News & Blog

Downtown Campus Library is celebrating National Crafting Month by hosting a beginner’s crochet workshop with Gaby Gomez. Gaby is a certified crochet instructor by the Craft Yarn Council. She has been teaching the art of crochet since 2017, and she can’t wait to inspire you with the craft!

This workshop will be teaching participants four crochet techniques: cast-on, chain, single stitch and weaving, to create a lovely bookmark.

The workshop will occur on Tuesday, March 28, 2023 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Register for the event here. Yarn and crochet hooks will be provided to the first 20 registrants.

Welcome to the eight installment of Diamond’s Hidden Gems, a blog series in which I introduce you to the University of Central Florida’s library services that you may not have known about!

Nearly everyone at UCF is involved in research, from students learning how to conduct research for the first time to faculty conducting research for publication. There are many programs and resources that motivate students to participate, from the Student Scholar Symposium to the Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

SAGE Research Methods supports research at all levels by providing material to guide users through every step of the research process. Read on to learn more about what this resources can do for you, and how to access it!

SAGE Research Methods is the essential online tool for researchers; it is the ultimate methods library designed to guide users to the content they need to learn about their method.

The core database provides materials that focus on the research process and design, helping users design methodologies, understand particular methods, identify a new method, conduct their research, and write up findings.

This resource that acknowledges and mitigates an issue often left ignored: an unfamiliarity with physically conducting research. By making use of their database; watching videos, reading cases, and practicing data analysis; you can learn more about the reality of research and conduct your own more efficiently.

If you’d like to learn more about SRM and how to access the database, in addition to the three additional components, visit Diamond’s Hidden Gems – Sage Research Methods in STARS.

It is time to get creative! The UCF Libraries is sponsoring a “Love your Libraries” sticker contest! UCF Students are invited to submit original design entries no larger than 4” x 3”. The contest closes on March 31st at 5PM.

The library will select one winning design that reflects the library to print and distribute during Finals Week (April 25 – May 2, 2023). A winner will be announced through library social media and digital signs in the library. The winner will receive 25 printed stickers and an LED light displaying their design!

Full contest rules and the submission form are available at https://stars.library.ucf.edu/stickercontest

Welcome to the seventh installment of Diamond’s Hidden Gems, a blog series in which I introduce you to the University of Central Florida’s library services that you may not have known about!

Considering the majority of titles you can grab off of the shelves in the UCF John C. Hitt Library are academic journals and articles, it can difficult to find current, popular titles and YA novels.

While physical access to these novels may seem impossible, UCF actually has two sections in which you can find popular titles.

Read on below to learn about Knight Reads, New Books, and how to access the catalogs for popular titles!

You have access to two collections located on the 2nd floor: Knight Reads and New Books. Knight Reads is located across from the Java City, near the pond entrance of the library and New Books is located right beside the
Circulation Desk, near the Student Union entrance.

Both of these library sections/areas house current, popular titles. If you are looking for some of the newest fiction, non-fiction, graphic, and YA novels, please browse the catalogs and visit the displays to pick out a title! The New Books section, for example, has subjects ranging from photography, science, and history to poetry and biographies.

If you’d rather navigate from the UCF Libraries website, you can make use of the filters on the left-hand side bar. Open the “Library Section/Area” dropdown menu and select either “Knight Reads” or “New Books 2nd Floor”.

If you’d like to learn more about the sections and how to access their respective catalogs, please check out “Diamond’s Hidden Gems – Knight Reads & New Books” in STARS.

Welcome to the sixth installment of Diamond’s Hidden Gems, a blog series in which I introduce you to the University of Central Florida’s library services that you may not have known about!

As a society, we are incorporating a new perspective on education, in which we value videos and films just as beneficial as textbooks and lectures. Documentaries, for example, do more than just entertain; they challenge our perspectives, educate us about important issues, and inspire us to take action.

UCF is no stranger to the value of academic videos, hosting a plethora of streaming platforms with free access to students.

In fact, videos are one of the best ways to provide a personalized learning experience. They increase motivation and can specifically impact students’ ability to facilitate discussions and identify problems. Learning through film is memorable, comprehensive, affordable, accessible, and inclusive.

UCF has partnerships with several video streaming platforms to bring these benefits to students for free! If you’d like to learn how to access these platforms (and their academic videos, documentaries, and films), visit Diamond’s Hidden Gems – Library Streaming Videos in STARS.