It&#8217;s December&#8230;Have You Cited Your Sources Yet?

Hey, Seniors! How’s that MQP Going?

Posted in Resources and Services

At Gordon Library we know that MQPs take creativity, perseverance, teamwork … and information – lots of it! Take advantage of these TOP 5 resources and services for your MQP.

The MQP Top 5 @ Gordon Library

5. Interlibrary Loan – Get specialized resources from around the city and around the world.

4. Millions of articles through Summon. Use the limiters to find peer-reviewed academic literature, newspaper articles and more.

3. Technical Handbooks galore available in our eBook collections.

2. Subject specific resources – get to know what people are studying and discussing in your field

1. Librarians! The Research and Instruction Team meets with dozens of MQP teams every year. Make an appointment today.

October 4, 2014

Going Away for B-term?

Heading off campus for B-term? No matter where you are, Gordon Library is here for you. Our website is always open, providing you access to millions of news and research articles and thousands of full-text e-books. Connecting from off campus is simple: visit the library website and log in when prompted for your WPI username and password.

Miss the in-person service? Librarians are here every business day and most other days as well. We can connect with you even if you are time zones away. Use our chat and email service, and don’t forget that we offer video conferencing too.

A few links to remember while you are away:

The library’s research databases, organized by discipline/major.
ILLiad Interlibrary Loan for articles.
The IQP Research Guide.

No matter where you are, the WPI librarians are here for you. Ask us!

September 22, 2014

Students Share Their Best Research Tips

Posted in In and Around the Library, and Resources and Services

At Gordon Library we know that WPI students have a lot of wisdom to share about finding great information. This A-term we’ve been asking first-year and IQP students for some of their best tips and techniques for finding that needle-in-the-haystack piece of information that will make their project solutions that much better.

Our question: What are some of the best tips or methods you know for finding high quality and relevant information for research projects?

Here is a sample of what students had to say:

Trying different word choices in advanced search on the library website.
Using the WPI research databases available through the Gordon Library website and also using the librarians as a resource to find information within the library.
Use various formats of sources such as web article, textbook and many more. Always watch out to make sure that the source is reliable.
I look at multiple sources through the library website, Google Scholar, and meeting with a reference librarian.
Using JSTOR, Google Scholar, finding relevant articles and looking at who they sourced, using precise language in your searches, actually going to the library.
I find the databases helpful. I look through couple of relevant journals and research papers and check the bibliography to see if I can find sources that I could look into.
Honestly, simply spending time looking for a source that best fits what you’re looking for. There is no real short cut to finding good information.

Have a tip to share? Submit it here: http://bit.ly/Zu2BXb

Have questions about research? Your library is here to help. Stop by, write to library@wpi.edu, or chat with us at http://www.wpi.edu/academics/library/help/ask-us.html. See you soon!

January 22, 2014

Search Tip: Looking for US Federal, State, or Municipal Government Information?

Posted in In and Around the Library, and Resources and Services

United States federal, state, and municipal government websites are a rich source of information on topics from energy, health, the environment, geography, technology, and more. In addition they can provide access to town reports and policies, local economic information, technical reports, government research and more. But when searching in Google, these sites may not rise to the first page of results. To make your search for US government information more efficient, try one of these Google search techniques:

Use Google Advanced Search and limit the “site or domain” field to .gov.
Include the following search syntax in a basic Google search: site:.gov. For example: “hip replacement” site:.gov

Bonus Tip: Information and images produced by the US federal government fall into the public domain which means you can use and share these materials freely and without seeking copyright permission.

May 20, 2013

ACRL/NEC Scholarship Honors Christine Drew

The Association of College and Research Libraries New England Chapter (ACRL/NEC) Board of Directors recently announced the creation of a scholarship to honor the memory of Christine Drew and the impact she has had on the library community. The scholarship was made public at the May 10, 2013, ACRL/NEC Annual Conference held at the College of the Holy Cross. Over 300 attendees from academic libraries around the region attended and responded with great enthusiasm to the creation of the scholarship. Christine was cited for her dedication to libraries and her constant focus on the needs of library users. She lived by the philosophy of joy through productivity, always pushing herself and those around her to think creatively, try new things, think the best of people, and have fun.

Christine was an active member of ACRL/NEC for over ten years; she served at various times as co-chair of the New England Library Instruction Group (NELIG), annual program planner for NELIG, and ACRL/NEC board member. She regularly presented at the ACRL/NEC Annual Conference, NELIG quarterly meetings, and the NELIG Annual Program.

The Christine Drew Scholarship provides up to $1000 for a member of ACRL/NEC to attend the ACRL Information Literacy Immersion Program for librarians, of which Christine was a graduate.

May 31, 2012

Congratulations to the winners of the D-term 2012 IEEE Explorations Research Challenge.

Grand Prize ($200 Amazon Gift Card): Mallick Kelly

First Prizes ($100 Amazon Gift Cards): Lauren Laboissonniere, Adrian Delphia

Second Prizes ($25 Amazon Gift Cards): Sinan Asaad, Tara Meicnk, Brad Mello, James DeCelle

Third Prizes (IEEE Stainless Steel Water Bottles): Andrew Moscariello, Hailey DiSpirito, Pedro Miguel, E O’Neil, Jean Friend, Bror Axelsson, Zhi Hao (Edward), Ricardo Bonhomme, Kyle Gagnon, Dennis Koufos, Randy Chin, Mitchell Hunt, Samuel Veilleux, Adam Trumbley, Steven Cortesa, Nyansafo Aye-Addo, Brie Newton, Tyler Modelski, and Benzun Pious.

Thank you to IEEE for providing funding for our prizes.

Thank you to the WPI faculty who helped promote the contest: Fiona Levey (ME), John Blandino (ME), Keith Pray (CS), Satya Shivkumar (MTE/ME), Stephen Bitar (ECE), and Martha Cyr (ME).

For more details about the contest please visit http://libguides.wpi.edu/ieeexplorations.

March 13, 2012

IEEE Xplorations Search Challenge – Search, Learn, Win!

Complete the IEEE Xploration Search Challenge today to search, learn, and win great prizes! The Challenge has been developed by Gordon Library to introduce WPI students to the world of current research available through IEEE Xplore and other specialized research tools available through the library website http://www.wpi.edu/+library. The Search Challenge takes 30-90 minutes to complete.

Complete the form below before April 20, 2012 to be will be entered into a drawing for the following prizes, provided by IEEE. Winners will be notified by April 25, 2012.

Grand Prize (1): $200 Amazon Gift Card

First Prize (2): $100 Amazon Gift Card

Second Prize (4): $25 Amazon Gift Card

Third Prize (20): Stainless Steel IEEE Water Bottle

Go to http://libguides.wpi.edu/ieeexplorations to get started now!

Have questions? Visit http://libguides.wpi.edu/help.

December 13, 2011

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Knovel University Challenge 2011 Winner: Nichole Holman

Posted in In and Around the Library, and Resources and Services

For the third year in a row WPI has come up a winner in the University Challenge Quiz Game sponsored by Knovel, one of the library’s many eBook vendors. Congratulation to sophomore and computer science major Nichole Holman for completing the challenge and winning an Amazon gift card.

Give Knovel a try today to search 1600+ current science and engineering handbooks online, including many of the most trusted sources in engineering. From Knovel, “Knovel is a web-based application integrating technical information with analytical and search tools to drive innovation and deliver answers engineers can trust.”

September 12, 2011

The Knovel University Challenge Kicks Off Today!