphs, exploding GIFs, and much more. We no longer have to wait days or weeks to receive messages, and it is fascinating to think about how quickly the landscape of communication has changed.  

At South College, we are committed to staying at the forefront of the digital age. All the resources and methods today’s students and leaders need can be found on our library website. Whether you are looking for inspiration from a 17th-century poet on the meaning of love or the latest research on stem cells, you will find it cataloged within our vast databases.  

For example, I used our library database’s concept map tool to explore the history of Valentine’s Day. This is an excellent resource for beginning research on a topic. It generates a web of related topics that you can add to your search or expand into a new map with a different central focus. For visual learners, this tool is invaluable for connecting large concepts and data, enabling more holistic research. To access this map and other tools navigate to the library homepage, and under the search bar click “Advanced search”. You will find the concept map under “Research tools”.  

So, this Valentine’s Day, while reflecting on how love letters have evolved over centuries, consider exploring the library’s resources. You might just find inspiration for your next declaration of love or your next big research project!  

References  

History of Valentine's Day, and why we celebrate. (2024, February 14). Hiru News.   

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A782381925/STND?u=southcollege&sid=ebsco&xid=bb08259e  

St. Valentine’s Day. (2024). Salem Press Encyclopedia.   

https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=566eccea-c07e-3b31-b370-cb0109e82176  

In today's digital age, information is everywhere. But how can we determine what's reliable and trustworthy? One crucial factor is whether a source has undergone peer review. In this blog post, we'll explore what peer review is, how it differs from popular publications, and why it's important for academic research. 

Peer review is a process where experts in a specific field evaluate the quality, validity, and originality of research articles before they are published. These reviewers, often referred to as "peers," assess the author's methodology, findings, and overall contribution to the existing body of knowledge. 

While both peer-reviewed articles and popular publications aim to inform and educate, there are significant differences in their approach and content. 

Peer-Reviewed Articles: 

• Undergo a thorough evaluation by experts. 

• Written for a specialized audience. 

• Provide evidence and support for claims. 

• Adhere to strict publication standards. 

Popular Publications: 

• May not undergo the same level of scrutiny. 

• Written for a broader audience. 

• May not provide extensive references. 

• Have more flexible publishing standards. 

To identify peer-reviewed sources, look for journals that explicitly state their peer review process or have a mission statement outlining their commitment to peer review. Additionally, some journals may provide information about their review board. Finally, use reputable academic databases which often include peer-reviewed articles. 

To filter for peer-reviewed articles in the Library Search, check the Scholarly Peer-Reviewed box under the Refine Results>Limit to tab on your search results page. See screenshot: 

For more information about Peer-Review, explore the library’s Peer-Review Guide. 

Upgraded Search Box on Library Home Page

The library is pleased to announce that we are rolling out a major upgrade to our single search box in time for Fall Quarter 2021. Starting now, you will find the new library search box under "Search the Library" on our homepage.

As before, the search box provides access to not only the library's subscription databases, ebooks, online videos, and ejournals, but also free and citation-only resources across the internet. The new homepage widget also allows faculty and students to limit results to full text and/or peer review resources from the start, for faster access to these types of results.

Library training videos, orientations, and tutorials will all be updated to reflect this change by next week.

AccessMedicine Adds New Open Access COVID-19 Resource

McGraw Hill has added the title COVID-19 & the Heart: A Case-Based Pocket Guide to AccessMedicine.

According to McGraw Hill, this title is open access, which means that it is available to all visitors to AccessMedicine regardless of whether an institution has a subscription to AccessMedicine.

McGraw Hill describes the book as a "manual to guide medical practitioners in making adequate and quick clinical judgements with respect to the cardiac manifestations of COVID-19."

To check out the book, use the following link:

Faculty In-Service on Interlibrary Loan Held July 14

Library staff held an in-service on interlibrary loan (ILL) on the morning of July 14.

Hosted by Anya McKinney, Director of Library Services, and presented by Lonas campus instruction librarian James Gill, the presentation covered an introduction to interlibrary loan services for faculty.

