News & Blog

Do you have students in your class who you think would benefit from a one-on-one research appointment with a librarian? While UCF Libraries continues to offer research assistance virtually for general reference inquiries through our Ask Us service, we also offer virtual research appointments for those seeking an extended, personalized service for more complex questions.

Students can meet with their subject librarian to discuss their particular research questions and challenges. In these sessions, librarians can guide students through sample searches using their topics, recommend resources to explore, suggest possible keywords, and more.

To schedule an appointment, students simply need to fill out the “Schedule an Appointment” form online and provide their contact information and some information about their research project. Then a librarian will contact the student to schedule the day, time, and format for the virtual session. We encourage you to let your students know about this helpful service.

With all the wonderful and not-so-wonderful research resources available to students, it can be difficult for them to select good sources. Don’t you wish there was a resource you could give students to help them find quality information? Well, our library research guides can help. These guides are created by knowledgeable and helpful subject librarians. In the research guides, the librarians highlight all types of resources from our library collection, including books, ebooks, databases, periodicals, as well as open access materials and trusted internet sites. Students can browse the research guides by subject or also by course name and number.

You can also easily make these research guides available in your Canvas course sites. Just make sure that the “Research Guide” tool is enabled in your Canvas navigation toolbar. The research guide for your subject area will automatically show up there. If you would like a different research guide included, or if you would like a customized research guide created for your course, please contact your subject librarian.

Are you looking for videos about library research to add to your online courses? Do you wish there was a quick way to show students that there’s more to doing research than just searching Google? Well, look no further. Check out UCF Libraries on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/ucflibraries

Our videos cover a range of topics, from short demonstrations of how to navigate our homepage and find ebooks to recorded webinars on plagiarism, basic statistics, and presentation skills. You can also find playlists of videos organized by topic, like business research, citation, and Google Scholar, in the showcases https://vimeo.com/ucflibraries/albums

Not finding what you’re looking for? Let us know. We’d love to hear your ideas about videos you’d like for your classes. Reach out to your subject librarian or to instruct@ucf.edu with your thoughts.

Did you know that the Web of Science database, available remotely through the UCF Libraries, has a great tool to help you save time on the tedious process of doing research? Using robust databases like the Web of Science can really cut down the time you spend researching, allowing you to work smarter not harder!

By setting up important alerts like saved search alerts, citation alerts, and journal alerts through your Web of Science user account, you can be emailed when one of your saved search queries yields new records matching your search criteria. In addition, you can get an alert when one of your own publications has been newly cited, helping you keep track of your research impact. Finally, set up an alert so you can be emailed the latest table of contents of your favorite journals without having to visit each publication separately.

For instructions on how to create a Web of Science user account and how to set up these great alert tools, check out my research guide: guides.ucf.edu/webofscience. Pay special attention to the section tabs on “How to Set Up a User Account” and “Creating Alerts” and feel free to reach out to me with any questions. I am also available for an online research consultation appointment if you would like to walk through the process.

Email: savila@ucf.edu

Join me for virtual “the librarian is in” office hours:
MWF’s 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm & TTH’s 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm

To schedule an online research consultation appointment: https://ucf.libcal.com/appointments/main

For 30 years, IGI Global has been promoting innovative, peer-reviewed research in nearly every academic discipline.  More recently, 109 eBook titles on Business and Management, Computer Science and Information, and Education have become available on the ProQuest eBook Central platform. These eBooks from IGI Global books are DRM-free and available for unlimited downloads. Samples of eBooks include

Multilevel Approach to Competitiveness in the Global Tourism Industry. Sergio Teixeira and Joao Ferreira, editors. [2020]

Technological Innovations for Sustainability and Business Growth. Geetika Jain, Shahriar Akter, Alka Munjal and Harpal S. Grewal, editors. [2020]

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Applications in Civil, Mechanical, and Industrial Engineering. Gebrail Bekdas, Sinan Melih Nigdeli, and Melda Yucel, editors. [2019]

Redefining Post-Traditional Learning: Emerging Research and Opportunities. Lorie Cook-Benjamin and Jared Cook. [2020]

Quality Management Implementation in Higher Education: Practices, Models, and Case Studies. Michael Sony, Kochu Therisa Karingada, and Neeta Baporikar, editors. [2020]

Search the library catalog for additional IGI eBooks. For the lists of many UCF Libraries’ eBook providers, including access and download information, go to https://guides.ucf.edu/ebooks.