The Eras Tour (Bell Library’s Version)

As a librarian and Swiftie, 2023 was a year full of reading, and Taylor Swift. Between seeing everyone’s Spotify Wrapped, and reflecting on my GoodReads’ Year in Review, I had to jump on this BookTok trend with some of my favorite reads of 2023, all of which you can find in our collection. This is the Eras Tour (Bell Library’s Version).

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Meet our I-Know Student Employees

Within the I-Know department at the Bell Library, we have a wonderful team of student employees that bring a valuable perspective and creativity to the work that we do! They assist us in creating lessons and assessments, making videos, putting on events, and all things social media. We took the time to interview our student employees and ask them some questions about their interests and work. Meet Sean and Carolyn!

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“Tell me a horror story about…”: Generating Spooky Stories with ChatGPT

Greetings, readers!! There are many things to know about me, but the most relevant for today is that I’m a big horror and true crime fan. The thrill began as a child when I would sit in the center of my parent’s bed (obviously the center - my effort to ensure that if something was hiding under the bed, it couldn’t reach me on that big California king), reading Alvin Schwartz’ Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (https://go.exlibris.link/cmRcXzPk). I…

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Upcoming Movie Night and Movie Review: Missing

A movie review by Sean Nicastro. Come join us on November 15th at 6:30 pm in the UC Legacy Hall (145) for a film screening! The movie that we will be watching is Missing. There will be drinks, snacks, and everyone will have a chance of winning some cool prizes! Missing is a movie released in 2023 directed by Nicholas D. Johnson and Will Merrick. The movie follows June, played by Storm Reid, as she searches for her mother who…

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Introducing Zotero, your personal research assistant!

Have you heard the news about the University’s new implementation of Zotero? You might be curious what Zotero is and what it does. Zotero is a free online tool that helps you store and organize your research sources (journal articles, book chapters, etc.) Zotero works as a desktop app on your device, but also has a browser connector to help you gather citations from your sources and a web-based version, too. Zotero generates bibliographies of your stored citations either as…

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What are Soft Skills?

You may have heard the term “soft skills” tossed about when seeking a job or discussing careers, but what exactly does that mean? I was introduced to the concept when I was a college graduate applying for my first professional position. The job market was very competitive and it seemed to me a daunting task to stand out among a crowd of high achievers and polished resumes. In fact, my resume was just half a page, even padded with wide…

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How to Make Course Content Accessible with Blackboard Ally

With the growth of online, hybrid, and web-enhanced courses showing no signs of slowing nationwide, the need for the accessibility of electronic and information resources (EIR) grows exponentially as well! EIR refers to the applications, hardware, and digital content such as documents and videos we use or access every day. By striving to create and/or provide accessible EIR we: Extend learning opportunities to our diverse community in a university environment.Expand participation in, or benefits from, programs and activities.Keep our university…

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3 Tips on How to De-Stress Throughout the Semester

As exciting as a new school year can be, it can also be very daunting to some.  I remember when my daughter would start a new year, as excited as she was, she would also get a little stressed when it came to managing her school/work/life schedule.  So, as this fall semester starts, I wanted to share 3 tips on how to de-stress throughout the semester. Get Moving – There are many different ways to do this on campus.  Walking/Running…

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Introducing: Julee Murphy!

This month, we have a new employee to introduce to everyone. Julee Murphy has joined the User & Research Services team as Education Specialist, and we are so happy to have her on board! Julee came to us from the Early Childhood Development Center here on campus where she served as a librarian. Read on to learn a little more about Julee. Where are you from originally? I am a West Texan by birth but I have lived most of…

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New Resource Alert: JoVE

Today I’m writing to you to let everyone know about one of the newest editions to the Library’s collection of databases. We have just started a subscription to JoVE, The Journal of Visualized Experiments, which is a collection of research experiments that have videos showing each step in detail! This is the world’s first peer-reviewed scientific video journal. These videos are filmed at some of the top scientific institutions and help enable in-depth understanding of complex STEM subjects. We have…

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