33 people registered for the in-service. Registrants will automatically receive a copy of the presentation recording, regardless of whether they were able to attend.

If you did not register, but are still interested in the presentation, please e-mail the ILL department at illdept@south.edu to request a copy of the presentation recording.

Hyperdrive Your Courses: Hyperlinking to the Library's Resources

Are you an instructor interested in including links to library resources in your Canvas courses? Then join Jonathon Hudson, the library Electronic Resources Librarian, for an online in-service on how to link to library resources from Canvas on April 14^th at 10:30am EST.

The library uses OpenAthens authentication for off-campus access to our resources.  OpenAthens also enables links to library subscription content that can be posted directly in Canvas courses for students.  While linking to subscription content is primarily done with videos and ebooks added for specific courses, just about any library resource can be linked in Canvas.

The in-service, which will last 45 minutes and be presented online via Zoom, will cover creating links to library resources and how to include them in Canvas.

To attend, register at https://south.zoom.us/meeting/register/tjYocuCorDsiHdZIMCcJMvGFkELi8w50QbZe.

Unable to attend live?  The recording will be provided to all registrants.

Please join library staff for an online in-service about library resources on Tuesday, February 23.

This event will be a great introduction to South College Library for new faculty, or a refresher for existing faculty who want an update on all the library has to offer.

The in-service will be held online as a Zoom meeting from 3:00pm-3:45pm on Tuesday, February 23.

Please register in advance for the meeting at https://south.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUtde-rrD4vHtNwUiN5J8c2U7WMQNQ2-pn7.

Upon registration, participants will receive a confirmation e-mail with information on how to join the meeting.

Has it been a while since your first library orientation and you want a refresher for how to do library research? Or perhaps you want to catch up on the latest changes to using the library website? The updated library tutorials page is a great place to start.

Although the library staff is always happy to help, the tutorials are available remotely 24/7, so they are convenient resources if there's a question outside library or resource center hours.

The tutorials are divided up into four sections:

• Intro to the Library: if you've never used the South College Library before, try starting here.
• General Library Tutorials: if you would like to know more about composing a search question with logical (Boolean) operators, or how to reserve a library meeting room.
• Database Tutorials: has tutorials on Access Medicine, Nursing Reference Center, and general database research quick tips.
• Faculty: library tutorials geared for the common needs of faculty.

Spring is in the air, and that means — e-books are blooming?

OK, maybe not, but the library has added two new e-books to our databases for business classes and one for the physician assistant program:

South College Interlibrary Loan Services Available

You've used Discover Search. You've used the A-Z list to look for a journal title and holdings. You've checked the Library Catalog.This link opens in a new window You've asked a reference librarian for help.

You still can't find the book or journal article you are looking for in the South College libraries or library databases.

It's time for an interlibrary loan request.

It's not possible for every library to own every book or every journal title or issue, so clever librarians have developed a resource-sharing system known as interlibrary loan to help their patrons get the resources that they need. If South College Library does not own an item, the library has access to a nationwide network of libraries that may have the item and could lend or send a copy of it to one of our library users.

Who can request an interlibrary loan?

Any current South College faculty member, staff member, or student.

Does this service cost?

This depends on the policies of the lending library. In most cases, we can get books or articles for free. Some items are only available through libraries that charge, however. The college will pay up to $10 of any student interlibrary loan fees.

How long does it take for an interlibrary loan request to be filled?

Books typically take two to three weeks to arrive. Articles can take anywhere from one day to one week to arrive. Various factors can affect the turnaround time, however, so we recommend requesting materials several weeks before a deadline.

How do I make an interlibrary loan request?

• Go to the library's Interlibrary Loan (ILL) page (on the library home page, this will be the "ILL" tab)
• In the box labeled "ILL Request Forms" select the appropriate "book request" or "article request" form.
• Fill out the form with as much information as possible about the item and submit the form.
• If requesting multiple items, there must be a request form for each item.

From there, the interlibrary loan staff will review the request and search for lenders.

For other ILL questions, please see the Frequently Asked Questions on the ILL page, or e-mail illdept@south.edu.