Webinar archives now online

If you missed the Walden Library Webinars offered in September, you may now view recordings of the sessions online.  Please see this page for more information:

http://library.waldenu.edu/HowDoI_27487.htm

Does the library have my textbook?

If you are waiting for your course textbooks to arrive, it is unlikely that we have them available in the library. If an ebook is available in the library it should be indicated in your syllabus. Many textbooks are published only in print.

You can use WorldCat to locate the book, identify libraries near you that have the book in their collection and link to online booksellers. Libraries have unique policies regarding the lending of materials to community patrons, so you should check with each library to understand their policy. Often this information is available on their website or you may want to call. 

Of course, let us know if you have any questions or need assistance using our Ask-A-Librarian Form or calling 1-800-930-0914.

Course Readings

The library is excited to announce a course readings system for all required readings held in the Walden Library databases.  You can now find links to all of your required readings in one place!

Please note:  This course reading section has links for readings found in the databases ONLY!  You still need to check your course page or course reading packet for all other readings.

The required readings are located in the Walden Library Subject Guide.  From the library home page, click on the “Subject Guides” tab and then on “Subject Guides”again.  Once in the guides, click on the “Browse Resources” tab.  Then click on “Course Readings”.  Click on the appropriate links for your school or college and follow the links to your course.

You can also search by your course name or number using the search box in the upper right corner.

Check it out and let us know what you think!

We hope you find this new tool helpful!  Please let us know if you can’t find your class, your readings, or have any other questions!

Attention Nurses – CINAHL CEU Awarded ANCC Accreditation

The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) has awarded two years’ accreditation to Cinahl Information Systems beginning in August 2009. The ANCC is the American Nurses Credentialing Center. This accreditation is a great honor and demonstrates CINAHL ’s support for professional continuing education opportunities.  For more information about the accreditation process visit the ANCC website.

Walden University students, faculty and staff have access to the CINAHL CEU through the Walden University Library. To access the CEU topics, lessons and exams, go to the Walden library website and browse to the Research Databases list. Open the CINAHL database from the list of databases. In the top blue bar select More and click the quick lessons. This will open a browser to look up CEU lessons on a 100+ of topics.

The modules  will take between an hour to several hours to complete. You should be able to download and print out your certificate of completion.

Questions?  Please contact the library:

http://tinyurl.com/askwaldenlibrary

State Library Databases

Many states have subscriptions to online databases that residents can access!  These databases are a great resource in addition to the databases that the Walden Library offers.  For a list of participating states, go to:

http://library.waldenu.edu/Books_23947.htm

Choose your state from the drop down menu in the middle of the page, underneath the bullet point for “Online libraries”.

Most of these state databases will require you to provide log in information.  Usually this is your library card number from your local public library.  More information on this process is available through your local public library.

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Please use the Ask A Librarian link in the right hand navigation bar to send a message to the library.

Webinar Archives Now Available

In May the library offered a series of live, online presentations on various library topics.  If you missed out on these presentations, you can view recordings of some of the sessions on our library web site. Just visit the How Do I…? page and look for the Webinar Archives.

Finding Required Readings in the Library

Are you having trouble locating required readings for your class?  The Walden Library has a search engine that will help you find your required readings – and any article that you know the title of!

The Course Reading Quick Search is located in the Thoreau database.  This search engine will search all of the databases for your articles, so you don’t have to spend time searching each database on your own.

Here is how to find articles using the Course Reading Quick Search:

1. Click on the Thoreau button on the left hand side of the library website.
2. There is a brown box on the left side of the page.  In the box underneath “Course Reading Quick Search”, type in the title of your article.
3. If your article title includes punctuation, please omit them from your search.
4. Click Search.
5. The search engine will now search all of the databases.  Once the search says “Complete”, scroll down until you see your article.
6. Click on the “View PDF” or “Walden 360” link to get the full text of your article.

As always, the Walden Librarians are here to help if you have any questions!

Please don’t use the comments field to ask a question — this will delay your response considerably. Use the Ask  A Librarian link at the top of  the right hand column.

Using WorldCat

If you’re reading this, you probably already know that the Walden Library is a virtual library. No bookshelves. No check-out desk. No library cards. All well and good – but what if you want a hard copy of a book? WorldCat is a tool that can help you find one in your area.

WorldCat is an international database that catalogs books, articles, music and more, and that shows which libraries hold them. It is the world’s most comprehensive listing of library holdings. Here’s an example of how to use it:

Say I live in St. Paul, Minnesota and want to borrow a copy of Dr. Seuss’s Fox in Socks, but I don’t know where to look.

• First, I could go to WorldCat, at; http://www.worldcat.org/ (it is also linked from the “Quick Links” list on the Walden Library home page.)
• Then, I select the “Books” tab and type “Fox in socks” in the search box.
• Many editions come up. I decide I want the original 1965 edition and click on it.
• Bibliographic information appears, along with a search box that says “Enter your location.” I type in my zip code, 55101, and hit the “Find Libraries” button.
• Now I have a list of all the libraries in my area that own the book, including my own St. Paul Public Library.

But I can take it a step further. By clicking on the name of a holding library, I can see their local catalog, find out how many copies of the book they have, see if they’re checked out or not, or learn about their lending policies, hours, and location.

So next time a PDF won’t cut it, remember WorldCat!

Pulling APA citations from the Walden Databases

Did you know you can get citations in APA format in the Walden databases?

Once you find an article in the Walden databases, you can often get the APA citation for that article right from the database.  Most of the databases provide article citations in a variety of formats; look for the “cite this” or “cite this article” link on the article abstract page.  Choose the citation format you wish to use, and presto!- you have the article citation in your desired format.

However - and this is a really big however- these citations aren’t always correct! The database pulls these citations directly from the article publisher and occasionally the publisher doesn’t provide accurate information.  It is very important that you look over the citations to make sure they are correct!

In the long run, there really is no faster time saver than learning the APA guidelines for frequently cited materials.  Yes it is painful, but you will be so glad you did it in the end.  When you know the APA guideline, you can quickly check the citation provided by the database and make any changes necessary.  And even if the citation from the database is wrong, at least you have all of the component parts of the citation, it is just a matter of copy and paste!

The Walden University Writing Center has an extensive APA style guide-  here.  And they are more than willing to answer any APA questions you have.  They will even spot-check your citations!   You can find more information about how the Writing Center can help you and how to contact them on their wonderful website.

The library is happy to answer any questions you have about pulling APA citations from the databases.  Please direct questions about actual APA citations to the Writing Center.

Please don’t use the comments field to ask a question — this will delay your response considerably.

Use the Ask  A Librarian form to query the library.