Notes for Distance Education

We are Your library, no matter where you are

2010-07-09T13:18:00.004-05:00

The staff of Mildred Johnson Library are here to support all NDSCS students, though if you are not on campus that makes it a little harder. You may reach us through the college 800 number, extension 2618. Whoever answers the phone will do their best to respond. But you do have to call during college hours. During summer session we are here:

Monday - Thursday: 7:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
Friday: 7:45 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Or you can reach us via email if we are closed. We can send you books, other items, copies of articles, and so on. Just let us know what you want and we'll see what we can do to get those things to you.

Library Open for Exam Week

2010-05-04T14:20:00.001-05:00

As always, Mildred Johnson Library is open on the Saturday before Finals Week. This year we are open from 1:00 - 5:00 on Saturday, May 8. Time to settle down and complete your projects or study for exams.

It's National Library Week

2010-04-12T11:15:00.003-05:00

All across the nation, libraries are celebrating National Library Week. No matter where you are studying, there should be a library near you having a special event or two. Check them out! We connect our readers to many resources - books, articles, help, some in print and some online. If you are near Wahpeton, come to MJ Library to "Guess the Staff", which book goes with which library staff member. We will be happy to see you.

Guides to Research

2009-10-22T09:44:00.003-05:00

We have recently started to add Guides to Research in several topics that will help you to use the library resources more effectively. There is a new link on the web page to the LibGuides, and links to specific guides for curriculums that often use library resources. There will be new ones added over the year as time permits. Let us know if there is a topic you would like to see available.

The guides will help you locate useful magazines and journals through our databases as well as pointing to some reliable web sites. Some books in the collection are also highlighted. If you want a book, you can request this via the InterLibrary Loan link in ODIN and remember to ask that the book be mailed to you if you cannot pick it up here.

Smarthinking

2009-06-30T12:31:00.002-05:00

Do you know about Smarthinking? This is a service that NDSCS supports to give you 24/7 access to tutoring and topic help. Among the several topics such as math, biology, chemistry, and writing, you can get answers to questions from a tutor, critique your paper, or interact with a live tutor.

You will need a password and login to set up your account, so first check with your instructor or with the library about access. Once you are set up, you will receive your own username and password for your own personal sessions.

The website is at http://www.smarthinking.com/

With this site there is help available on many topics, whenever you need it.

Work smarter, not harder

2009-06-09T10:04:00.003-05:00

As a student working primarily online, you may feel you do not need to look at Library resources in order to complete your assignments. However, searching and finding the scholarly materials you need is actually a more complicated process starting from a search engine. The Library purchases subscriptions to many materials - journals, magazines, e-books, newspapers = that are available to you with your library ID. Connecting through the Library web page and using your personal login, you have a wealth of items to choose from. Take advantage of this great resource that is free to you as a student.

Electronic Databases

2009-04-06T13:02:00.002-05:00

For those of you who need library resources, we have several databases available. I am starting several trials, which you could look at as well as the sources we have already purchases. I can't get everything available for off-campus students yet, but I am working on it.

In the meantime, check out the Electronic Resources page and see what might be useful for you.

http://www.ndscs.nodak.edu/library/reference.jsp

If you call me to get a password, I will need your student ID number or library barcode number to verify that you are a student. Thanks!

Online tutorials for research

2008-08-01T13:08:00.000-05:00

As you progress in doing research, the more capable you have to be to find the articles you need to support your research. You probably need to do some of the tutorials on the North Dakota State Library’s Instructional Tutorial Page. These tutorials are designed to instruct you in using the ODIN catalog and the Online Library Resources. If you are having trouble viewing the tutorials, you may have to adjust your computer display settings. You may need to download Adobe Flash Player, install Microsoft PowerPoint (ppt), or adjust your volume to view some tutorials.

http://ndsl.lib.state.nd.us/OnlineTutorials.html

Finding Magazine and Journal Articles

2008-06-12T10:09:00.001-05:00

Many journals and scholarly magazines are available online. In the links listed in the sidebar, you will see EBSCOhost and Gale Group, which are two publishers. Each has many databases you can look at, on a variety of topics. Once you have chosen which database to look at, you can type in your topic or search term to get a list of relevant articles.

Many articles will be "full text", which means the full article can be downloaded or printed. If only the citation is there, you can e-mail the library and ask for the full article. We will locate a copy for you, if possible, and have it sent to you. This may take some time, so allow for mailing if necessary. There is no charge for this service. However, don't forget it may be faster to check with a local library to see if the article is available from there.

E-Book access

2008-06-12T09:58:00.001-05:00

E-Books are available to all NDSCS students, and they can be accessed from anywhere through our NetLibrary account. However, the usual barcode and password don't work for that. You must have an account directly with them.

On campus students can come to the Library to set up the NetLibrary account, but one of the librarians will have to set you up before you can look at the e-books. Call the library at 701-671-2618, or use the 800 number with 3-2618 as the extension, and ask for someone to help you set up the e-book account. We will need to talk to you as we set it up as there are several questions you need to answer. Then you can look at whatever you want from any internet browser. The link is on the library web page, or from the link on the sidebar in this blog.

Get Your Library Card

2008-06-12T09:53:00.001-05:00

In order to access many of the online resources from off-campus, you will need a library barcode. If you have a student ID card, the barcode is on there. You must call or e-mail the library in order to get that barcode activated. If you do not have an ID card, we will give you a barcode.

We will need to know your address, phone number(s), student ID number (sometimes called the EMPL ID) and if you have a barcode from another North Dakota library. We may need to call you to get everything set up correctly. Then when you go to use one of the online resources that asks for your id and password, you will enter your barcode as your id and your last name as your password. It works for almost everything on our Resources Web Page.

Notes and Help for Distance Education Students

2008-06-12T09:50:00.002-05:00

Hello to all our NDSCS students.

Library resources are available to help you even if you don't have a chance to come to the Library Building. There are links to online resources and postings to explain how to use the NDSCS Library from where ever you are. We are glad you are part of our College Community.