News & Blog

Welcome to 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 know about!

Publishing student work through journals and magazines is a difficult feat, often requiring rounds upon rounds of revisions. UCF has a way for you to share your work while providing you with tools to assist with the publication process. Continue below to read about UCF’s own digital repository. UCF’s Showcase of Text, Archives, Research & Scholarship (STARS) provides access to works by, for, and about UCF as broadly as possible, and for as long as possible.

The intention is to provide free, open access to a worldwide audience. It is an institution-wide digital repository managed by the UCF Libraries. STARS is open to all faculty, staff, students, and affiliates of UCF, though student submissions may be subject to an approval process. STARS also documents library contest winners, most recently the “Love Your Libraries” Sticker Contest (which has already ended, sorry!)  

If you’d like to learn more about STARS and the types of materials you could upload, please visit Diamond’s Hidden Gems – STARS.

Downtown Campus Library is bringing you a series of workshops and study breaks to help you achieve your goals this semester.

Join us on September 5th at 1:00PM at the Downtown Campus Library in room 265 of the Doctor Philips Academic Commons to learn more about bullet journaling and how it can keep you organized.

On September 12th at 1:00PM work with library staff to develop a vision board. This visualization exercise will help you display your future goals in a concrete, tangible way.

Our last workshop in our Froggy Productivity Series will be on September 19th at 1:00 P.M. in DPAC 455. Our staff will introduce you to the productivity software Notion. This app offers free membership to students, and it is a great way to streamline and organize tasks.

If you can’t make it to one of our workshops, the library is providing “study breaks.” These are quick, takeaway activities that will help you with time management and mindfulness. Visit the Downtown Library in DPAC 265 from September 4th through 15th to get a Time Management with Pomodoro worksheet. From September 18th through September 29th, we will be distributing worksheets for our mindfulness challenge.

Any UCF or Valencia student who participates in three events or study breaks will be eligible for a prize drawing. Attend more events and study breaks to increase your chances of winning!

LibTech items due on Wed 8/30 or Thurs 8/31 will have loans automatically extended to Friday 9/1 at 7:00pm

• LibTech Hours:
  • Tuesday 8/29: Close at Midnight (12am)
  • Wednesday 8/30: 3:00pm – 1:00am
  • Thursday 8/31: 7:30am – 2:00pm (GameDay)
  • Friday 9/1: 7:30am – 7:00pm (Normal Hours)

The recent reopening of the third floor of the John C. Hitt Library has been long anticipated by students. In addition to containing new seating, study rooms, and Genesis (a colorful stained glass window you can relax in front of – I highly recommend it), the third floor also contains the Academic Engagement Suite.

What kind of help can you get in the Academic Engagement Suite?

• How to search for articles
• How to locate books
• Help with citations
• Answers to general questions about the library

The suite includes consultation rooms where students, faculty, staff, and the local community can meet in-person for one-on-one appointments with librarians for research assistance. If you’d like to schedule an in-person or virtual research consultation, visit the Appointment page on the Libraries’ Schedule website.

For additional information or questions, please visit the Academic Engagement Suite, located in Room 330 on the third floor of the John C. Hitt Library.

Hello, everyone! My name is Diamond Williams; I am a junior double-majoring in Criminal Justice and Writing & Rhetoric. Welcome to 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! 

If you aren’t already familiar with this series, you’ve probably missed out on some advice that could’ve saved you money on textbooks, time locating research articles, energy finding a quiet place to study, and maybe even missed out on an opportunity to publicly present your art. 

To read up on these things (because they are still available, you’re welcome) and stay up-to-date with future postings that will be equally as beneficial, look out for weekly Hidden Gems postings during the Fall and Spring semesters. The series is located in the News section of the UCF Libraries website. 

I also write and post about various UCF Libraries events. If you’d like to read about opportunities to learn more and have fun, you know where to look.